Page 82 - Wish Stream Year of 2016

Exercise LONG REACH Impressions
Long Reach, for the uninitiated, is where groups of Of cer Cadets in the Junior Term
It is the hardest single test of stamina, fortitude and character that we must endure during our tenure at the Academy.
nor there). This resulted in a mass team consumption of ibuprofen to demonstrate to Chang that we were not committing some form of espio- nage or trying to set him up for the fall but were indeed trying to free him from the shackles of knee pain that he had complained about for many, many miles.
Ex LONG REACH is also an incred-
spend 36 hours walking 60+ kilo-
metres over the Black Mountains
in Wales. It is the hardest single
test of stamina, fortitude and
character that we must endure
during our tenure at the Academy.
Saying that, it happens to also be
one of the single most amusing
events that an Of cer Cadet will
partake in and this is primarily down to the team that you complete it with.
ible learning experience. I started Sandhurst critically considering just how useful a slog across Wales could be in terms of lead- ership development. In hindsight, however, I understand the necessity for the exercise com- pletely. A particular notion that I became aware of was the idea of ‘leader’s legs’. ‘Leaders legs’ is a phenomenon whereby the leader of a group will be able to push himself further and harder than the rest of the team motivated by a desire to complete their stage as quickly as possible, in doing so demonstrating to the team and those higher up that they can achieve the task asked of them in a timely manner. What I did not realise before is how damaging this can be to the rest of the group who may be lacking the same motiva- tion. Furthermore, the exercise is a brutal lesson in navigation and planning. My group embarked on seven separate climbs, each more drain- ing and morale sapping than the last. Another group, who had better understood that walking further on the at is far easier than additional
climbs, only climbed four times. It is safe to say, not only did they nish quicker than us, but their bodies (that is, their feet) were in a far better con- dition by the end.
Finally, Ex LONG REACH imbues in each of the cadets that nish it, a great sense of achievement and con-
dence. Of all its effects, this has been the most profound for me. Challenges in the future now feel a lot more achievable knowing that I have conquered the Black Mountains!
In my team we had James (Ex Grenadier Guards- man), Sam (Ex Royal Navy Engineer), Nick, Gandy, myself (Will), and Chang (Malaysian). We had identi ed from the beginning that we were neither the ttest team nor the most robust. We did, however, have bags of determination, tre- mendous spirit, and a few of our team members could be called upon as the ‘morale factories’ of the group. Rather than go through the Exercise stage by stage, I think it would be more informa- tive, and enjoyable, to highlight some of the best parts.
Upon waking from our rest period we were climbing a rather nasty hill. Noticing that Chang was lagging behind I asked him if anything was wrong. He replied casually “every step feels like someone is putting a knife in my knee”. Find- ing this rather alarming we quickly
stopped and tried to alleviate
Chang’s pain with some pain-
killers. Instead of engendering
a feeling of relief within our col-
league, the drugs had the oppo-
site effect. Mr Chang became
incredibly ustered and, in a t of
ridiculous protestation, claimed
that he could not possibly take Ibuprofen as this would lead to him failing the Army’s Drugs test (a procedure that overseas cadets are not even required to take part in but that was neither here
Furthermore, the exercise is a brutal lesson in navigation and planning.
80 SANDHURST