Page 100 - Wish Stream Year of 2018

around our trenches, cadets struggled with un- dexterous rubber gloves to get their respirators on. The muffled shouts of “Gas Gas Gas!” could be heard from the trenches as another OCdt was sprayed with a CS canister for not getting their mask on in the 9 second time limit.
Soon after the initial attack we bugged out and withdrew to a secure area. The distance itself was not long but respirator and CBRN suit made it incredibly discomforting as cadets struggled to get air to their lungs. We were relieved to reach a disused hanger which was to be our FOB. After cleaning all the dirt and sand that had accumu- lated in our rifles, we finally got a brief stint of much welcomed rest. The final morning of the exercise was our chance to seize the initiative and re-take the positions that the enemy had taken. We were set in our position to assault at the break of a mist-covered autumnal day. A diversionary assault from one platoon in the west covered the actual assault from the rest of the company from the south. With maximum aggression and tempo, the Com-
A ‘Zabzimek’ enemy combatant is taken prisoner after a failed attack on our position
By that afternoon the buses, or ‘White Angels’ to some, appeared and we returned to Sandhurst for a long night of kit and weapon cleaning.
pany cleared all enemy trenches within 40 minutes. All that remained for us to do was fill in the trenches we had spent so long digging, tan- talizingly a digger was procured for this stage of the exercise which filled in the trenches in painfully quick time for the cadets watching.
Withdrawing in ‘4 Romeo’ under the weight of personal kit
Soon after the initial attack we bugged out and withdrew to a secure area.
All found the exercise challenging, in particular the deprivation of sleep fogged cadet’s minds making even simple tasks seem impossibly com- plicated. It was a test of mental and physical robustness and to complete the exercise was immensely satisfying for cadets who are now one step closer to completing their officer training.
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