Daniel trains with Italian army

A PART-time soldier from Warrington has been training near Venice – with the Italian Army.
Kingsman Daniel Walsh – a medical insurance adviser when he’s not in uniform – was among more than 80 men and women, most of them Army Reservists, from Anzio Company, 4th Battalion The Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment (4 LANCS), who spent two weeks working with Italy’s 7th Infantry Regiment and 32nd Tank Regiment.
The 4 LANCS Infantry company not only includes fighting soldiers but also medics, chefs, training officers and other support staff, most of whom have civilian jobs but spend their spare time training as Army soldiers.
Daniel, 24, (pictured) joined the Army Reserve just over two years ago and has been working as a rifleman, a far cry from his day job.
He said: “I like the change in lifestyle. After being sat down all day in the office it’s good to get out on exercise. Whenever I go back into the office after something like this I have a lot of confidence because anything I am asked to do is unlikely to be quite as challenging as the training we are asked to do in here or on operations.”
Daniel served for six months in Afghanistan starting last year.
“Our job was to assist the Afghan Police. We took a support role and allowed them to lead on the operations that were taking place out there. It was great working with the regular soldiers – we joined up with them and they took us in and treated us as their own.”
Based at Camp Cellina Meduna in the north of the country, Exercise Roman Star was designed to link the reservists’ training with that of other NATO forces and ensure the best tactics and techniques are shared between partner nations. It tested vehicle drills, attacks, night patrols, ambushes and ways to draw enemy soldiers out from cover.
Daniel admitted it was hard to leave Jack his two year-old son for two weeks, but said he has really enjoyed being on exercise with the Italian Army.
“Their vehicles are helping to make our job a lot easier than it might have been and they have been really friendly too – they are looking after us and always seem to be about when we need them.
Daniel added: “This exercise is completely different to the training I had before I deployed to Afghanistan. I am learning new things because this exercise is more about conventional warfare – not specifically for Afghanistan; it’s a different pace, different tactics and a very different way of living in the field.”