Page 39 - Mercian Eagle Year of 2023

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Adventure Training
This year has been a mixed one on the AT front.
Due to the constantly shifting sands of trawls and last minute changes to tasks, and the sometimes long and onerous planning and authorisation processes imposed on AT, several promising planned activities had to be cancelled or postponed.
This was further exacerbated when Army HQ froze AT funding as an in-year cost saving measure which also cut short a number of trips. Happily some individuals and groups did manage to get away on some events. The Bn Nordic Ski team
were particularly successful this year, achieving 2nd Place in the Infantry, 3rd in the Divisional Championships and 5th in the Army Championships, the team’s highest ever placings.
WO2 Buckley continued to facilitate
Dragon Coy – Caving course – Brecon – Feb 23
foundation ski training courses for a wide range of units across the Army. The RAWO (now Capt Maria Woodhouse) completed her Ski Leader 1 Course and went on to play a valuable role in the organisation and running of the AGC Alpine Championships.
A small team from Dragon Coy made excellent use of the unit course booking system to load troops on group Caving and Mountain Biking courses, a great way to build team cohesion as well as developing individual strengths and resilience.
C Coy followed their exercise in Romania with a multi-activity package in Cyprus.
Although the aforementioned restrictions curtailed some events this year, the plans and ground work are still in place for
some challenging and exciting trips to
be resurrected as soon as the conditions become favourable once again.
Dragon Coy – Caving course – Brecon – Feb 23
Maj Coutts – Local Bouldering Competition – Southampton – Mar 23
C Coy – Post Exercise AT – Kenya – Apr 23
1MERC MTB Team Led by Sgt Cox – Wales – Jul 23
WO2 Buckley – Instructing Foundation Skiing Courses – Feb 23
THE MERCIAN EAGLE