Page 84 - Wish Stream Year of 2017

in order to avoid long nights spent practic- ing in the accommodation block. Weekend Leave off camp at the end of week five was also dependent on passing the week five drill test, so it was very much in our interest to succeed.
3. Square away admin and get to sleep – sleep is sparing during weeks one to five. All were hit by multiple sleep-seeking missiles in les- sons during the day, forcing us to stand up and move to the back of the classroom in order to stay awake. We found that the only way to avoid this was to work as quickly and thoroughly as possible during the day and into the night in order to get all of our team and individual tasks done, then get to sleep as soon as everything and everyone was squared away. Still, each night we fell asleep as soon as heads hit pillows and woke up for reveille at what seemed like 10 seconds later.
4. Think about and research COAs during free time (though good luck finding any of this!) – opportunities for free time were also few and far between, but we had to use any that we could find to think about our Choices of Arm for which Regiments or Corps we might like to apply to join. Choice of Arm Day was organised for us to learn about Regiments and Corps through visiting stands that each had set up, and most of us managed to come away with a pretty good idea about what our two choices might be.
5. Navigation is a must if you want to succeed – most of the time we were so disorientated that we didn’t even know which way was up, but despite this fact we were smashed with navigation lessons and navexs from the word go. The classroom lessons were diffi- cult at times, especially after little sleep, but the navexs were a good opportunity to get out of camp.
6. Be self-reliant – speaking of getting out of camp, we spent five days in the fields towards the end of weeks one to five on Ex SELF RELIANCE. This was the first oppor- tunity for many to experience life in the field, and was interspersed with lessons, navexs, harbour area administration and, ultimately, extraction from the harbour area upon enemy contact. Sentry Duty on SELF RELI- ANCE served as a further introduction to sleeplessness.
28 Pl Imjin Coy
7. Look after your kit –the amount of kit issued on day one was immense, and there wasn’t space to store it all in our rooms during daily inspections. As a result, we quickly learnt the importance of looking after kit and equipment as we moved it from one place to another.
8. Room inspections – our rooms were kept in the highest standard of cleanliness during weeks one to five. Daily room inspections ensured that this was the case, moving up from the CSgt to the Pl Comd, the OC and finally the CO. On some days this was easier to achieve than others; after exercise, for example, with large amounts of kit to clean, there was a huge amount of work to do.
9. Get good at press ups – whether we liked it or not, we got good at these during weeks one to five. Press ups were the main pun- ishment (Tier 2 punishment) for minor infrac- tions such as hands in pockets or leaning on the wall, and our CSgt issued them with glee. Still, at least we got free phys out of it.
10. Don’t go back to weeks one to five! – last, but not least (not quite a reflection of weeks one to five, but rather a summary point to remember for the rest of our time at RMAS), 28 Pl is often memorably reminded by our SCOTS CSgt that ‘you’re one step away fae weeks one tae five’ if we get it wrong in future. Luckily, we continue to work hard to keep our rooms and block tidy, and strive to maintain the highest standards everywhere, as we’ve been taught by our Pl Staff. Long may it continue.
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