Page 16 - QARANC Vol 17 No 1 2019

14 QARANC THE GAZETTE
Reserve Staff College Course – Paris 2018
In 2017, I undertook a two-week intensive French Course run by CIOR (Inter-allied Confederation of Reserve Officers) and sponsored by UK Reserve Forces Association. I had studied French to degree level many years before, but chose to become a nurse and shelved my French skills. Head of the CIOR Language Academy, Colonel Stanislas de Magnienville, suggested that I apply for a place on the French Reserve Staff Officers’ course the following year.
‘ESORSEM’ (École Supérieure des Officiers de Réserve Spécialistes Etat-Major) is an intensive, three-week training programme that takes place in Paris during the month of August. Each year, the course hosts a cohort of foreign reserve officers alongside their French counterparts. Students are instructed in the ‘MEDOT’, which is the French equivalent of the British Military’s combat estimate (seven questions), the doctrine used in operational planning. I attended this course alongside RAMC colleague, Lieutenant Colonel Helen MacKay, who is an orthopaedic surgeon. We were supported in accessing the course by UK Reserve Forces Association and 2 Med. Brigade. We were joined by officers from USA, Switzerland, Denmark, Holland, Norway, Canada, Mali and Spain. Our 40-strong group consisted of 14 foreign officers and 26 French officers, representing all branches of the Army reserve.
The course was delivered by experienced reserve officers at the prestigious École Militaire in central Paris, situated in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower. The imposing military college was built in 1750 by Louis XV, with the aim of instructing and supporting impoverished nobles following the War of Austrian Succession. Napoleon Bonaparte and General Charles De Gaulle are notable alumni. The building boasts an expansive complex of classrooms, a manège, stables and a sports complex and the ornate Chapel of St. Louis.
Upon arrival in Paris, we were orientated by Lieutenant Colonel Mark Pugh-Cook, British Defence Liaison at the École Militaire. We were also received by British Defence Attaché Colonel Chris Borneman, who took an active interest in both our reserve and civilian activities, along with our personal motivation for joining the course. We were given an invaluable brief regarding French military etiquette but we were also counselled to ‘retain our Britishness and give a good account of ourselves’. Simple, sound advice. In essence, we felt a sense of advocacy and we were determined to contribute wholeheartedly to the course and capitalise on the opportunity we had been offered.
The course presented many challenges. It was instructed
Lieutenant Colonel MacKay and Captain Jordan host French colleagues for a cultural taste of GB
entirely in French with no concessions. From week one, we were delivering mission briefs and back briefs in French and writing warning orders and fragmentary orders. We were involved in collaborative group work, exchanging ideas regarding schemes of manoeuvre. Over three weeks, we completed two exercises; firstly, a small-scale offensive called Exercise Marmande, followed by the more in-depth Exercise Beatrix, which involved a complex attack on a static, well- established defence. Lieutenant Colonel MacKay, who is familiar with the medical estimate, found herself within the Brigade artillery planning group and I was assigned to the engineers. We were later assigned to infantry and cavalry respectively, which gave us an invaluable opportunity to understand the nuances of applying the combat estimate directly to teeth arms.
Unfortunately, students cannot be accommodated by the French military at the Ecole Militaire, so we had to find lodgings in Paris at an acceptable tariff. Fortunately, we were able to get reasonably priced student accommodation attached to the University of Descartes, about a twenty-minute metro journey from the school. The days were long. We were on the metro at 0620 hours each morning to arrive at the school, change into barrack dress and assemble for first parade at 0700 hours. Most days, we were dispersed at 2000 hours. In just three weeks, we were trying to complete a course that is normally delivered to regular officers over one academic year.
Our French colleagues had completed six preparatory weekends prior to arrival. For them, the competition to access this course is fierce and during these preparatory weekends, constant assessment alongside formal examinations forms part of the selection process. The French system does not
PT Paris-style