29th Commando Regiment Royal Artillery
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29 Commando Regiment is the Commando-trained unit of the British Army's Royal Artillery. The regiment is under the operational control of 3 Commando Brigade providing artillery support and gunnery observation.
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[edit] Organisation
The regiment consists of an HQ battery, three gun batteries, a Naval Gunfire Support Forward Observation battery and an attached Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers workshop. The gun batteries are equipped with six L118 105MM light guns and three Observation Posts each.
- 7 (Sphinx) Battery Royal Artillery - Commando trained L118 gun battery based at RM Condor, Arbroath
- 8 (Alma) Battery Royal Artillery - Commando trained L118 gun battery based at the Royal Citadel, Plymouth
- 23 (Gibralter 1779-1783) Battery Royal Artillery - The Headquarters Commando Battery, and Radar Troop, for 29 Commando Regiment are based at the Royal Citadel, Plymouth
- 79 (Kirkee) Battery Royal Artillery - Commando trained L118 gun battery based at the Royal Citadel, Plymouth
- 148 (Meiktila) Battery Royal Artillery - The battery are based at RM Poole. Their primary role is as a Naval Gunfire Support Forward Observation (NGSFO) battery. Roled to direct naval gunfire support from Royal Navy ships, air strikes from Royal Navy and Royal Air Force aircraft and artillery fire from the regiment's gun batteries, when landed in support of 3 Commando Brigade.
- 29 Commando Royal Artillery Regimental Workshop Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers - Workshop main HQ is based at the Royal Citadel, Plymouth with battery fitter sections permanently attached to, and based with each battery.
[edit] Selection and training
Soldiers volunteer for 29 Commando Regiment from the regular units of the British Army's Royal Artillery Regiment and are required to undergo Commando training following entry to the Regiment.
Personnel are inducted into Batteries and provided with a pre-commando schedule, based around a gym assessment. Candidates then enter Pre-Commando Course Training within the Batteries in Plymouth and the training concentrates upon physical training, fieldcraft, skill at arms and personal administration in the field.
The All Arms Commando Course is an eight-week course conducted at the Commando Training Centre Royal Marines at Lympstone, Devon culminating in the Commando tests and leading to the award of the Green beret.
Gunners then go on to complete further specialist training as required.
