Page 15 - Wish Stream 2023 CREST

Sandhurst is a course made up of mile- stones. As Juniors, you stumble from day to day trying to keep up. On occasion, we succeed in doing so without any loss of enthu- siasm, thus satisfying Churchill’s definition of success. Ex LONG REACH, the 60km slog through the Black Mountains, accompanied by your section and the 28kg on your back, is one of these milestones and a
OCdt Sands
for his exemplary leadership throughout the situation. He took charge of the communica- tions with the rescue team in an extremely pro- fessional manner, which no doubt stopped the situation from spiralling any further.
fitting metaphor for how Juniors
can sometimes feel. Although
the end of the first 5 weeks is
the most famous milestone in
the Juniors calendar, Ex LONG
REACH has a special reputa-
tion. There is a history there, a
feeling of validation instilled by
its unchanged format stretch-
ing back decades. Even the
Colour and Staff Sergeants, who complete Long Reach on the cadre, called it “achievable but horrible, an absolute griz.”
33 Platoon had mixed fortunes in the moun- tains with 1 Section having to carry out a casu- alty evacuation from X-Ray after a member of the section developed hypothermia. Thankfully everyone recovered fully from the ordeal and OCdt Roberts, deservedly, was commended
With the lows came incredible highs for 33 Platoon as, after much anticipation, 2 Section were crowned winners of CC233’s LONG REACH. Despite their suc- cess, 2 Section’s LONG REACH was far from a breeze as they lined up mountains, abandoning pac- ings but sticking to bearings until the top. Different people struggled through different points but were able to push through as a team. As the hours went on, naviga- tion became harder, following the noise of a river that it turned out didn’t exist and spending time following the sound of a generator that turned out to be as real as the river. Nonetheless they marched on through the mountains as a team, and as a team they marched on to receive their medals. Congratu- lations to 2 Section, 33 Platoon who will have their callsign on the Ex LONG REACH Board
for decades to come!
Exercise LONG REACH: a 33 PL PERSPECTIVE
Different people struggled through different points but were able to push through as a team
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