Page 80 - WishStream Year of 2023

CCS 232 – Victory in Summer
OCdt Finch – MacRobert Sword Winner
It’s 0230hrs on the last night of our final exer- cise. OCdt Fraser and I are delivering 38 Platoon orders by torchlight for our part in a company
attack, to take place in some of the most complex terrain on Barossa. The mood is intense as our pla- toon has been tasked with marking the FUP for the remainder of the company, and there is a real hunger to finish our RMAS exercise experience on a high. Everyone is aware of their individual and team responsibility. Finally, 10 hours and 10 boggy minutes later, we emerge victorious at the bottom of the Wish Stream.
Seven weeks of intense training got us to this stage. Commissioning Course Short is a course like no other, transforming civilians with no military experience into Army Officers within eight weeks. It is arguably the most diverse course run at RMAS, with international and domestic OCdts attending to commission as regular and reserve officers, ranging in age from 18 to 56.
In order to achieve their dramatic transformation, both OCdts and the permanent staff work tirelessly. The pace is relentless, with some of us picking up the “green” skills sooner than others. I found weap- ons handling lessons a particularly tough baptism
by fire. Having never held a “gun” prior to attend- ing RMAS, I quickly learnt that it was a “weapon system” and that I had some serious catching up to do in comparison with some more experienced peers. The patience of CSgt Gurung and hours spent practising outside of lessons would lead to a weapons handling test pass, permitting fellow lawyer OCdt Allan and I to undertake our first pairs attack on a highly suspecting Gurkha soldier. The steep learning curve from first collecting our SA80 from the armoury and experiencing the emotional burden of holding a lethal firearm, to the adrenaline rush of bounding through the ferns of Barossa pull- ing the trigger at an enemy position, will stay with me throughout my army career.
One of the joys of attending the summer Com- missioning Course Short is of course the weather, despite the long days eating into sleep time on exercise. Happily, acclimatised by PT on the first week of Module B, we left for Barossa on exercise and tabbed to our first ever section attack in a rag- ing thunderstorm. Whilst we’ve all moved on from the “if it ain’t raining, it ain’t training” mantra, there is something about marching to battle in biblical weather that makes one feel like they’ve earned their commission.
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