The British Royal Marines recently went up against a formidable enemy. The five-day battle took place in the Mojave Desert in California. The series of exercises, dubbed Green Dagger, included forces from the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, the Netherlands, and the United Arab Emirates. The aim? To fight against the daunting US Marine Corps.

The drill was centered on three urban sprawls guarded by partner troops. The largest of which had 1,200 structures built specifically for the military to demonstrate their might in.

The LRG won critical fights and gained ground on their adversary early on. But as the US Marines advanced into allied territory, the Royal Marines and their allies conducted raids behind enemy lines to prevent additional counterattacks.

Speaking about the exercise, Lieutenant Colonel Andy Dow, Commanding Officer of 40 Commando, said: “Our success has proved the new commando force concept is more lethal and sophisticated than ever before and I am immensely proud of every member of the LRG and their vital contributions.”

“Operating alongside our partners from the USA, Netherlands, Canada and the UAE gives us a fantastic opportunity. To not only test and integrate, but also continue to push our capabilities in new and innovative directions. Throughout this deployment our focus has been on integrating game-changing capabilities from across the commando force to deliver disproportional effect in the face of a free-thinking peer adversary,” he said.

Several media reports suggest that US troops didn’t even make it halfway through the exercise. That is before they asked for a do-over. Toward the end of the exercise, our Marines, who started with less than 20% of the area, were in control of around 65%.

It’s indeed a great feat to go up against one of the best trained sets of people. And come out with such a fantastic result.

A few weeks ago, the Royal Marines were a part of the largest military exercise in Australia. This is where they used drones for the first time during a drill. Such events help highlight the rigorous work that our Marines put into building their strength.

Suffice to say, these lads were born ready.