Steaming bowls of sausage and mash are served up in the ‘scoff house’ dining tent, as iconic tracks from Oasis and Arctic Monkeys blare from a speaker.
British, Spanish, French, and Romanian troops sit together, enjoying a rare moment of relaxation as hundreds of young men and women, many in their teens, tuck into their meals and seek refuge from the biting cold.
It’s a scene that could easily be mistaken for a student hall of residence on a Saturday afternoon.
However, this is far from civilian life. After lunch at the Romanian Army’s Smardan training facility, just 16 miles from the Ukraine border, the troops put down their forks and pick up their weapons.
They return to digging trenches, rehearsing tactical assaults, and resuming medical training that blend lessons from Ukraine’s devastating trench warfare with the modern realities of cyber warfare, drones, and advanced technology.
Welcome to Exercise Steadfast Dart, NATO’s primary exercise for 2025, and the first large-scale deployment of NATO’s new Allied Reaction Force (ARF), designed to rapidly reinforce the alliance’s eastern flank in the event of conflict.
How did invitation to visit Leuchars soldiers in Romania come about?
During my years with The Courier, I’ve had the opportunity to report on many aspects of our military, particularly in Fife and Tayside.
From flying on NATO exercises with the RAF at Leuchars to visiting the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (SCOTS DG) at their base in Fallingbostel, Germany, before their relocation to Leuchars a decade ago, I’ve been fortunate to witness the evolution of our forces firsthand.
I’ve also been witness to the darker times, particularly the late-2000s in my Courier news editor years when many Black Watch soldiers, traditionally recruited from Fife and Tayside, paid the ultimate price in Iraq and Afghanistan, alongside members of 45 Commando from Arbroath.
But when I was recently invited by the British Army to travel 2,000 miles to attend Exercise Steadfast Dart in Romania – a show of strength planned by NATO up to two years prior – I couldn’t have imagined how timely the visit would be.
This British-led exercise involved 10,000 personnel from nine NATO countries, testing their capabilities and interoperability.
Hundreds of British Army vehicles, including Jackals from SCOTS DG, were shipped from the UK to Eastern Europe.
Around 2,500 UK service members, including 140 from SCOTS DG and many from 4 SCOTS, made their way by truck and plane.
As the only Scottish journalist on the trip, my five-day visit promised to be an adventure.
But the contrast between the day-to-day training on the ground and the ongoing real-time challenges to European security was striking.
What did I learn in Romania?
On day one, at a freezing international media event attended by NATO VIPs and around 80 journalists, I witnessed a live-firing exercise and a dramatic battle simulation of an attack from the east.
In the press conference that followed, Admiral Stuart Munsch, who commands America’s naval forces in Europe, condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as “unprovoked.”
Surrealistically, his own president, Donald Trump, had referred to Ukraine’s democratically elected leader, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as a “dictator” and falsely accused him of starting the war – before he then denied he said it.
That afternoon, a Ukrainian-American journalist and I huddled in a heated coffee tent, discussing the future of defence spending and the feasibility of the British putting boots on the ground in Ukraine as part of a potential peacekeeping force.
While the professionalism and training of the British military and NATO forces were beyond question, questions lingered about whether European nations would be able to “step up” as Trump demanded, given years of defence cuts.
What would happen if the US no longer stood behind Europe?
Military commanders answered with confidence, stressing that NATO had kept the peace for 80 years, and exercises like Steadfast Dart were key to maintaining that deterrent.
If an ally was attacked, Article 5 would trigger and NATO would respond.
But the visit also highlighted a chilling reality: While the war in Ukraine might feel distant from Britain, it’s our young men and women who could soon find themselves on the frontlines.
In recent days, Poland has announced military training for all men while Latvia’s president said European countries should ‘absolutely’ introduce conscription.
Leuchars-based SCOTS DG play prominent role amongst Scottish soldiers
At Smardan, where the Saltire flew proudly over the training area, I spoke with 4 SCOTS soldiers who told me they stayed up-to-date with fast-moving geopolitical developments.
Their camaraderie was evident; if they had concerns, they didn’t show it.
Perhaps not a surprise given their professionalism and teamwork.
Behind the scenes, however, there was a strong message: the need for increased defence spending was critical.
Two hours south from our base in Galați, I spent the day with SCOTS DG at Babadag, near the Black Sea, where another live-fire demonstration took place.
Troops chatted about their young families and playing football back home in Fife.
Others talked about feeding scraps to Romanian stray dogs.
Here, the cold was so intense that frozen water bottles had to be thawed indoors.
Yet, despite the lighthearted conversation, there was an underlying question: Could British troops soon find themselves near the frontlines of Ukraine?
Frontline of European security at stake
The tension surfaced during the media day when two English journalists asked a young soldier if he was “looking forward to Ukraine?”
Senior officers quickly intervened, reinforcing that only high-ranking officials could offer strategic insights, emphasising NATO’s readiness for any challenge.
But the threat of conflict felt incredibly real. Being so close to the strategically vital Focșani Gate, where Russian forces could strike deep into NATO territory, made the situation all the more urgent.
The British Army faces significant challenges in defence spending, struggling to balance fiscal constraints with the need to modernise and properly equip forces. Equally, European leaders must consider greater defence autonomy in the face of shifting US commitment.
As I left Romania, the sense of camaraderie and professionalism among the troops was undeniable. Some might say the military industrial complex is alive and well.
But the deepening geopolitical risks made it clear that NATO’s commitment to maintaining peace and readiness is more critical than ever – and history tells us to ignore such threats at our peril.
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