Page 49 - LBV 2017

War from the NIREX up: Platoon Commander Appointment
It was reaching the hour and a half mark when I realised I still could not see the road my Platoon had supposedly laid an ambush upon. Despite endless coordinating instructions, a neat route plan and a summary so enthusiastic that the model was in no need of any more demolition by the Platoon Sergeant, I had just left thirty officer cadets down on a freezing forest floor staring into the inky void for over an hour. There was to be no re-enactment of ‘Apocalypse Now’ tonight.
The process of being a newly commissioned Second Lieutenant is often one of trial and error, sometimes error and then trial by the troops
you just made walk in a circle, yet I have also found it a hugely rewarding one. As a Platoon Commander in B Company I occupy the dual role as both an Officer and a Mentor, spending most of my time talking the cadets through tricky bits of the orders process as they prepare for their own command appointments. Being fresh out of the Reserve Commissioning Course myself made it an odd experience to take over instructing
so soon, yet I suppose being so current on the fashion at RMAS also made me uniquely well placed to do it. Though a cynic might suggest that those cadets who froze lying in that ambush might have a different opinion.
Being a Subaltern is, however, about so much more than just platoon operations and cadet instruction in the field. Nobody teaches you
at Sandhurst how to choose a pudding for an Officers’ dinner yet, somehow, I felt that the white chocolate dipping fountain probably was not the third course the CO had in mind. From heading up recruiting in Cambridge University to booking astro-turfs for Hockey training, it quickly became evident to me that being an Officer is about so much more than just perfecting
your authoritative hand chop. Yet the rewarding nature of the job lies in that very diversity, to be able to practice and develop leadership
in so many different areas is what
makes the CUOTC so unique and
engaging for its officers. It is not
always easy to be in a unit with so few other subalterns, yet it also puts you centre stage whenever one is needed.
In short it was a pleasure and an honour to have the chance to get thirty Officer Cadets of B Company lost, confused, and cold every other weekend. I can only hope that they enjoyed it just
as much, they haven’t mutinied yet. For those who are graduating I wish them all the best of luck, particularly those pursuing army careers, and I look forward to sending those who are staying
on better recces of ambush sites next year.
2Lt Hughes,
St John’s College, University of Cambridge, B (Ladysmith) Company
INTER-COMPANY TRAINING & VISITS
being an Officer is about so much more than just perfecting your authoritative hand chop.
THE LIGHT BLUE VOLUNTEER 47