The central plateau is alive with the sounds of soldiers, live fire and vehicles, as Exercise Viper takes over Army's training area.
Exercise Viper is a combined arms exercise, taking place until 17 June, and involves over 400 soldiers and officers, and over 100 vehicles, providing the logistics, medical, artillery, communications and engineering units required to complete the exercise.
Major Steve Challies, exercise coordinator, said the exercise was based on a series of scenarios that simulate typical encounters with hostile insurgents. "It's based on an Afghanistan scenario, but could be used across all areas that NZ Army works in."
This exercise is the last major training activity for 1RNZIR's Victor Company before it undertakes specific pre-deployment training prior to deploying to Afghanistan.
Whether firing small arms, detonating 200kg of explosives, or using LAVs in the field – Exercise Viper allows NZ Army to plan and conduct training scenarios that in turn allow soldiers and officers to access a range of experiences under various conditions, environments, and time requirements - so that New Zealand's Army remains upskilled, and ready to go.
NZ Army
