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BDS-US | British Army
Home of the Ministry of Defence in the United States |
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British soldiers participating in Exercise Purple Star in North Carolina
British Army training in the USA falls into a number of different categories:
Procured Training
This encompasses exercises or training courses, ranging in size from individual servicemen to battalion groups, for which the United Kingdom covers the full cost. The exercises vary in type and involve, typically, infantry, artillery, signals and engineer units.
Reciprocal Unit Exchanges
These are carried out normally at company level as a two-way (and usually simultaneous) exchange.
They are designed so that soldiers of both nations develop
US troops deploy to the home station of the British unit, live in their barracks, use their equipment and carry out their training schedule.
Competitions
Several military competitions take place each year in the US, in such disciplines as Skill at Arms and parachuting as well as the prestigious Sandhurst Competition which takes place at the US Military Academy at West Point in upstate New York. The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst has won this competition consistently over the last few years.
Individual Exchanges
British Territorial Army officers and NCOs undertake exchanges with US Army National Guard and Army Reserve colleagues for short periods as part of their annual training liability.
Adventurous Training
Annually, up to 50 British Army adventurous training expeditions are conducted each year. A variety of activities are undertaken, such as parachuting, climbing, trekking, sailing, white-water rafting and mountain biking. Expeditions can vary in size from 10 to 30 personnel.
Sports Teams
Several British Army sports teams visit the US every year to play soccer, rugby and tennis amongst other sports.
Battlefield Tours
Several parties of British soldiers visit the famous battlefield sites of the USA each year. The most popular battlefields are the civil war battlefields around Washington DC, the battlefields of the Indian Wars such as the Little Big Horn and the battlefields of the War of Independence, such as Yorktown.
