Page 24 - MERCIAN Eagle 2022

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Ghana Short-Term Training Team (STTT)
I led an STTT to Ghana to deliver a Husky Driver Maintenance Instructor (DMI) course and tactical training. The ten-person team was drawn from 1 MERCIAN, 3 SCOTS, the Royal Artillery and the REME to live and work in Accra for three months.
The course involved close integration with the Ghanian Armed Forces (GAF) 153 Mechanised Infantry Battalion to deliver training in a sprawling African metropolis. The students were a composite of troops generated from multiple Mechanised Infantry Battalions across Ghana. All students arrived keen and ready to learn.
The team hit the ground running, delivering a full Husky Drivers course over two weeks. The cross-country phase tested our drivers’ off-road skills, learning to operate and repair their vehicles in the bush and hills of the Bundase
Training Area. Despite
being mild for West
Africa, temperatures
regularly exceeded 30
degrees centigrade
with a humidity of 70%.
The urban phase only
grew in complexity.
The British team was
Capt Arnold, instructors and the 153 Mech Inf Bn Command Team – Ghana Jul 22
still unused to the organised chaos of West African traffic. Only by the end of the two-week package did we acclimatise to the seemingly anarchical traffic.
The commanders phase was significantly easier, our troops found their confidence
and drove their 13 tonne vehicles through crowded streets with aplomb. The STTT now focused
on developing the leadership and command skills of the students,
by handing responsibility to the student commanders. It culminated
in two weeks of fast paced training. We were on the road each day, conducting ‘mounted patrols’ through the city to improve commanding under pressure.
Aside from delivering training, the STTT proved to be an excellent opportunity to explore a new and interesting country. In the three months the team visited heritage sites, local markets, and national parks around Accra. The nightlife and food was also much better than the team could have expected, with excellent opportunities
to relax and unwind once training was complete.
I cannot recommend enough taking the opportunity to deploy on an STTT. It was
an excellent chance to develop myself
by organising and deploying soldiers at reach from the UK. Also it was a genuinely interesting and diverse job which differs from the normal daily jogging of Battalion life.
Despite being mild for West Africa, temperatures regularly exceeded 30 degrees centigrade with a humidity of 70%
THE MERCIAN EAGLE
Capt Arnold – Accra off-road training – Ghana Jul 22