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Secretary of State for Defence visits Wiltshire based soldiers ahead of NATO exercise in Eastern EuropeSEEN; With soldiers from 1 Royal Welsh. The Secretary of State (SofS) for Defence, the Right Honourable Michael Fallon MP, today (Friday 12 September 2014) visited Wiltshire based soldiers ahead of an upcoming NATO exercise in Eastern Europe. Mr Fallon, who was appointed as SofS in July 2014, met The King’s Royal Hussars (KRH) in Tidworth Camp, as it conducted preparations to deploy on EXERCISE BLACK EAGLE in Poland from late October to early December. It was an opportunity for the Secretary of State for Defence to be introduced to vehicles such as the Challenger Two Main Battle Tank and the KRH crews who operate and maintain them. He also met personnel from 1st Battalion The Royal Welsh (1 R WELSH), who are also based in Tidworth, and operate with the Warrior Armoured Fighting Vehicle. Ex BLACK EAGLE is a bi-lateral UK / Polish exercise and is a significant demonstration of the UK’s support to the region and NATO’s Immediate Assurance Measures. The UK will be deploying the Kings Royal Hussars (KRH), the UK’s Lead Armoured Battlegroup, which is a Challenger 2 Main Battle Tank regiment. The Battle-group will total approximately 1300 personnel, 100 armoured vehicles and 250 other vehicles and will be the UK’s biggest armoured deployment in Eastern Europe since 2008. The vehicles to note are 20 x Challenger 2, and 30 x Warriors. 1 R WELSH, which is providing personnel and vehicles to the exercise, is the Lead Armoured Infantry Battalion in the British Army, a new concept in Army 2020, which sees the Battalion regularly deploy to BATUS in Canada for training in order to remain at Full Operating Capability. The battalion is equipped with the Warrior Armoured Fighting Vehicle, enabling it to move swiftly around the battlefield delivering troops to the heart of the battle.Pic - Richard Watt