Frimley Leadership Course

It was a hot and sunny afternoon when CPO Qaiser and I, finally arrived at the Cadet Training Centre Frimley Park for the Cadet Leadership Course.  After being taken to the tent area we were left to our own devices of changing into combat gear, collecting kit for the centre stores and meeting our peers in what was to be sure an exciting week.  That evening we were all briefed as to what to expect that week, and make sure we were all prepared for what we were facing, before we had a brief tour of the centre then sent back to our tents, anticipating the week’s activities.

  The next morning we were woken up at 0530hrs and discovered a small pool of water inside the tent, thereby knowing that our kit could get wet in the night even when we were not outside, we set ourselves up in our training gear for a recce of what was to be EX SAFARI PARK, a gruelling log run over broken ground followed by an assault course.  The recce was short as it was just a run through (literally), but many of began to think whether they would survive the course or not.  For the rest of that day we were introduced to the various obstacles of the onsite assault course, and drilled through everything we would need to know for the rest of the week, from ambush drills to section attacks.  Mid morning saw our first exercise which was an orienteering competition around a nearby area called EX TOP SCORE, where teams of three had to go round a set area, finding markers and then making it back to the starting point within a set time.  That evening saw the start of the inter section sports competition, which consisted of a volley ball competition and a boat race that night.

  The Tuesday was filled with command tasks for all, with some succeeding, others doing well but failing the set task and others having difficulties with the task set to them.  Tuesday also saw the second exercise, EX SAFARI PARK, which occurred at 0600hrs before breakfast, which was a good thing for everyone would have thrown up on the course or the run if we had had full stomachs, not a nice sight.  That night saw the finale of the inter section sports with a traditional tug of war and another boat race, which my section came admirably in.

  EX SUPERSTARS, yet another exercise filled up most of the day for our third day there, and was once more, command tasks, but with a twist.  We had to travel to another command task promptly and swiftly, bearing in mind that there was a gap of many kilometres between each command task, on the Aldershot camp.  My section got lost and therefore couldn’t complete all the command tasks as a result, but fortunately we were still able to locate one of the 4 ton trucks that had brought us to the area so we were not left behind.  That night saw us make a harbour area and a night patrol to receive ‘intelligence’ from a local source in EX SHARKEYE, before pulling down the harbour the next day.  Soon after EX RANGE ROVER began which was a march over 4km of country that went both up and down in huge graduations, followed by a falling plate competition, which was utter rubbish for the sights on the rifles were all aiming for Alps, before returning back to the centre for a decent meal, change of clothes and to set ourselves up for the last exercise that started that afternoon and finished the next day.

  EX TENDERFOOT, the last exercise of the course started off with a bang.  On route to the area our transports were ambushed and we literally had to grab what we could and make a run for it with what we could.  We then had to make our way to the harbour area through dense foliage whilst avoiding the constant eyes of the ‘enemy’ which consisted of several jeeps, a couple of motorcycles and a helicopter on manoeuvres that had been drafted in at the last second.  We eventually made it and setup our harbour area, and got ready for that night which consisted of an ambush before being briefed.  The ambush went off without a hitch, though personally I think I hit more dirt than flesh, before we returned back to the harbour area for a brief spurt of sleep, before the final push.

  0330hrs Friday morning and we were up packing away the harbour and sent off to build a raft using given materials and cross a 50 metre wide gap of lake.  We all managed to cross it but the Officer in charge of us got a little bit wet (understatement) en route to the other side of the lake.  This was followed by the final part of the exercise which was a section attack on the enemy before we got back on our transport and went back to the centre for breakfast.

  For the rest of the day on Friday we packed our kit away and sent kit back to the stores before one final trip to the Sandhurst Military Academy.  Here we had lunch and were permitted to go across a part of the assault course there, before we returned back to the centre and finished packing away our kit.

  That night it was fun and frolicking with a barbecue, disco and film that went on until past midnight, with even the staff that had been administrating the course joining in with us.

  Next day someone had a rude awakening in another tent when they were tipped out of bed by one of the staff whilst the rest of us got up and got ready for our final parade.  After a church service we had final parade where the winning section was presented with a trophy and we were formally dismissed by the camp commandant.  After the formalities everyone stripped out into civilian clothing and got ready to go off back home.  Unlike the rest of those around us though, CPO Qaiser and I, still had another week to go at the School’s Meeting at Bisley, but fortunately for us, would be no where near as hard as the week we’d just been through.

JT