Page 30 - The Wish Stream Year of 2020 Crest

DV20 vs CV19
OCdt James Johnson
In the run up to Ex DYNAMIC VICTORY, the final exercise of the Commissioning Course, there was only one question on everybody’s
lips: Would we even be able to deploy? The Cor- onavirus, COVID-19, had reached the UK and two people had already lost their lives. Sand- hurst had not yet been affected but travel to Europe was looking more and more risky.
The exercise takes place in Germany, over two large training areas owned and operated by the United States military. In the first, we would spend almost a week on a Live Fire Tactical Training (LFTT) package, where our weapon skills and war fighting tactics would be put to the test using live ammunition and grenades. In the second, we would switch back to
would have been disappointed if it was can- celled. It was our last hurdle before we could cross the finish line and earn our commission. We need not have worried; either by divine will or our higher commander’s intent (the two being indistinguishable to the Officer Cadet), we were informed that we were good to go. In no time at
blank ammunition for the longest,
most difficult, and most complex
military exercise that many of the
Cadets of CC192 would ever take
part in. This would involve ele-
ments of the conventional warfare
training that we have gained over
the first two terms at Sandhurst,
and elements of the more con-
temporary stabilisation operations
that we had honed in our final
term. All this would culminate in a huge bat- tlegroup attack on the final day, after which we would be allowed a brief opportunity to don our new regimental headdress and congratulate our- selves with a champagne breakfast.
All that seemed a long way off however, and the Academy was awash with speculation. Despite the challenging nature of the exercise, all of us
all we were packed into transports and making our way, first to RAF Brize Norton (where we only had to change aircraft once) and then on to the beautiful Bavarian region of southern Germany.
On day one of the LFTT pack- age, we were introduced to the area and told we can rest safe in the knowledge that there would be ample opportunity to crawl through
highly waterlogged areas of the range. This was the Individual Close Quarter Battle lane and our first opportunity to use live rounds whilst running through a woodblock. It was a fantastic intro- duction. We were each issued a grenade before being sent running down the wooded lane, tak- ing cover behind trees as we advanced, engag- ing pop-up targets as we progressed. Near the end of the lane, we crawled through water up to
We were each issued a grenade before being sent running down the wooded lane, taking cover behind trees as we advanced
28 SANDHURST