Military personnel of the 3rd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland have returned home to their base in Inverness following a sixth-month stint in Iraq.
More than 300 soldiers and officers from 3 SCOTS were deployed to Al Asad airbase in Iraq in January to train the local Iraqi Army and Kurdish Peshmerga Forces in basic infantry techniques.
3 SCOTS were working alongside personnel from 2 SCOTS The Royal Highland Fusiliers to train the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) to aid their efforts in combating ISIS (Daesh) threats in the region and any potential attacks from the bordering nations of Syria and Iran.
The training partnership is part of an operation called Operation Shader, the UK’s contribution to the fight against Daesh throughout the Middle East.
Upon their departure, the on-going operation was handed over to the solders of the US Army’s 3rd Cavalry Regiment.
Following their six month deployment to the Middle East, the troops landed at Prestwick Airport in Ayrshire on Wednesday before being bussed north to their base at Fort George.
Family members of returning soldiers gave their a warm welcome home yesterday as they arrived back at their Inverness base.
Over 500 British soldiers were deployed to Iraq in non-combat roles as part of Operation Shader which included 250 2SCOTS and 282 3SCOTS. Around 75,000 ISF have been trained to date in skills like countering Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), infantry skills, combat medical techniques and engineering skills.
