Page 20 - The Wish Stream Year of 2021

Intermediate Term from the perspective of an OCdt
OCdt
Holland
After a a a a a a a a well-deserved summer break CC212 returned to to Sandhurst in early September to to commence the Intermedi- ate Term Whilst army training was still gripped by the the the COVID pandemic for much of the the the Junior Term Term the the the advancement into Intermediate Term Term and
New College was a a a a a a a a a breath of fresh air with protocol on on COVID being being relaxed The excite- ment upon the the news of of being being allowed off camp for for the the weekend was palpable a a a a a a a a a privilege which OCdts had not experienced for for over a a a a a a a year New quarters and
and
freedoms were not the the only new new things at at at Sandhurst Every platoon in in in the the Intermediate Term returned to to new new directing staff with their own ways of doing things Fear- ing ing ing ing new colour sergeants and
getting lost in in in in in the the the identical green bathroom tiled corridors filled the the the first few days along with the the buzz and
chatter about Regimental choices Already though the looming process of regi- ments cutting candidates pre-regimental selec- tion board (RSB) was rearing its ugly head Rumours or or or ‘scoff house gen’ flew from one end of of of the the the the corridors to to the the the the other without touching the the the the ground News of of savage cuts and
and
applications to new regiments came in thick and
and
fast Amidst the the the constant DIA CABS and
War studies presentations of the the the first few weeks the the the Inter- mediate Term did manage to to to find some time to to to let their hair down Regimental drinks platoon socials and
adventurous trips to to Guildford’s Pop-
world meant that 0730hr parades were always kept interesting by the the appearance of of some of of the OCdts The first eight eight weeks of the the the Intermediate Term have the the the the nickname ‘the hateful eight’ a a a a a a a a a name name earnt from the the the the large amount of of time spend in the the the field A A A A trio of of ROBERT’S RETURN ALLEN- BY’S ADVANCE and
the the the dreaded defensive Op SLIM’S STAND are renowned as the the the pinnacle of difficulty by the the the juniors Their reputation incites fear into those who haven’t yet been on on on them with stories of hallucinations from sleep depri- vation echoing down the Old College corridors The expectation that we we we would look professional by the the time we we we were doing these exercises unfortunately did not come to fruition The The first exercise of the term took place on on Hank- ley Common The The The name ‘ROBERT’S RETURN’ was rather fitting after six weeks of of skill fade The The exercise took place at at at the the the the the end of of September when the the the the the weather weather was glorious and
the the the the the skies were clear of cloud all week This weather weather state was something that Commissioning Course 212 had got a a a a a a a bit too accustomed to to to Evenings were spent delivering orders around a a a a a a a a model pit before early morning recces and
dawn deliber- ate attacks A delight of this exercise was not having to dig shell scrapes commonly known as as as ‘coffins’ Ironically in fin in in the case of of indirect fire it could save your life 18 SANDHURST