Page 82 - Wish Stream Year of 2017

clear. From what I have seen so far, especially in my platoon, my close friends from Slims Com- pany have settled into the regular commission- ing course well and are unidentifiable to other members of the Company. Many members of the Company are often shocked that some attended Slims Company, due to their perfor- mance so far on the course.
Following Slims Company, each member was asked to write a small review of the course. The following piece is an extract from my review and sums up my experiences well:
‘The Leadership Development Course (LDC) has helped me to work with a range of different indi- viduals, and has shown me the value in having a diverse team. It has improved my patience and teamwork. I believe I am a more confident indi- vidual, put less pressure on myself and I have a much better comradeship, than when I first began the LDC. All of this makes for a better leader. The course has humbled me and only made me more determined to commission into the field army’.
For myself, Slims Company was a very enjoyable course and brought with it huge benefits. It also helped me to ‘switch fire’ from life in the RMR to life here at RMAS and the Army in general, although this is still an on-going process and a ‘brew’ remains a ‘wet’ for the time being at least.
Following Christmas leave I returned to Sand- hurst to meet my new cohort and begin the Junior Term of the regular commissioning course with 31 Platoon, Borneo Company.
OCdt Al Kandari (Kuwait), during a tactical command task
During weeks six to ten the pace does not let up; however, it becomes a lot more enjoyable. At this stage the demands become mental as well as physical. Less time is spent marching up and down the square, and the focus shifts to section and platoon level attacks, which is what we all joined to do. The first challenge of this period is Ex Long Reach. This is a non-tac- tical exercise in the Black Mountains of Wales, which involved 60km of walking interspersed by command tasks. Some patrols within the intake managed an impressive 100km due to their slightly less impressive navigational skills. After living with my platoon for eight weeks I thought that I knew each member fairly well. Following Ex Long Reach I realised that this was not the case
and just thirty hours of relative hard- ship helped to bring us even closer together, which I’m sure will serve us well going forwards. In the coming weeks, we have the final exercise of Junior Term – Ex Montgomery’s Mark. We have been training for this through the use of tactical command tasks, which involve overcoming more realis- tic and mentally demanding problems whilst in a tactical environment.
I am looking forward to the rest of the commis- sioning course and the challenges that lie ahead. I believe that my platoon has made an excellent start to the commission course, winning Ex Long Reach, and have bonded to the point where I now believe that winning the Sovereigns banner is a real possibility and should be our main effort.
The first five weeks are designed to
facilitate the transition from civilian
to soldier. It covers the basics of
drill, discipline, weapons training,
navigation and basic military knowl-
edge. The infamous weeks one to
five were not as bad as I expected,
due to my time in Slims Company
and previous military experience.
Some members of my platoon
were affected by the shock of cap-
ture and the fast and furious nature of the initial stages of the course. For me and those with mili- tary experience, it was an opportunity to assist others, as I am sure they will return the favour over the next thirty-four weeks. This period of hardship allows the platoons to bond despite some of the different personalities; this is crucial and it is surprising how close everyone becomes in such a short period of time.
The first five weeks are designed to facilitate the transition from civilian to soldier.
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