Page 54 - The Wish Stream Year of 2022 CREST

Inkerman International Cadet
OCdt Saif Bin Khalifa Bin Saif Bin Mohammed Al Nahyan
Iam OCdt Saif Bin Khalifa Bin Saif Bin Moham- med Al Nahyan. I am 21 years old and come from Abu Dhabi, capital city of the 7 United
Arab Emirates (UAE).
I would like to talk first about my military experi- ence back in the UAE, specifically when I first joined, and my time at the Zayed Military Col- lege. I will then talk about my time at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.
When I first joined the Zayed Military College, I had to do three months of basic training, which I found quite challenging, but very rewarding. While there, we had to live in tents – this was a new experience for me, but I enjoyed it. What I did find challenging was that, while living in the tents, we didn’t have a washing machine to clean our clothes, so we all had to do it by hand, which took us a lot of time to do in the unbearable heat. In this three-month period, we learnt basic military skills such as map reading, shooting, and weapons handling. These were all new and exciting things for me, and I particularly enjoyed the shooting.
Finally, after the three months, we moved into our own rooms within the College, which also meant we had access to washing machines (which was a great relief), and I was glad to hear we wouldn’t be washing clothes ourselves at Sandhurst. Now that we had completed the basic training, I felt I was now truly in the Zayed Military College and we moved on to be taught more advanced map reading, shooting and weapon handling.
This helped me enormously for when I arrived at Sandhurst.
Now I would like to talk about my experience at The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. I arrived at Sandhurst incredibly excited to meet new people and make the most of this course. I found the first five weeks quite busy with a lot of lessons that provided many useful things to know. I also quickly got to know the rest of 5 Platoon, and it was a group I was very proud to be part of.
While here I have learnt a huge amount from my Platoon Commanders and CSgts, as well as the wider staff and this knowledge will help me enor- mously when I return home. I have experienced different types of training and activities with my Platoon, and we have helped each other through the course. I was most proud of having received the marksmanship badge on Ex MARTELLO’S SHARPSHOOTER, as I really enjoy shooting and was excited that I got to improve my marksman- ship skills.
Even though during the training I faced some dif- ficulties with the weather, such as in Ex ALLEN- BY’S ADVANCE where I struggled with the cold and rain that seems to be constant in Brecon, I still learnt a huge amount. While I have faced some challenges during my time here, with the help of our staff and platoon, I managed to soldier through and I learnt vital lessons about myself and how I can lead others during difficult times.
52 SANDHURST