His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales visited troops deployed on Exercise Loyal Leda 2020 at Royal Air Force Fairford yesterday (Friday 13 November).
Hosted by Lieutenant General Edward Smyth-Osbourne, Commander Allied Rapid Reaction Corps, the His Royal Highness was provided an overview of the exercise and some of the new capabilities being developed by the headquarters.
His Royal Highness met Commonwealth soldiers from the 1st Canadian Division, the ‘Red Devils’ and Gurkhas from the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps Support Battalion. His Royal Highness helps maintain the Royal Family’s strong connection to the Commonwealth and is the Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal Gurkha Rifles.
Exercise Loyal Leda 2020, a key NATO exercise to validate and certify the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps as NATO’s Warfighting Corps at readiness. The computer aided exercise tested the Corps’ ability to operate with multinational divisions under command and control up to 120,000 troops across the full spectrum of military operations.
Headquarters Allied Rapid Reaction Corps (HQ ARRC) provides NATO with a rapidly deployable, flexible HQ that can act as a Joint, Land or Corps HQ for operations and crisis response. Its multi-national ethos, combination of cultures and innovation, strong professional reputation in NATO and proven track record in interoperability are unique among its High Readiness Force (Land) (HRF(L)) peers.
Credit: Sgt Paul Shaw, UK Ministry of Defence 2020
