Its good to see the UK forces using these types of training tools but it could be said that we borrowed many ideas from the US forces and now the UK practises the way we do.
The prospect of serving in Afghanistan is daunting for any soldier - and the Ministry of Defence needs to ensure its troops are as battle-ready as possible.
So when 3,500 soldiers from the 4th Mechanised Brigade underwent a two-week training exercise two months before flying to Helmand Province, the MoD went to great lengths to provide a realistic environment.
To do this, they enlisted the help of Amputees in Action, an agency specialising in supplying amputees as extras for the film and television industries.
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| Amputees in Action extra Darren Swift waits for his horrific injuries to be treated by soldiers training before being deployed to Afghanistan |
One such extra was Darren Swift, 45, who lost both his legs in an explosion while he was serving in Northern Ireland in the early 90s.
Double leg amputee Swift, who has previously appeared in movies including Gladiator and TV series Band of Brothers, was made up to look like an injured soldier in the exercise on Wiltshire's Salisbury Plain today.
He said: 'As a company, and as an individual, we are really proud to be part of it. It's work for us but it's an honour to be part of something to help these guys improve their skills prior to deployment to Afghanistan.'
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| Soldiers on the military exercise find a fellow soldier injured on Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire |
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Troops from the 4th Mechanized Brigade then drag the injured soldier to safety
With the aid of prosthetics and fake blood, Swift, appeared to have been severely injured in an explosion.
The horrific injuries included his legs appearing to have been severed above the knee, with the surrounding skin hanging from the exposed bone, and blood-soaked tourniquets around his thighs.
Soldiers from the 4th Mechanized Brigade will deploy to Afghanistan in April
The Medical Emergency Response Team (MERT) show how they would help a soldier injured in the line of duty
As the soldiers fined-tuned their craft through the exercise, the spokesman for the Chief of Defence Staff played down concerns that casualties in the conflict in Afghanistan had now matched those of the Falklands.
Speaking in Salisbury, before the brigade deploys to Helmand in April, Major General Gordon Messenger said: 'I think we have to be wary of comparing those two conflicts.
'They are very different in nature and very different in duration.
'The Falklands lasted for three months and we have been in Afghanistan for eight-and-a-half years.
'But the fact remains that 255 servicemen have lost their lives in the Afghanistan campaign.
'Each of those is a blow and our thoughts are with those who have lost loved ones.'
Soldiers involved in the training exercise were also tested as they performed an evacuation of casualties by a Chinook helicopter and a mobile patrol.
Royal Marine Commandos from 40 Commando, based in Taunton, chat and relax with soldiers from the Afghan National Army (ANA) during today's exercise
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1249722/Ministry-Defence-enlist-help-amputees-make-military-training-exercise-realistic-possible.html#ixzz1T4q0JFHs
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