Page 30 - The Royal Lancers Chapka 2018

28 REGIMENTAL JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL LANCERS (QUEEN ELIZABETHS’ OWN) Regimental Adventurous Training Team
When Officer Commanding B Squadron asked if I would like to run an Adventure Training team Cyprus over the coming summer, I thought that it must be too good to be true. In actual fact he was being entirely serious and tasked me with generating and delivering the TRATT. The TRATT, or Tosca Regimental Adventurous Training Team, was a team deployed on Operation TOSCA to run Adventurous Training for those deploying to Cyprus as part of the UN mission.
We gathered a team of volunteers, and some ‘voluntolds’ and headed down to wales to the Joint Service Mountain Training Centre in north Wales to conduct a screening week, where the staff there would assess our suitability to qualify in our chosen activities. Once here we participated in a multi activity week involving summer a hillwalking day summiting Tryfan, moun- tain biking during some fairly serious flooding, rock climbing in the driving rain and canoeing on a very windy lake. During the mountain biking Sergeant Williamson and Sergeant Whitehead- Junior took their bikes for a swim down a flooded road as we descended after a wet day in the rain soaked Welsh mountains. Although Canoeing was something we would not be doing in Cyprus, it was a good way to develop teamwork, get to know each other and, in the case of in the case of Captain Paterson, demonstrate how to capsize your boat.
With the assessment out the way we were ready to start the train- ing. In late October 17 we moved down to north Wales to re- ceive our foundation level training in rock climbing, mountain biking and hillwalking. Although the Adventure Training was fun, conducting it over the winter months was far from com- fortable as the weather in the mountains was exceptionally dour. During the ‘Summer’ Mountain Leader Training Lance Corpo- ral Rogers and Corporal Bridge learnt how to use ice axes and crampons, giving them a much more rounded mountaineering education than they expected. Between the months of November
At times the Pre-Deployment Training was ‘adventurous’
and February the team worked hard and it paid off. We were able to qualify members of the team in their Mountain Bike Leader, Rock Climbing Multi Pitch Leader and Summer Mountain Leader Training, despite there being copious amounts of snow in the mountains.
In February, training complete, we left wintery Wales for some pre-tour leave before heading out to Cyprus. Once we arrived we couldn’t have been in a more different climate to that of North Wales. We dived headlong into the take over from the Scots Dragoon Guards, who ran a very successful TRATT in Cyprus. We spent the first four weeks of the deployment taking over the TRATT and exploring the crags and trails that we would use to deliver the foundation training. Lance Corporal Miles was so ef- ficient in his duties, that he had successfully eradicated any trace of the Scots Dragoon Guards regimental decoration, before they had even left. The Lancers were here to stay! In addition to this, we also got involved with the Joint Service Adventure Training Wing (Cyprus), a local kitesurfing club and the local Sub Aqua club to broaden the experience for Lancers in Nicosia. By the end of April, we were ready to go.
During a week-long stay with the TRATT, both activities were able to get out and explore the island. The climbers in particular culminated their qualification by heading to the far side of the island, and did an overnight beach camp in Polis, an ancient and beautiful part of the island. The bikers finished with a particularly gnarly route down Kionia mountain, a steep and rocky trail high in the mountains east of the Troodos. A team of enthusiasts in- cluding Corporal Burnett and Lance Corporals Murphy and Bai- ley, the Mountain Bike Leaders, tested their skills on the Red Bull courses scattered around the island, a significant challenge even for the seasoned riders. Lancers also got involved in kitesurfing and spent the week on the beach in Episcopi Sovereign Base Area where they learnt how to kitesurf, and in some cases were awarded
The TRATT completing their Mountain Bike Foundation