Page 80 - Wish Stream Year of 2016

Transition from Civilian to Of cer Cadet
OCdt MACKAY
“Ironing Board Sunday” seems like a life- time ago now. Madly panicking in the morning, repeatedly checking the exten-
sive Sandhurst shopping list with baf ement at what exactly “twisties” were used for, I set off on a nervous drive to Camberley and into the gates of Sandhurst. A Colour Sergeant standing at least eight foot tall, looking particularly intimidat- ing in his dress uniform, greeted me. I followed him to my lines, dreading the infamous “ rst ve weeks” which I was about to go through. With no prior military experience, Junior Term would be a steep learning curve.
The rst challenge was basic drill: standing to attention, marching, turning and forming up. Walking naturally I would never think of a ‘tick- tock’, but this was not the case when I tried to march. Apparently, the stress of making sure I had locked arms “shoulder high and fully to the rear” was enough to make me look ridiculous tick-tocking. Every time I thought I had mastered drill, a new movement would be thrown in to pre- pare for the notorious drill test at the end of week ve. Very slowly, we picked up the moves and by the end of week ve we were con dent as a
Stumbling out of the gas chamber after giving the National Anthem my best shot for ve painful seconds (especially for whoever was listening)
13 Platoon forming up for the rst time on Ironing Board Sunday
platoon. It would have been reassuring to know I would get the hang of drill eventually!
I also had to learn how to prepare clothes. Ironing, polishing, brassoing and bulling would become very important parts of my new military career. A past student life where I would occa- sionally iron the odd shirt led to a trial by re of learning how to iron MTP and the exact angle to iron the collars of my summer dress shirts. I realise that as well as nally looking smart I was learning attention to detail that could potentially save me in the eld. Even so, I will never over- come the fear of having my drill boots scuffed at the last moment while water bulling or just before inspection. When you nd yourself staring at the shoes of every cadet you walk past, to check exactly how clearly you can see your re ection staring up at you, then you have gone a long way to being fully assimilated into the Army. A very important lesson here is that you will never have enough shoe polish! My work paid off on Old College Sunday when my Mum came to see me in my ‘blues’ for the rst time and told me how proud she was. Mums can always be relied on for unconditional support.
Exercise SELF-RELIANCE was our rst expe- rience out in the eld. As a fully-grown adult, I thought tasks like shaving, cooking, changing socks and putting polish on my boots would not pose a challenge. However, add time con-
Exercise SELF-RELIANCE was our rst experience out in the eld.
78 SANDHURST