RG soldier first to receive Wider Service Medal

Corporal Aiden Cooper of the Royal Gibraltar Regiment has been awarded a Wider Service Medal (WSM), he is the first member of the RG to receive this award during his second tour in Estonia. 

The WSM is awarded to personnel delivering crucial operational impact, where the physical risk to life is lower than traditionally required for an operational medal.  

Cpl Cooper is one of nineteen soldiers and officers of the Royal Gibraltar Regiment (RG) who have been deployed in Estonia on Operation Cabrit, a NATO mission in the Baltics, since October 2024. 

During the Christmas period, Cpl Cooper and his comrades were visited by UK Defence Secretary John Healey who thanked them for their service. 

The six-month deployment sees the soldiers integrated into a British armoured cavalry Regiment, the Royal Dragoon Guards (RDG), working as a combined arms battle group alongside Allies from the French Army and Estonian Defence Forces.  

The British Army’s deployments to Estonia are an important contribution to NATO’s Enhanced Forward Presence.