Page 85 - Wish Stream Year of 2017

It was once said that the best view comes after the hardest climb. Clearly, whoever made this statement had not stood atop Pen
Cerrig-calch (known affectionately to cadets as Checkpoint X-Ray) in the unsociable hours of a bleak Brecon morning, with all but the distant glow of snaking head torches consumed by the darkness. It’s also unlikely that said person had completed Ex LONG REACH, a 70km hike in the unrelenting Black Mountains of Wales.
And so, with maps fabloned, patrol logs lami- nated, and enough foot powder to sustain a battalion, Callsign G7A and I headed into the abyss of the Welsh hills, not knowing what Long Reach had in store for us. Though the anticipa- tion was palpable as we approached our drop- off point, we were genuinely quite excited to get stuck into the milestone exercise of Junior Term, the culmination of many a navex and character- building VFBT sessions. After a bowl full of good old-fashioned army stodge and questionable coffee, we set off for our first checkpoint as the night closed in; Exercise Long Reach was finally underway. Morale, and our pace along with it, was initially sky high as we raced to our first checkpoint. This quickly dissipated, however, as we were met with the reality of what the contours on the map represented in the Black Mountains. Deciding on an altogether more sane walking pace, we eventually grew familiar with the thigh-
OCdt Connor
burning gradients, falling asleep whilst on the move (a feat we thought impossible), as well as the unmistakable sensation of a blister forming underfoot. What was to follow would provide officer cadets with an experience etched into the permanent memory.
Taking in a total of 12 checkpoints and 10 com- mand tasks across 70km of unrelenting terrain, Ex LONG REACH provided a genuine test for the cadets’ physical and mental robustness, as well as their ability to think laterally and act as a team when under pressure. Proving just what was capable when you grit your teeth for that extra mile, the exercise undoubtedly instilled a sense of self-confidence in cadets that will be carried through the rest of the Commissioning Course.
Exercise LONG REACH A Cadet’s Perspective
The flurry and burst of ironing board Sunday is now but a distant memory. Whisked into our boilers suits, the military virgins tick- tocked off around camp with the regulars cack- ling at our incompetence. Within the first day another Officer Cadet and I found ourselves lost, trolling down the cook house corridor and kindly redirected by the Company Sergeant Major when we were meant to be in our halls of study.
First Impressions
Classic freshers, we cried ourselves to sleep and braced for the infamous first five weeks.
Our first week was heavily admin based, wait- ing around in Montgomery Gym to be given kit; gonk sacks (sleeping bags), gash bags (rubbish bag) and the like were issued. Some of this kit was described as gipping, gopping and honk- ing whilst some was buckshee, gleaming and
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