Page 76 - WishStream Year of 2023

Sandhurst Cup
OCdt Wright
While some spent their Easter leave on the streets of London on Golden Orb, 22 other OCdts and Staff travelled to the United States Military Academy at West Point to compete in the annual Sandhurst Military Skills Competi- tion. Dating back to 1967, the two-day competition saw our two teams (Red and Blue) go up against 46 others from Canada, South
modation with the Academy’s companies, we set about getting to know the American’s methods and SOPs. Massively aided by our training back at RMAS, we zeroed our M4 Carbines, practiced directing fires on simulators and donned CBRN kit again, bringing back hazy memories of Ex SLIM’S STAND.
The event itself easily presented the hardest physical challenge most of us had ever faced, and definitely in our military careers thus far. A strong showing in the seeding relay saw the Red Team facing off against four USMA companies and South Korea; the Blue Team against West Point’s best in USMA Black. Eight stands com- prised our route around West Point on the first day, with what turned into a 2km best-effort race between each stand proving physically exhausting.
The competition provided us with an opportunity to put into practice all aspects of our training thus far as we tried to offset the home teams’ advan- tage. Indeed, we had to fall back on our Sandhurst experience – be it in Battlefield Casualty Drills or communications – much more than we expected. Safe to say it was satisfying realising the work of
Korea, Germany and West Point
itself, to name but a few. Whittled
down over the course of the Inter-
mediate Term, the squad worked in
extra training alongside the usual
demands of the Commissioning
Course. From getting hands on with
the C8 rifle and Glock pistol, to 6am
strength sessions at the perfor-
mance centre, the teams drove to
hone some of the skills that would
help us over the course of the com-
petition. Travelling to upstate New
York a week before the event itself, we settled into the hills and misty forests of West Point. A mixture of beautiful and bleak, the campus sits carved out of the numerous rolling mountains overlooking the Hudson, filled with imposing granite buildings and immaculate green fields that house fitness facilities we could only dream of in the UK. Sharing accom-
A mixture
of beautiful
and bleak, the campus sits carved out of the numerous rolling mountains overlooking the Hudson
74 SANDHURST