PARATROOPERS based in Colchester are training alongside their international counterparts on a US Army-led exercise in southern Germany.

C Company, 2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment (C Coy, 2 Para) is on Exercise Swift Response, the largest multi-national airborne exercise in Europe since the end of the Cold War.

About 4,800 soldiers from 11 Nato countries are training together to improve their ability to operate together in response to international crises.

The British troops parachuted into the Hohenfels Training Area from two RAF C-130J Hercules, as part of a mass drop of 1,300 paratroopers from 13 aircraft.

The paratroopers then marched overnight to capture an airstrip for additional troops and equipment to be landed.

From there, the paratroopers carried out an evacuation operation to take international observers to safety.

As the security situation worsened, the task force launched offensive operations against the insurgents.

Major Ben Morales, of 2 Para, said: “This exercise has been a great experience for our paratroopers.

“We haven’t trained with the Italian and American units we worked with and only met each other 48 hours before the exercise started. We were able to make a plan that reflected each of our different ways of operating, and then got on with it.”