Castlemartin Training Area

The Castlemartin Training Area is located at Castlemartin in Pembrokeshire and covers 6000acre of land in South Western Wales. It is owned by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and is located within the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. The ranges are active for 44 weeks of the year and when in use can include a coastal exclusion zone of some 12nmi off the coast, or as little as 3nmi depending on weapons systems /munitions being used. HistoryThe Castlemartin Training Area was established in 1938 from deserted and inhabited farmlands and from the ruins of the Cawdor Estate. The ranges were abandoned by the military just after the Second World War, but were re-instated in 1951 when the Korean War started. In 1961 there was a shortage of suitable tank training areas in the Northern part of Germany for the then recently reactivated German Tank Units. The British Army of the Rhine (BAOR), extensively used the ranges at the Bergen-Hohne Training Area which totalled as their training demands could not be met by the short acreage available in the United Kingdom. Therefore a NATO accordance was agreed in Paris whereby the fledging German forces could use the 5000acre range at Castlemartin. This relationship between the German Armoured Units and Castlemartin lasted until October 1996, when after Germany reunification, additional ranges in Eastern Germany became available. The Ranges todayIn 1999 the Defence Training Estate was formed and units from all over the UK and NATO have trained on the ranges.

The Castlemartin Training Area is located at Castlemartin in Pembrokeshire and covers 6000acre of land in South Western Wales. It is owned by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and is located within the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. The ranges are active for 44 weeks of the year and when in use can include a coastal exclusion zone of some 12nmi off the coast, or as little as 3nmi depending on weapons systems /munitions being used. HistoryThe Castlemartin Training Area was established in 1938 from deserted and inhabited farmlands and from the ruins of the Cawdor Estate. The ranges were abandoned by the military just after the Second World War, but were re-instated in 1951 when the Korean War started. In 1961 there was a shortage of suitable tank training areas in the Northern part of Germany for the then recently reactivated German Tank Units. The British Army of the Rhine (BAOR), extensively used the ranges at the Bergen-Hohne Training Area which totalled as their training demands could not be met by the short acreage available in the United Kingdom. Therefore a NATO accordance was agreed in Paris whereby the fledging German forces could use the 5000acre range at Castlemartin. This relationship between the German Armoured Units and Castlemartin lasted until October 1996, when after Germany reunification, additional ranges in Eastern Germany became available. The Ranges todayIn 1999 the Defence Training Estate was formed and units from all over the UK and NATO have trained on the ranges.