Page 17 - The Wish Stream Year of 2020 Crest

on our careers. The Brigadier informed the audi- ence that the opposition had won the debate, and as a result were presented with copies of “Boots on the Ground: Britain and Her Army since 1945” by General Richard Dannatt. The proposing team were given runner-up prizes of “Company Commander” by Major Russell Lewis and OCdt Redfarn was recognised as the best speaker of the evening and presented with a copy of “18 Platoon” by Sydney Jary. As an event, the debate night was a great success,
it was thought provoking and, at a time in the Commissioning Course where we are examining what it means to be a British Army officer, at a deeper level than the ability to conduct platoon attacks. The importance of understanding there is more to this career than the ability to move people around the battle space is being devel- oped and the debate night has certainly given us all something to think about as we enhance our own leadership styles.
When I first arrived at the Defence Acad- emy in Shrivenham, I wanted to get on the first flight home. The first day of the Pre-RMAS course was one of the longest of my life and I could not contemplate spending over a year at the Academy. The group of internation- als I arrived with were made up of a range of nationalities from around the world. Collectively we shared neither the same culture nor lan- guage. However, after time spent sharing the same initial struggles and difficulties, we began to understand each other and built friendships that we would take with us to the Commis- sioning Course. The Pre-RMAS course helped prepare us well for what lay ahead. Guided by Capt Spence (ETS) and SSgt Caulfield (SPS), we began to develop our understanding of Britain’s culture, history and people, as well as the stand- ards that Sandhurst expected us to meet.
International Cadets who were already at Sand- hurst were on hand to share their experiences of the Commissioning Course. Their stories filled me with dread. The late nights of Weeks 1 – 5 and the Brecon rain dominated my thoughts. So too did fears about how we would be received by the British Cadets and Sandhurst Staff. I wor- ried that the other Cadets would not accept us and that we would be terrorised by tyrannical Colour Sergeants. However, I left Shrivenham knowing that the friendships we’d forged and knowledge we’d gained would allow us to sur- vive Sandhurst.
OCdt Mahri
The first five weeks were difficult, but not as bad as I feared. I resented the late nights, miser- able January weather and Battle PT sessions; however, the greatest struggle I had was with my understanding of the English language. The pressure and speed of Sandhurst combined with the multitude of accents meant I couldn’t communicate as well as I wanted to. However, ultimately, they passed by in a blur and, before I knew it, we were wearing our blues, passing off the square and looking forward to our first weekend off.
RMAS from an International Cadet perspective
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