18 May - 25 May 2001
A normal day at RMSM began with Training Company falling in at 0815 as Parade
Band had been cancelled. This was to be the last time the senior terms fell
in because today was the day they got the results of their M3 exams. As a final
parting gesture, the wing captain Andy Harvey issued the whole of training company
with an extra parade. All but one trainee passed their M3 exam, and all with
very good marks, with the majority of them receiving the drafts for which they
had hoped. Most people went out that night to celebrate, and required a long
lie-in in the morning in order to recover!
There was a small rig up of concert band for the term twos on Saturday morning,
but with the hot weather, we were all looking forward to getting out and on
the beach in the afternoon. Most people travel away at the weekend or spend
most of their time enjoying the local hospitality. This makes Saturday and Sunday
very quiet around RMSM although there are quite a few people who are able to
keep up their strict practice regimes.
Nothing ever happens on a Sunday apart from washing, ironing and personal admin.
Monday morning saw the start of Adventure Training week. We left our RMSM practice
cells behind us for the sunshine and fresh air and headed for Thorpe Park. Upon
arrival, Training Company seemed pulled towards all the rides that involved
water, spending most of the day dripping wet. Other students opted to go sailing
for the week and spent more time righting the yachts after capsizing than they
spent actually sailing!
Tuesday saw us orienteering at Queen Elizabeth Country Park. This proved to
be a navigationally embarrassing experience for many but we all enjoyed it,
especially the BBQ that followed.
Wednesday was the highlight of the week as we were going paintballing. This
was our chance to unleash any aggression that had built up during the past few
months. The wrath of Training Company echoed around the woods as large amounts
of paint covered the forest and the military training team as they refused to
surrender.
We rounded off the week's activities on Thursday with a small friendly competition
in the form of a super team's day. This involved competitive physical tasks
in the morning, then during the afternoon a short endurance run to the Royal
Marines Museum ending with a knockout game of softball. Competitiveness was
high as 10 litres of beer awaited the winners.
We came into work on Friday morning to clean and tidy up the stores before a
lunchtime getaway for bank holiday weekend. We had had a week filled with excitement
and adventure and our thanks go to Sgt Griffin who organised the entire week
for us.
Musn McKinnon