Final Exercise

Thursday marked the start of our final phase of training and would turn out to be the most demanding and rewarding two days of the course.

Before the exercise however we had to pass the CBRN theory and practical tests. So packed up with Webbing, helmet, respirator, Bergen with full kit including sleeping bags and roll mats we headed off for the days training.

The theory test went well for me, another 100% but this is testament to the course rather than my ability to learn. We were then into full CBRN kit for the practical test.

Despite a small flap with my drill I managed to get the respirator on in 9 secs and complete some of the other drills outside before heading into the CS gas environment for the remaining tests.

The first drill involved decontaminating the face and head for which the respirator needs to be removed. After my last appointment with CS, this was not a prospect I was looking forward too. Helmet off, hood down, a deep breath and close the eyes and the respirator is off. Straight away the CS burns the exposed sweaty skin but this is where the training kicks in. Keep calm and keep the eyes shut and it's no where near as bad as the other day. Respirator back on and a sharp breath out the clear the gas and I'm breathing again with just a little of the gas in my nose. We had to repeat this task 5 times and each time I looked to my buddy next to me and the look in his eyes must have been the same as mine for we both understood. Do we really have to do this again! With some hesitance but increasing confidence we finished off the remaining 4 removals and then the final drill of eating and we were back in the fresh air. All relieved and all passed, a great feeling.

We then had a full kit inspection ahead of the night exercise to ensure we all had the correct kit and were not taking anything we didn't need. The kit was heavy enough. Lessons on map reading, IEDs and then tents followed. We were briefed by the Sergeant on the forthcoming exercise and given a basic introduction to patrolling as a section.

We then set up camp with 6 tents for the 3 sections plus wash tent, quick reaction force tent and command post. Next we were given an introduction to reaction to effective enemy fire. This involved the leopard crawl, the classic army style belly crawl and the monkey run, a kind of knee drag. This was practiced on an open field and even 25m of movement was extremely tiring. We then moved in bounds over maybe 100-125m in short running bursts. By the end of this with just empty webbing and a rifle we were all puffing pretty hard. It's hard to imagine how hard this is in Afgan with full kit, radios, water, ammo and body armour in 40 degree heat.

We returned to camp for a lesson on the 24h ration pack and I had beef stew with sliced apple pudding. The rest of the rations were packed away for tomorrow.

It was then back to the hanger to get a lesson on face camo. Basically the idea us to apply a light brown base coat enough to make the face dirty and then add darker streaks to break up the shape of the face. We were warned not to look like a Malteaser. After a while three of the team wee placed out front so we could observe their work, and in true 3 bears fashion one was too light, one was too dark and one was just right. The lad with the dark face looked hilarious as if he was part of the black and white minstrel show.

Back to base camp then and 1 section were on first watch from 11-1, 2 section from 1-3 and my 3 section from 3-5 with everyone getting up at 5. So at least we had 4 hours sleep to look forward to. I got into my bivvy bag with my Rifle, I wasn't going to let anyone get hold of it while I slept and settled down for the night.

Dave