Page 26 - The Wish Stream Year of 2020 Crest

sive Actions into our Defensive Mission. Under the cover of darkness during the third night of deployment, 9 Platoon sprung their attack upon an unsuspecting enemy compound. The suc- cess of this mission went on to breed the suc- cess of further missions as 7 and 8 Platoons took on the gauntlet of conducting Offensive Actions upon other enemy positions.
On the fourth morning, the enemy, aware of the corner it was being backed into, resorted to chemical warfare and littered our position with a chemical bombardment. The Company sprang into its CBRN (Chemical Biological Radioactive and Nuclear) immediate action drill: donned our respirators bringing our dress-state into the Full Romeo classification; covered all allocated arcs of fire and awaited any follow-up attack from the enemy. In the meantime, the Company 2IC orchestrated a well-placed artillery strike that successfully neutralised the enemy’s CBRN capability. With our position now compromised, the decision was made to withdraw from our trenches and return to the safety of our Com- pany Assembly Area situated a few kilometres to our rear. On arrival, offensive spirit became the priority as Company and Platoon commanders planned and prepared for a coordinated dawn attack for the following and final morning of deployment.
Come first light the next day, Waterloo Com- pany launched a complicated and testing attack through dense woodland, open ground as well as disused farmhouses and outbuildings. Such an environment laid bare the need for effective Command and Control as platoons and sec- tions within them grappled for clear communica- tion and struggled with the limits of exploitation. Out of the strife, however, came a quick, effec- tive and aggressive operation that saw Zabzimek forces cleared from our area of responsibility.
Over five days in mid-July 2020, those in Com- missioning Course 201 experienced a taste of what life living and operating from a dug in defensive position can feel like. For the first four days of deployment, individuals struggled to cumulatively reach double figures in sleep, hal- lucinations became the norm and command effectiveness as well as teamwork were severely tested. Ex SLIM’S STAND not only marks the final field exercise of the Intermediate Term, it marks the culmination of learning for Offensive and Defensive Operations. It is therefore the beginning of the end, as Officer Cadets start to visualise marching up the steps of Old College on their Sovereign’s Parade in six months’ time.
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