Page 109 - RSDG Year of 2021 CREST

EAGLE AND CARBINE 115
although because of the pandemic, briefs were mostly online and virtual, but that did not dull the experience too much. After the first few weeks, the assignments started rolling in and I settled into a rhythm of study, prepare, and deliver. This made the time roll by and we fast approached mid-term. By this point we had gelled in our syndicate and were at ease with what was required from us. The ‘deliver’ part was a mixture of written and verbal, and I gained some really good scores from both, more so the verbal as I was able to bring real life experience from my career to the discussions. This again shows that we all have something to give. In delivering my brief on Hezbollah I decided to attack it from the point of the enemy commander, something which my King’s College lecturer said was novel and exciting. This could have been him being polite but I did get some good marks!
The pandemic had a lot to answer for and as such we, as a course, had no bar to visit and our much-anticipated trips to France and America were cancelled. Not one to let an opportunity pass, I opened a ‘Speak Easy’ and there were several regulars who enjoyed a clandestine even- ing meeting in the 1920 Club, so called because it was the roof terrace outside room 19 and 20 where you had to bring a bottle and wrap up warm, all within the lockdown restrictions at that point.
We fast approached the Operations Term where we split in to new mixed syndicates and started to look at Divisional Operation Planning and UK Operations. By this point we had been sent home into another lockdown and delayed our return. This term was my least favourite: we were doing planning at Divisional level and not always in front of the team you were working with. This made the task that little bit harder and complicated the process; nonetheless, we worked through the problems using Zoom, Skype, Microsoft Teams and the old favourite WhatsApp!
During this time, we still had to deliver essays and write submissions towards our overall end- of-course report score. The final exam loomed and in conversation with the Directing Staff I
asked why we had it at that point of the course. I was less than impressed when he said it was pointless most of us doing it because it was only needed to sort out the top 10% of the course. These small throw-away comments marred for me what was a really good course. In the Operations Term the LEs contributed to things that were not even part of the discussion around the table; things like G4 which ‘Just Happens’ are learned through a life of experience and need consideration. Deception is something which has to be included in every phase of planning. Mean Failure Rates proved to be something a lot of my peers had never heard of. This all showed that the team has to be from a mixed back- ground: diversity brings experience and we all have a part to play and something to offer.
The course showed that a lot of people were excellent at writing, yet they crumbled in front of a class of 15 when delivering a five minute chat on ‘Command in Gallipoli in 1915’. Some of us had a breadth of experience in the operations area but lacked the finesse of a Divisional plan. The course taught me several things, and none more so than that the team is the most impor- tant aspect of the plan. Every person from the trooper to the commander has a part to play and any part missing is a concern. Some of my peers left the course with other opinions, but, in the end, it was a fantastic experience which, if you find yourself on, you have to make your own.
I now work in the Army Personnel Centre and one of my first tasks was to review the end of course reports for the ICSC course to ensure it was fit for purpose from a policy perspective. I took great pride in highlighting the grammar and punctuation errors in their work, but only to my boss. It’s funny how Poacher turns Game Keeper! As I write this working from home, I’m acutely aware that we are in the midst of change and the Officer Terms of Service will change who attends the course. But when but if you get the opportunity, jump at it and be Second to None, regardless of what the brief says.