Mansfield soldier Corporal Mark Freeman has been preparing for another tour of duty in East Africa.
Corp Freeman (27), pictured, has been with soldiers from B (Malta) Company, 2 MERCIAN on a live-firing training exercise at Otterburn Training Area, Northumberland.

During the course, soldiers were tasked with completing challenging tactical warfare scenarios to ensure the company was ready for Exercise Askari Storm in Kenya.

Corp Freeman, who has served in the Army for eight year, said: “It’s a lot different to standard battalion life, but that’s what makes it so enjoyable.

“This training is all about ensuring our ‘skills and drills’ are up to date, so that we are fully prepared for deployment later this year.”

In Kenya, 2 MERCIAN will conduct a full range of military tasks. They will deploy at battle group level, utilising the full range of capabilities that a modern infantry battalion in the British Army has at its disposal — including support from mortars, anti-tanks, snipers, reconnaissance, artillery, engineers and aviation assets.

Corp Freeman, who was previously deployed to Kenya, said: “The battalion is going through an extremely busy period at the moment.

“We only just returned from Cyprus and Operation TOSCA when we headed straight back into training ahead of deployment to Kenya.”