Page 12 - The Wish Stream Year of 2020 Crest

Exercise ALLENBY’s ADVANCE
OCdt Lucas
In week five of the Intermediate Term, Commis- sioning Course 202 deployed on Ex ALLEN- BY’S ADVANCE. Named after one of Britain’s
most successful commanders during WWI, the six-day field exercise aims to develop and test leadership within a conventional war fighting sce- nario. Specifically, it is based around offensive actions and acts as a summative assessment before moving onto defensive actions later in the term. The exercise took place in the Brecon Bea- cons, a training area that is part of British Army folklore due its unforgiving terrain and inhospita- ble weather. Home of the Infantry Battle School, every infantry soldier from the rank of corporal to general will have passed through it at some point and it therefore represents a right of passage for OCdts.
They say you can experience all four seasons in a day at Brecon; however, for much of the exercise we only experienced one: rain! The area lived up to its reputation and left OCdts dreaming of the milder training areas of Southern England that we have frequented so far on the course. After a four-hour coach ride from Sandhurst, the first challenge of the exercise was a loaded march to our company harbour. This was our first time deploying as a fully integrated company and it must have made quite a sight to see over 90 OCdts marching along with our fully laden Ber- gans. After arriving at our woodblock, we spent the rest of the day preparing the harbour by dig- ging in shell scrapes and laying a track plan.
Over the next week platoons went out and con- ducted a variety of offensive actions by day and
night. This included deliberate attacks, advance to contacts, recce patrols, raids and ambushes. OCdts rotated through command appointments and were given the opportunity to demonstrate their leadership abilities by conducting the com- bat estimate, writing and then delivering orders to the rest of the platoon. This was our first exercise using Tactical Engagement Simulation (TES). The system provides a simulation of the battle space, with sensors placed on our body armour and weapon that can detect shots and warn the wearer of near misses, hits and injuries. It added an extra layer of realism and complexity to the exercise, as OCdts were required to pro- vide first aid to casualties based on their specific injuries, which in most cases involved getting a stretcher out and a casualty extraction up one of Brecon’s many hills!
The exercise came to its conclusion with a quick withdrawal from our harbour area after being detected by the enemy. This was our second loaded march of the exercise and our gear felt a lot heavier as it was all sopping wet! After the withdrawal and much appreciated night spent in a barn, the company carried out a dawn attack against the enemy. It was a great experience to operate at the company level and a big step up from the section level attacks that we began with in Juniors. During six days in Brecon, we had been cold, wet, muddy and lacking sleep, and it was a great test of our military skills and leader- ship. It was an exercise that will live long in the memory and another milestone on our way to Commissioning in April 2021.
10 SANDHURST