Page 24 - MERCIAN Eagle 2021

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Armoured Infantry Platoon Commander
2Lt Sam Remer
I began the process of becoming an officer in 1 MERCIAN on 17 May 2020, where I began the year long course at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.
The first 14-week term at Sandhurst is known as the Junior Term and begins with ‘Ironing Board Sunday’. Parking on the Old College parade square, you are met by
your Company Commander, assigned to a platoon and taken to your accommodation in Old College. The first few hours felt quite slow, and we had time to move into our rooms and begin getting acquainted with each other. Little did I know this would be the last slow moment for the next fourteen weeks! As soon as my green coveralls went on, the Colour Sergeant responsible for training us has started marching the Platoon up and down Old College square and the whirlwind began.
The Junior Term’s first five weeks are seen as the hardest of the course. At one point I found myself going from lifeguarding the pool, to staying up until the early hours trying to iron shirt after shirt in a desperate bid to avoid show parades. However, this process of late nights and a shared lack
of knowledge brought everyone closer together. Together you find ways around the block inspections, helping each other with little jobs that you know as a Platoon will make your lives easier. This five-week process also sees you take part in your first field exercise, Ex Self Reliance. It taught
us administration in the field and basic
level infantry skills, but whether digging
my first shell scrape or my first-time trying rations, you somehow learn to work in
the field. Junior Term was by far the most enjoyable term at Sandhurst; you build key relationships in your platoon that endure throughout the course and get your first real exposure to the field.
The Intermediate Term is where I began to properly learn about the responsibilities
of being an officer. The biggest challenge was Ex Allenby’s Advance; while the rest
of the UK was sandbagging their houses
as a result of the flood warnings, we
in Somme Company 14 Platoon were deploying on a six-day exercise to the wettest place on earth: Brecon. Raining constantly, I learnt the importance of wet and dry drills for real, as well as being tested as a leader in a tactical environment. The high point during ‘Inters’ was going through the Regimental Selection Board process. Having registered my interest to join the Mercian Regiment in Week 5 of Junior Term, I had been through a series of interviews and visits with a final interview and the subsequent offer of a place!
Senior Term focused on increasing the academic and tactical difficulty of nearly everything! Enemy forces on exercise became much more free thinking and there was greater involvement with a civilian element. Ex Dynamic Victory, which for three days sees you operating in an urban environment, tests your ability to work with the civilians in the area, and the success
of these interactions dictates the scenarios which take place. This term felt like the polishing to my time at Sandhurst, as the exercises became more realistic, and the academics became more focused on how you actually lead a platoon.
Straight after Sandhurst, I completed the Platoon Commanders Battle Course
in Brecon. This course teaches Infantry Platoon Commanders their role within an infantry company. The 15-week course
is split between ten weeks of tactics and five weeks of Live Fire Tactical Training (LFTT). Despite the physical challenges that accompanies any tactics course in the British Army, it provided engaging exercises that allowed me to test myself as an individual both physically and mentally. Operating as a platoon, you become a well organised and close unit. Ex Dragon’s
Claw was a high point; it is a nine-day exercise split between urban and defensive scenarios which allowed everyone to experiment with their command styles and test how they would want to lead their own platoons in the future. The staff throughout this course were excellent, imparting their knowledge and experiences throughout
to aid our development continuously. The LFTT phase was also a fantastic, it was the first time I conducted section and platoon level attacks with live rounds, whilst also seeing the level and quality of training I would be able to run when I finally got to the Battalion.
The final part of my nearly two-year training path is the Armoured Infantry Platoon Commanders Course. Based
in Lulworth, it has one of the best mess locations in the British Army, with both Lulworth Cove and Durdle Door a stone’s throw away. It teaches you the capabilities of Warrior and how to command and fight one. The course is split into four modules: Signals; Driving and Maintenance; Gunnery; and then Tactics. These modules combine to give you a clear insight into how to use the Warrior to its optimal level, and the roles which your soldiers will be conducting in the vehicle. Lulworth Mess also continues to develop your understanding into the social element of mess life, and the importance of different capabilities within the Army, such as the Cavalry, who you will share the Mess with throughout the course. It was a great course and an equally good place to live for three months.
The two-year journey it has taken to become a Platoon Commander within the Mercian Regiment has been thoroughly enjoyable. Across the three courses I
have had the opportunity to develop my leadership style, learn an incredible amount and discover how I want to lead my Platoon. It is a long but rewarding journey which I would recommend to anyone.
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