February 1st 2010 saw the start of the Winter MRX (Mission Rehersal Exercise) on the Salisbury Plain. This is held twice a year to prepare units that are about to deploy to Afghanistan.

I was lucky enough to spend a short amount of time with a Lynx Mk.9 pilot. When i asked him what he thought of the exercise he had this to say: "This exercise has had its highs and lows, to be honest the biggest contributing factor was the weather. We've literally just got back from Kenya so it's from one extreme to the other. "

I spent a considerable amount of time following the exercise, come rain, snow or sun...