Jungle training tests soldiers' survival skills
British ArmyParatroopers tested their survival skills on a month-long training exercise in the jungle.
Soldiers from 3 Para, based in Colchester, took part in Exercise Mayan Cyclone in Belize, in Central America.
They learned how to build shelters, find water and took part in live-fire battle drills, the Army said.
"Belize is the only place that the British Army regularly trains where a unit will spend a month unsupported in a hostile environment," said Maj Louis Maclaren, officer commanding B Company.
British Army"The jungle provides a genuine risk to life and brings friction that you must adapt to and overcome," said Maj Maclaren
"That mindset is essential for airborne operations, where we are isolated by design and must rely on the equipment we have deployed with."
Maj Maclaren said being in the jungle could degrade people's health and fitness.
Minor injuries, he said, were more likely to become infected in the hot, humid environment.
'Look after yourself'
The Army said a seven-day simulated mission tested the skills they had learned.
L/Cpl Harry Stone said in the jungle you had "to do the basics times 10".
"You really have to look after yourself and your kit," he said.
"You can't get away with powdering your feet or cleaning your rifle once a day, you've got to keep on top of it all the time."
About 170 soldiers from 3 Para's B and D Companies, supported by personnel from 23 Parachute Engineer Regiment and 7th Parachute Regiment Royal Horse Artillery, were deployed on the exercise.
3 Para is part of 16 Air Assault Brigade, the British army's global response force.
Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
