Royal Marines welcome 33 new leaders as future leaders pass gruelling 60-week training course Royal Marines welcome 33 new leaders as future leaders pass gruelling 60-week training course Read more posts and click here

The Royal Marines welcomed 33 new officers to the elite band of brothers as the future leaders completed 15 months of training – regarded as the hardest and longest course for any officer in NATO – to earn their coveted green berets.

The head of the Royal Marines, Maj Gen Ed Davis, was the Guest of Honour as the 33 successful candidates paraded before families at the spiritual home of the Corps, the Commando Training Centre at Lympstone.

Pictures: LA(Phot) Jason Ballard, CTCRM

THESE are the new breed of men who will lead the Royal Navy’s ultimate warriors – potentially into battle – in the 350th anniversary year of the Corps.

The Royal Marines welcomed 33 new officers to the elite band of brothers as the future leaders completed 15 months of training – regarded as the hardest and longest course for any officer in NATO – to earn their coveted green berets.

During the passing-out day at the Commando Training Centre in Lympstone, near Exeter, the young officers – known throughout their training as YOs – delivered a presentation to their proudly-assembled families and the Commandant General of the Royal Marines, Major General Ed Davis, to show what they had done throughout their time in training.

They then performed a precision display of drill on Lympstone’s parade square wearing their ceremonial ‘blues’ uniforms.

Maj Gen Davis inspects some of the successful new RM officers

Sixty weeks before this auspicious day, the YOs had arrived at the imposing establishment as civilians.

The goal: to pass out as elite Royal Marines Troop Commanders, each now capable of leading 30 highly-trained commandos in any environment, anywhere in the world.

Throughout the 60-week course they have been pushed to their physical and mental limits.  Deploying on exercise for up to three weeks at a time, they had to carry loads on their backs – which sometimes weighed over 100lbs – across vast distances in some of the toughest terrain in the UK.

Despite often working at the point of exhaustion, they still had to be able to command and lead whilst learning their trade.

Dressed in the Corps’ trademark lovat green, the young officers give a presentation on what they’ve been through over the past 15 months to families

The pinnacle of this was their completing the YO Commando Course which culminates with the four commando tests – including the infamous 30-mile yomp.

YOs are expected to complete these tests in faster times than recruits – the ultimate demonstration to prove they can do what their men can, and more.

“They have endured what is generally acknowledged as the most demanding basic military training syllabus in the western hemisphere and have flourished into capable young officers ready to take their place in the Royal Marines,” explained Major Mike Scanlon, Officer Commanding Royal Marines Initial Officer Training.

“The training of young officers remains one of the key activities conducted at CTCRM. The fact that officers train alongside their recruit counterparts is unique within defence and allows the forging of a common commando mindset and spirit at the foundation of their careers,

In addition to the 33 Royal Marines YOs, four international students undertook the training and were inspected by Maj Gen Davis. Two lieutenants from the UAE, and one each from the Lebanon and Botswana, shared the hardships and excitement of the course alongside their British counterparts.

The 33 YOs have now taken their places as troop commanders in the Corps’ front-line operational units.