Commando On The Front Line @ The UK TV Archive

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COMMANDO - ON THE FRONT LINE

The Shock of Capture
ITV1 Network / Thursday 20 September 2007 @ 9:00pm

The Royal Marine Commandos are Britain’s elite front line troops, currently fighting a vicious war in Afghanistan. Part of the Royal Navy, they are specialists in expeditionary warfare and have a fearsome reputation, bonded and toughened by a training regime that breaks all but the best.

With unprecedented access to this world renowned and highly respected military force, Commando: On The Front Line provides a compelling insight into the making of a Royal Marine Commando through the gruelling eight month training regime, and – for the first time - follows successful recruits onto the front line in Afghanistan.

During this ground-breaking eight-part series, filmed over a 12 month-period, award-winning director/cameraman Chris Terrill not only follows the 50 raw recruits of 924 Troop, he also trains alongside them.

Deeply embedded within the troop Terrill undergoes the same rigorous regime as the rookies, from learning ambush techniques and ‘yomping’ carrying back breaking loads in the blistering heat of sub tropical jungles, to pushing both body and mind to their very limit during the gruelling Commando tests. Then, after winning his own honorary Green Beret, Terrill follows the successful few onto the front line in the Helmand region of Afghanistan and right into the teeth of battle.

From this unique position inside the training troop as well as the front line company, the resultant series provides an intimate insight into the lives and minds of the young men who sign up as novices and are transformed physically and mentally into an elite force.

In just eight months, the 50 fresh-faced recruits who arrived at the Royal Marine Commando Training Centre in Lympstone, Devon, filled with lifelong dreams, go through a carefully orchestrated rite of passage that prepares them for one overriding purpose – to engage with the enemy: their last years of adolescence squeezed into 32 short weeks.

Those who win their Green Berets to become Royal Marine Commandos also win the right to fight for Queen and country. Both they and their families must now face the reality of war and the horrific possibility of injury and death on the front line.

Among the 50 recruits we get to know are Terry John from the Caribbean island of St Vincent, plasterer James Williams, ex stunt-man Adam Collins and one of the youngest recruits in the troop, 17 year-old Jordan Slatter: all desperate to be part of the elite brotherhood. Their personal journeys are perilous, exacting, exciting and transforming. We share the elation of those that succeed and the heartbreak of those that fail. Meanwhile, the families supporting them back home wait to see whether their loved one will be deployed to one of the most dangerous war zones in the world.

We meet the training team who are there to encourage, push, pull and cajole as many recruits through the eight months basic training as they can: Troop Commander Orlando Rogers, himself just 21; Corporal Hamish Robb, a wise cracking disciplinarian; and Major Paul Mattin, the tough but fair minded Company Commander.

As well as the recruits from 924 Troop we follow the progress of officers undergoing training at the same base - in particular 22 year-old Second Lieutenant Bertie Kerr, who within days of passing out is sent to the front line in Afghanistan. There he leads 11 Troop of M Company (42 Commando) and sees action on his very first patrol. And this is just the start of it – we join him as he leads his patrol in a Company assault on a Taliban stronghold and when he has to react to a ferocious ambush. We are with him as his troop starts to sustain casualties and as he organises a counter attack.

Terrill’s camera captures heart-stopping front line action while Bertie copes with the enormous responsibility of looking after his men: delivering orders to Commandos many of whom are older than he is, lifting their spirits, keeping them focused and ultimately, taking responsibility for their lives. Eventually, we see Bertie having to come to terms with the death of one of his troop, killed in an assault on an enemy compound.

For Bertie and the successful recruits from the original 924 Troop, to be a Royal Marine Commando is as much about personal growth, comradeship and honour amongst fellow men as it is about fighting a war.

Says Terrill: ‘What I did realise when we were under heavy fire was that the Marines, probably like other soldiers, aren’t fighting for a cause or a flag, a monarch or a leader. They are fighting for each other; for their comrades…for their brothers in arms.’

In Episode One:

It’s June 2006 and a fresh batch of recruits arrive at Lympstone Commando Training Centre in East Devon. An unusually young group, these 50 men will be known as 924 troop and this will be their extraordinary story.

They don’t know it yet but many of them will be broken by the eight months of unprecedented physical and mental challenges of Royal Marine Commando training. Their rite of passage will be both exhilarating and terrifying and only the best will get through. Those that make it will be sent straight to the front line in Afghanistan, and we will follow them.

For many of the young recruits arriving at the base, this will be their first time away from their families who themselves must come to terms with their own fears.

Explains Company Commander Major Paul Mattin: ‘It’s a fact: 924 troop will deploy onto operations in Afghanistan so we’ve got 32 weeks to transform each individual into a team player, a well trained Royal Marine that’s confident and capable of joining a troop on operations. That’s the test for us here in the training centre.’

After taking the oath, the transformation begins on day one with kit and uniform issue and re-leaning basic skills of how to wash, shave and iron properly.

We meet 20 year-old Adam Collins, a former stunt man. ‘I chose the Royal Marines because I wanted to be part of the elite and I knew that this would be the greatest challenge. I’m putting 100 per cent effort and determination in. I’m prepared for anything they’re going to throw at me, including serving in a war zone.’

For one recruit, Terry John from St Vincent in the Caribbean, doubts creep in very early: ‘I’ve come from so far, I wanted to do it, I wanted to be a very strong, very determined young man but it’s hard, it’s really hard. 32 weeks seems so long. Right now I just want to leave.’

For John and others like him, leaving so early is out of the question: unless there are exceptional circumstances no one can leave for the first 28 days. And after the gentle introduction of the first day, the learning curve will get very, very steep indeed.

By the end of training the recruits will have to achieve the fitness levels of an international athlete to succeed.

‘The change from civilian into the military and into the Marines is a huge step change. It’s a man’s world and some of the blokes aren’t ready for that,’ says Major Paul Mattin. ‘There’s every chance we’re going to lose 25-30 per cent - not wanting to be here or having to go home because of an injury or just being unsuitable.’

It’s also Lieutenant Orlando Rogers’ job as Troop Commander to get the best out of the new recruits. Despite being just 21, he quickly gains the respect of the young recruits: some of whom are older than he is.

For 24 year-old recruit James Williams, failure is not an option: he’s determined to make it through the 32 weeks and to demonstrate he has the four qualities that make a Commando: courage, unselfishness, determination and cheerfulness in the face of adversity.

After the first day’s gentle introduction the recruits soon start to get a taste of things to come with a two mile speed march to break their boots in, followed by their first night under canvas on Woodbury Common.

But, as the weeks progress, the constant shortcomings of 924 troop in the gym, in the field and on the parade ground are increasingly exposed. So much so that eventually they have to face the ultimate wake-up call – the dreaded mud-run. For those that deserve it this diversion into the stinking mud flats of the River Exe can be a laugh but for those that need to be taught a lesson the mud-run can be turned into a punishment that anyone who experiences it is never likely to forget. Far from a laugh this is a wakeup call that can and does reduce grown men to tears….

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