Page 27 - Mind, Body and Spirit 2016/17

4Regiment Army Air Corps are preparing to take over on very high readiness in the spring of this year, so have spent the majority of last year on the training cycle in preparation to ensure the Regiment are in the very best shape.
One of the main areas in preparation for readiness last year was Adventurous Training (AT) in which the Regiment organised several overseas packages including Skiing and Mountain Biking. I saw this as a perfect opportunity to build on my own quali cations and experience. The Regiment deployed to Stubai Glacier in Austria for three weeks running packages to qualify personnel in all the Ski foundation and instructor quali cations. Having never skied before this was an exciting venture for me and it was a week that I will never forget. Starting on day one, I could barely stand without falling over, but by day four I was skiing down the side of the glacier to the bottom of the mountain. This was an exhilarating experience.
A few months later I deployed as an instructor with the REME detachment of 4 Regiment Army Air Corps to Les Gets in Morzine, which is in the Alps near the France/Switzerland boarder. 14 personnel deployed from Wattisham for 8 days with the intention to teach novice riders the basics of mountain biking. We were accommodated in a large lodge at the bottom of the mountains, which was also home to several other groups who were riding and it soon became a perfect base camp for us. The week provided some of the most breath taking views and single track riding that I have ever seen. The ski lifts were also fully operational which meant a lot less cardio work was required. Most days the group would cover around 20 miles of single track routes along the sides of mountains, which in the winter would be covered in snow for skiing before stopping at a lodge for lunch.
The nal stage in the training year was at the end of summer leave. 4 Regiment Army Air Corps deployed to the scorching heats of California, where we prepared for a combined arms live ring exercise with 40 Commando group in Exercise BLACK ALLIGATOR. The exercise was a mix of environmental training, survival, escape and evasion training, live ring and adventurous training. My role began with running a 5 day acclimatisation programme at 0600hrs every morning, before deploying to San Diego to run the AT from a youth hostel, located directly on Paci c Beach. The soldiers taking part in the main exercise would deploy to the AT location for 4 days to conduct sea kayaking, rock climbing, hill walking, mountain biking and a short cultural visit to
SSgt Read Skiing Austria
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4 REGIMENT ARMY AIR CORPS
SSgt (SSI) DP Read RAPTC
SSgt Read MTB France
SSgt Read MTB USA
the USS Midway museum, before returning back to the dry desert. The hostel was also occupied by backpackers traveling around the USA, so gave the soldiers a perfect opportunity to take a few days away from the stresses of the main exercise and relax by the beach. As the OIC of the AT it was one of the best experiences I believe I will encounter in the Army. The location was beautiful and I was paid to deliver mountain biking every day. This job de nitely takes some beating!!