[DRG]

Originally Posted by DRG

What would be most instructive would be the roster of troop strength by nationality involved in this exercise. So far, I have not found one

It took some digging but it **appears** there were a series of exercises done on that base in Oct 2021

One was BLACK ALLIGATOR 15 conducted from Aug. 5 through Oct. 15.

https://www.29palms.marines.mil/Arti...udes-with-bbq/

that one involved

Approximately 1,000 British Royal Marines and 170 Dutch Royal Army soldiers

Black Alligator is an annual training exercise, with this year’s iteration enabling British Royal Marines and Dutch Royal Army forces to refresh their expeditionary warfighting capabilities while working in tandem with U.S. forces.

Then there was Green Dagger which is the one referenced by the British Press and that was also held October 2021


https://www.joint-forces.com/exercis...-in-the-mojave

The conclusion of the exercises, known as GREEN DAGGER, was five days of gruelling warfighting which saw allied forces – from the US, Canada, United Arab Emirates, the Netherlands and UK – join forces to take on a highly-equipped US Marine Corps adversary.

That link gives a more even handed account as does this

https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-an...n-green-dagger

Specialists from across Commando Logistic Regiment, 30 Commando Information Exploitation Group, 24 Commando Royal Engineers and 29 Commando Royal Artillery have joined 40 Commando in the desert along with 12 Raiding Squadron of the Netherlands Marine Corps.

The plan over the coming weeks is to stress test this commando group and refresh key soldiering skills to ensure they are prepared for full operations.

The response group comprised approx 500 British and 120 Dutch troops.

The commandos will form an adversary force for US Marines during a Mountain Training Exercise that will test both forces’ guile in the unforgiving surroundings.

also......

https://www.forbes.com/sites/michael...h=7f0aa24265f0

https://www.forces.net/news/royal-ma...fornian-desert

and finally.........

https://taskandpurpose.com/voices/us...ning-exercise/

The British 40 Commando was a subordinate unit under the 7th Marines, alongside a Marine Special Operations Company and a Marine infantry battalion (2/5). Opposing them under the 3rd Marines were two battalions of Marine infantry along with various supporting units. There was no part of the exercise in which 40 Commando was pitted alone against a U.S. Marine unit

Now what is interesting about that last link is on one hand it is written

The exercise which the Telegraph mistakenly calls “Green Dagger”

then goes on to call it "Exercise Green Dagger"

Apparently the "error" there was not putting "Exercise" in front of "Green Dagger"

Potato-Potatoe

This all points out that no matter who writes about an event there WILL be a spin put on it either by the writer or the Editor and the last article was written by someone who "retired from the Marine Corps as a colonel in 2019"

.... so no inherent bias there.....

No matter what you read or hear there will always be two ( or more ) sides to the story.

Finally a quote from the last article (* I added the bold)

All of this is to say that MWX creates a steep learning curve for all units involved – regardless of background or nationality. The Royal Marine 40 Commando participating in this year’s exercise was an exceptionally capable unit, and the U.S. units involved certainly were able to learn lessons from them about the use of sensors, logistic resupply and just plain old-fashioned ground reconnaissance. And, as I am sure that they would be among the first to acknowledge, 40 Commando – in common with all participating units – made plenty of mistakes. That is what exercises are for.