Page 80 - MERCIAN Eagle 2015

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From (Relative) Zero to (Mortars) Hero Pte Chris King
I applied to join the Army Reserve as a former regular soldier who had been out of the Army for a number of years. As I was getting older, I was slightly worried that I may be viewed as ‘past it’ or no longer what the Army was looking for. However, after making my initial application online and being invited to Stockport for a face to face interview with a recruiter, my mind was put at rest and I was made to feel welcome immediately. The application procedure progressed fairly slowly as a re-joiner, however the unit put on weekly training for potential recruits which really helped to dust off some cobwebs and prepare me for the selection centre and ultimately commencing training.
I received my appointment to attend
the Assessment Centre in July 2014,
and left Stockport for Lichfield wondering what on earth I was doing as a 40 year
old competing with a bunch of lads who looked about 12!! However, after two days of fitness tests, written tests and interviews, I was informed that I had passed and my application had been successful. This took me back almost 20 years to the last time I had been given the same news and I was secretly as pleased and proud!
After the final admin had been completed and my references checked, I was cleared to enlist into the Army Reserve and
4 MERCIAN in August 2014, following on from which I was issued my kit and given details of dates to commence training.
So it came that on the 12 September 2014 I found myself sat on the back of a combi van being driven to ATR Altcar to begin my TSC(A) course, six weekends
of basic military training including skill at arms, drill and physical training. I found TSC(A) really well run and instructed. It
is progressive in all the various aspects designed to take recruits with no previous knowledge or experience, but even for those of us with some experience it was invaluable as a refresher and retraining course. Upon completing and passing the weapon handling test and initial fitness test I finished this course on 29TH November 14 and was awarded best shot.
Following on from TSC(A) is TSC(Bb),
a 2 week course which I attended at
ATR Grantham in February 2015. Bravo continues the progression of Alpha and concentrates on battlefield casualty drills, CBRN with a visit to the CS chamber (which
is always a course highlight!), field-craft with a 72 hour exercise to be completed (which I found a really good), FTX with plenty of individual and pairs fire and manoeuvre training thrown in to get the infanteer within to stir. At the conclusion of Bravo a formal passing out parade is conducted in front
of friends and family and in the case of my course, the inspecting officer Chief of the Defence Staff General Sir Nicholas Houghton!
I returned to my unit officially a trained soldier in just 5 short months. On reflection, I had achieved a great deal in that time from rifle lesson 1 and short runs to live firing, section attacks and a 6 mile loaded march. However, there was no time to
rest on any self perceived laurels as, in a few weeks time on 4th April, I was off to Catterick for the course I was most worried about, my combat infantry course. This
I was slightly worried that I may be viewed as ‘past it’ or no longer what the Army was looking for
course is conducted over 2 weeks and rotates between live firing on the ranges and field exercises, culminating in a final exercise where field-craft and infantry skills are tested and then an ACMT and AFT. It was a hugely demanding course and a big learning curve with long days and nights in the field and on the ranges together with time in the DCCT. Although, it is progressive and at the end gives a great sense of achievement.
After CIC I managed to spend some time with my unit, the Mortar Platoon based in Stockport, learning the basics of mortars. This was both at the unit and out in the field including a quick reality check when on a wet weekend in Leek I learnt the hard way from the weight of mortar kit when it is being man packed to a mortar line!!!
On 22 June I was given the opportunity to undertake my numbers cadre with
2 MERCIAN mortar platoon. I was both daunted and excited to have been given the chance to train with a regular battalion and on more than one occasion on the way to
Dale Barracks I was tempted to turn around as nerves got the better of me! However, on arrival I was immediately made to feel incredibly welcome! The course was a
two week cadre at Dale Barracks followed by a week at Otterburn Training Area
live firing mortars but also a few days on non-static small arms ranges. This course was a fantastic opportunity and not only did it qualify me as a mortar-man but gave me some invaluable skills and experience simply working and training with regular soldiers. They integrated me as one of their own throughout the course and as I say after a week living and working in the field their experience and knowledge gave me experiences I couldn’t buy!!
Concluding this course in July 2015, it
is amazing that in less than a year from attending selection and being enlisted into
the Army, I have gone through initial recruit training, infantry training and qualified as a mortar-man. The knowledge and experience I have gained during this time is mind blowing, not to mention friends from all over the country that I have made in this time and already banked some incredible laughs and memories. As a qualified infantry soldier and mortar-man my career with 4 MERCIAN is just beginning and I am due to deploy to Kenya for six weeks in October this year on Exercise Askari Storm again alongside 2 MERCIAN.
I will also be attending other courses in Instructional Techniques, Radio Operation and hopefully more travel next year!
THE MERCIAN EAGLE