It is typically a battle group formed around a light infantry battalion, or Commando, with force elements from other arms allocated.
The SLE is oriented towards low and medium-intensity operations such as regional security, disaster-relief or non-combatant evacuation.
Equipment and supplies can be kept up to the necessary establishment relatively simply but the readiness of the soldiers, individually and collectively, inevitably declines unless active measures are taken to maintain it.
The value of collective training diminishes over time, individual skills fade rapidly if not practised continually and administrative matters, such as passports, vaccinations and next of kin documentation, require constant refreshment (including keeping up with the constant inflow and outflow of personnel).
A number of measures are taken to mitigate this potential ‘readinessfade’, as battalions are unlikely to participate in a high-value overseas training exercise more often than once every 2 – 21/2 years.