A PHONE and broadband engineer from Bolton has been engaged in honing his skills as an artillery gunner

Army reservist Chris Bulley, aged 34, has been training on Exercise Steel Sabre in Northumberland, which aims to test full and part-time soldiers’ ability to fight alongside each other.

The new training regime forms part of the British Army’s 2020 plan — which is geared towards making Army Reservists play a greater role in defence.

Lance Bombardier Bulley, who has been in the Army Reserve for 10 years, has been on previous training exercises in locations including The Falkland Islands, Germany and Denmark.

He also completed a tour of Afghanistan in 2009.

The father-of-one said: “It’s my job to make sure the elevation and bearing of the gun is correct and fire it.

“It’s cold, windy and pretty grim up in Northumberland, but we’re working with Regular Army Regiments really closely.”

The telecoms engineer serves with the Army Reserve unit Bolton-based 216 Battery of 103 Royal Artillery, but was firing as part of the full time North East Gunners of 4 Regiment Royal Artillery.

His regiment were using a versatile L118 “light gun”, which can hurl 15kg shells more than 12 miles with precision onto a designated target.

Mr Bulley, who has a four year-old son called Oliver with fiancée Natasha, said: “The role of the artillery is to give support to the guys on the ground if they get in a sticky situation.

“Our guns have been providing high explosive, smoke or battlefield illumination at night-time.

“We’ve started to work really closely with 4 RA recently — we train with them and supplement them and support them so that we can go on operations with them when needed.”

The British Army regards Exercise Steel Sabre as a crucial step in terms of preparation for future operations, which tests personnel on their ability to perform in environments contaminated by chemical, biological or nuclear material.