Page 69 - MERCIAN Eagle 2018

Cyprus Walkdown – Sgt Gary Morrissey
20 Oct 18 saw members of the 2 MERCIAN Det take on the annual Cyprus Walk down. Our team consisted of our RAO Capt Mark
Cyprus Walkdown
Jones, FSA SSgt Teresa Green, Sys Coord Sgt Gary Morrissey (me), Cpl Einstein Amazu, LCpl Gopal Gurung and a ringer
in BFC J1 VWO WO2 Damien Hames. Cpl Amazu stepped up thinking it would be a walk in the park, little did he know!
In usual army fashion, we set of with
a spring in our step completing the first 10k up to check point 1 in well under an hour. The air was still cool and we were
all smiling, then came the steady climb to check point 2: the cool air was gone and the sun was out in full force. Faces were red but we were half way; so still smiles all round. Another few miles down and it was
about now that a few feet were starting to get sore. SSgt Green had changed into her running sandals and my choice of music was wearing thin, small talk had all but vanished and single file had materialised.
By the time we reached check point 3, Cpl Amazu was secretly regretting coming, although his face showed nothing but determination, he carried on. Soon we could see the sea and our housing estates which jeered us on up to check point 4 where we were met with some old-school sweets. After 5 and a half hours we crossed the line and the smiles were back, until I asked who’s up for it next year!
Ex APHRODITE EAGLE Sub-Aqua AT – Lt Plumb (B Coy)
9 members of B (Malta) Coy spent the final week of October completing their PADI Open Water Scuba Diver course. PADI OWSD is a four-day course which takes participants from a sub-aqua novice to a competent diver, down to 18m deep.
The course was organised with Kembali Diving School. Due to the lack of ATGA courses available, outside instructors and kit were required. Fortunately, Kembali Director Chris Sarjeant is ex-military as are almost all of his instructors. They were delighted we had approached them and very happy that the Battalion were getting stuck into AT so early into life on island. They offered a great package deal with everything included.
With the help of some funding from
the Battalion, HQ BFC and utilising their Standard Learning Credits, the participants only paid £60 for the entire course. It was great value for money.
Unfortunately, some pre-course learning was required in order to learn some techniques used in the water and some science explaining how diving physically effects the human body. From learning how
to breathe from emergency oxygen and diving without a mask in the pool on day
1, to performing Controlled Emergency Swimming Ascents (CESA) on day 3. All the learning was relevant and important to know
off pat, in case of real time emergencies. Despite the studying, it was great fun to see people struggle to get their masks back on and float up to the surface without realising. Furthermore, all the tests became
THE MERCIAN EAGLE
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