148 ( Meiktila ) Battery Royal Artillery 148 ( Meiktila ) Commando Forward Observation Battery is a specialist Naval Gunfire Support Forward Observation ( NGSFO ) unit within 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery of 3 Commando Brigade Royal Marines . The unit provides Fire Support Teams ( FST - formerly called Forward Observation parties ) to control and co - ordinate Naval fires ( naval gunfire support , naval air delivered guided and unguided munitions ) from Royal Navy and allied ships , land based air delivered munitions and artillery fire from the gun batteries of 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery , when ashore in support of 3 Commando Brigade . In support of this role , the battery provides FSTs to the Royal Navy when conducting training on a variety of gunnery ranges around the world . 148 Battery ' s FSTs comprise gunners of the Royal Artillery , already qualified members of the regiment when posted into the battery , augmented by Royal Navy communications personnel ( signallers ) who are required to undergo the All Arms Commando Course . All personnel within the battery are also parachute trained . The battery is supported by a Battery Fitter Section from 29 Regiment ' s attached Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers Workshop , also commando qualified . The battery and its Battery Fitter Section are based at RM Poole in Dorset , co - located with the Special Boat Service and 1 Assault Group Royal Marines . Battery structure . The battery is formed into a number of Fire Support Teams ( FSTs ) , operating ashore or in advance of the Forward Edge of Battle Area , to observe and identify candidate targets , conduct preliminary Battle Damage Assessment , adjust fire or provide target illumination for laser guided weapons . The battery consists of HQ personnel , Fire Support Teams and administrative and logistical support personnel . FSTs consist of five men ; a patrol commander ( a Captain Royal Artillery ) , with a Bombardier RA as the second in command ( 2IC ) . The rest of the team consists of a ( Royal Navy ) communicator , RA Lance Bombardier , and Gunner . The team can be split in two with the Bombardier commanding one team and the Captain the other . All unit members are capable of co - ordinating air strikes and directing artillery fire . Selection and introductory training . Volunteers for the battery must first complete the All Arms Commando Course , and basic parachute course . After Commando qualification , unless already Observation Post qualified , they then undergo six months of basic Gunnery Control training and Observation Post operations . Personnel are trained in infiltration and exfiltration , covert observation , target identification and location , voice and data communications , adjusting gunfire from both afloat and ashore , and Forward Air Control ( FAC ) techniques . Upon completion of the course the new Naval Gunfire Assistant ( NGA ) will be assigned to a Forward Observation team for a probationary period . Continuation and unit training . Once an NGA has completed probation the candidate may be selected to undergo further amphibious training beyond that of AACC . During amphibious training , NGA ' s are trained in over - water parachute infiltration . Training is also conducted in Small / Fast Boat Coxswains ; Small / Fast Boat operations and long - range surface navigation . Much of the training is conducted at night with this being the preferred time for covert infiltration and exfiltration . One team member ( the team medic ) is also cross trained as a combat medical technician with additional medical training in BATLS ( Battlefield Advanced Trauma Life Support ) BARTs ( Battlefield Advanced Resuscitation ) . The unit conducts training in various exercises and climates including mountain and arctic , jungle , desert and temperate . It regularly deploys with Royal Marines units to Norway for annual cold weather warfare training and to Belize for jungle warfare training . Given the similar skillsets there is a level of training with the USMC ' s Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company ( ANGLICO ) and Netherlands Marine Corps Marine Joint Effects Observer Groups to standardise procedures to assure interoperability . Equipment . The battery uses the vehicles and standard equipment of 3 Commando Brigade , supplemented with specialist observation capabilities ; night vision , voice and data communications and target indication such as Laser Target Designators and GPS location . Personal weapons are the L85A2 , with the L7 General Purpose Machine Gun ( GPMGs ) and Minimi as support fire weapons . History . Formation . Originally formed during the Second World War , the unit eventually evolved into the 95 Forward Observation Unit ( 95 FOU ) . In 1975 the unit was reduced to its current size and co - located with the SBS at RM Poole . It was tasked with providing FO teams to the Royal Marines , the Parachute Regiment ; the ACE Mobile Force ( Land ) ( AMF ( L ) ) and the SBS . The smaller sized unit soon found it was unable to meet its many obligations . The Falklands War . After the Argentine invasion of the Falklands , the unit deployed to the South Atlantic where it operated alongside both the SAS and SBS . The skills of the Commando - trained unit were in high demand as commanders re - discovered their usefulness . FO teams were relocated about the islands as the British advanced on the capital at Port Stanley . Three British civilians in Port Stanley were killed by British naval gunfire controlled by the unit , when a ships ' gun beacon MIP radar malfunctioned . The three women were sheltering in a part of the town which the FO team officer had been briefed was free of civilians . The FO team were themselves in a very exposed position to the north of the town . The FO officer calculated the ship ' s error , but the ship ' s computer system did not indicate anything wrong , so after three rounds were fired the FO officer dismissed the ship from the firing line . The ship ' s weapons staff spent the next 24 hours going through their system , and discovered their radar had not locked onto the correct datum point , creating an error in firing equal to that calculated by the FO officer . The Argentine military command were very quick to announce this error as a deliberate act of aggression towards the Islanders . The FO team , which was still conducting covert reconnaissance and bombardment , learned of the tragedy from the BBC World Service . FO teams called artillery fire and air strikes onto Argentine positions in support of every major British assault . With the Argentine surrender , the unit returned to their home in Poole . Persian Gulf 1991 . 148 provided teams initially in Northern Iraq and later assisted in the Scud missile hunt . Balkan Wars . 148 provided fire support to various British formations . Casualties . Lance Bombardier Ross Clark aged 25 from South Africa , and Lance Bombardier Liam McLaughlin , aged 21 from Lancashire , were killed during a rocket attack in the Sangin area of Helmand province on Saturday 3 March 2007 . Iraq 2003 – present . 3 Commando Brigade conducted an amphibious landing to occupy the Al Faw Peninsula during Operation TELIC , the 2003 invasion of Iraq . On the first night of Op TELIC 1 the unit suffered its first deaths of the war where a US Marine helicopter carrying a joint 148 Bty party and other members of the BRF crashed close to the Iraq Border . The unit was attached to 42 Commando RM . The Battery provided Forward Observation support to HMS MARLBOROUGH , HMS CHATHAM , HMAS ANZAC and to the 105mm gun batteries of 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery .