Page 6 - RADC 2017

Ex Askari Serpent 2017
Major Sohayla Esmaili, RADC
Once again, a small contingency of RADC personnel managed to make the long arduous journey, courtesy of the RAF via South Cerney and then Brize Norton, to reach the warmer climates of Nairobi, Kenya. This signified the start of our challenge on Exercise Askari Serpent with 3 Medical Regiment and what an extraordinary experience it was.
As individual augmentees (IAs) we had not been involved in any of the training prior to the exercise but luckily our trusty SDO, Maj Walker, had ensured we had the correct provisions
in place for us to have all that we required when we went out in the field. Our first week was spent in camp at Laikipia Airbase East, LAB (E), and we completed the lengthy task
of organising the dental kit into what we were most likely to need for the exercise. From previous experience, this mostly included oral surgery tools, a lot of gauze and a large pot with a very tight seal for the extracted teeth.
The delivery of primary healthcare was divided into three separate Healthcare Outreach Clinics (HOCs) and each dental team, a dental officer and dental nurse, were allocated to each HOC. Each HOC moved to very differing geographical locations with some travelling more than 10 hours from our original base at LAB (E). If you’ve ever been to Kenya you’ve obviously experienced their
roads and you’ll now certainly be thanking the Highways Agency. The roads can range from your bog standard metalled roads (absolute bliss) to dusty B roads (opening windows is at your own peril) to a pathway covered in rocks, yes rocks. The journeys to the HOC locations were hard going,
not only for those individuals travelling to the locations but the equipment as well.
4 RADC BULLETIN 2017
MILITARY EXERCISES