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Two soldiers die on training exercise in Brecon Beacons Two servicemen die on training exercise in Brecon Beacons
(about 5 hours later)
Two soldiers have died during a training exercise at the weekend in the Brecon Beacons on the hottest day of the year, the Ministry of Defence has said. The police and Ministry of Defence have launched an investigation into the deaths of two Territorial Army soldiers during a training exercise in the Brecon Beacons on the hottest day of the year.
The servicemen, whose families have been informed, were on a routine exercise in the Brecon Beacons national park on Saturday. A third man is in a serious condition in hospital. The incident is now being investigated by Dyfed Powys police as well as the MoD, and an autopsy will follow. The men, understood to be in their late teens or early 20s, were on a routine exercise in the national park in Powys, mid-Wales, on Saturday, when temperatures reached 30C (86F). A third man is in a serious condition in hospital.
The deaths occurred on the hottest day of the year so far in Wales with temperatures reaching 30C (86F) in Powys. "The MoD can confirm that it is working with Dyfed-Powys police to investigate an incident during a training exercise on the Brecon Beacons on Saturday in which two members of military personnel died," said the MoD in a statement. Few details have emerged about what caused the deaths but they appear to be related to the heat and physical exertion. A military source said the exercise the men were taking part in was "intense" and their deaths did not involve firearms or a fall.
"The two servicemen's next of kin have been informed. More information will be released in due course but it would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage." With three men affected, questions will inevitably be asked about whether their commanders pushed them too far. TA personnel are not likely to be as fit as fulltime soldiers. Those responsible for army training and exercises will await a police report before conducting their own postmortem. The police are taking the lead in the investigation into the deaths but defence sources said there did not appear to be anything suspicious about them.
News of the deaths has been met with shock in the nearby town of Brecon, which is home to the Infantry Battle School (IBS). The Brecon mayor and Powys county councillor Matthew Dorrance said: "It's incredibly sad for the friends and family of the people who have lost their lives and our thoughts are with the person who is injured. In one way we've been blessed with the weather but for people working in this heat, they're tough conditions." "The MoD can confirm that it is working with Dyfed-Powys police to investigate an incident during a training exercise on the Brecon Beacons on Saturday in which two members of military personnel died," the MoD said in a statement. "The two servicemen's next of kin have been informed. More information will be released in due course but it would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage."
Dorrance said troops were regularly seen training in the area. A huge variety of British and overseas service personnel are tested and toughened up in the Brecon Beacons. Some of the most demanding terrain is to be found close to the spot where the two men died, and is the venue for the notorious "Fan Dance", a gruelling trek over Pen y Fan, at 866 metres the highest peak in southern Britain. The men died in an area close to the Storey Arms activity centre, a well-known meeting place for walkers heading up Pen y Fan.
"We're proud of our links with the military in the town," he added. David Davies, the Conservative MP for Monmouth and a former member of the TA, told BBC News: "It's a terrible tragedy, and I'm sure the army will hold a full investigation and be doing absolutely everything to find out what went wrong, and prevent that from happening again."
The rough and remote terrain of the Brecon Beacons is used by the British military for a wide range of exercises for various army personnel. The IBS is based at Brecon and regular and special forces soldiers are regularly tested and trained on the unforgiving landscape. The infantry regiments of the British Army train at Sennybridge in the area, there is an army base in Brecon and the SAS has a base at nearby Hereford. Davies added: "Nobody should jump to any conclusions here about what may have caused this, but obviously we all know that, for example, people who take part in marathons run a small risk of dying of heat stroke and all sorts of other things, and the British Army does train its soldiers very very hard indeed. The training is there for a purpose, and it is arduous training at any level, and sometimes things tragically go wrong."
According to the army website, the Brecon Beacons are used because they are demanding and prepare soldiers for the "extraordinary things" they will face once deployed. Davies said training could involve carrying very heavy equipment and working to a deadline, which meant soldiers would have to push themselves hard in high temperatures.
"Training for high-intensity, light-role war fighting is the way soldiers and officers are prepared for any operational situation they may face – conventional war, counter-insurgency, security sector reform, peacekeeping or supporting civil authorities," says the website. "It probably would've been cooler on the Brecon Beacons yesterday than it is in the desert of Afghanistan."
"Training at IBS is delivered here by high-quality instructors with a wealth of operational experience, and rated in the top third of the infantry. This ensures that the training is as close to current operations and pre-deployment training as possible, whilst maintaining the ability to train for high-intensity war fighting. IBS delivers competent and confident commanders for the field army by running command and leadership training, infantry tactics training, weapons training, and live firing range qualifications. It also provides specialist training teams to assist foreign forces in their development, and allocates some places on courses for overseas students." Major Alan Davies, who was involved in contingency planning during the first Gulf war, said the Beacons were challenging terrain. "On one end of the spectrum you have cadets being taken for mountain walking and at the other end of the spectrum the SAS use it," he told the BBC.
Earlier this year an army captain, Rob Carnegie, was found dead on the snow-covered Corn Du mountain. It was thought he was attempting a gruelling 17-40 mile march in freezing conditions in the Brecon Beacons as part of a selection process for the Special Air Service when he collapsed and died. The incident may have wider ramifications for the government's plans to beef up the TA's role. It is due to be to be renamed the Army Reserves and its numbers increased by 50% to 30,000.
The plan is that the reserves will more integrated and play a bigger part in military operations as the regular army faces heavy cuts.
News of the deaths was met with shock in the nearby town of Brecon, which is home to the Infantry Battle School (IBS). The rough and remote terrain of the Brecon Beacons is used by the military for a wide range of exercises for various army personnel. The IBS is based at Brecon and regular and special forces soldiers are regularly tested and trained on the unforgiving landscape. Infantry regiments train at Sennybridge in the area, there is an army base in Brecon and the SAS has a base at nearby Hereford.
Matthew Dorrance, the mayor of Brecon, said: "This is incredibly sad. Our thoughts are with the friends and families of those that have lost their lives and with the person who has been injured. Everyone knows someone who works in the army. It's a major employer here and we're very proud of our military links, which go back many years."
Earlier this year an army captain, Rob Carnegie, was found dead on the snow-covered Corn Du mountain in the park. It was thought he was attempting a gruelling march in freezing conditions in a selection process for the SAS.
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