Week 2

As I look back over the last week, it is hard to believe that it was just one week long! It seemed so much was crammed in, we hardly had a chance to stop and realise what was going on. People are definitely beginning to get tired now, a few slightly more crabby people about, but on the whole we're keeping our chin up and still asking for more!

Monday saw more drill periods, along with another run around the dockyard with our PTI, Cpl Sansby. He was even kind enough to allow us to cool ourselves down before the run by tipping our water bottles over our head! It was a good run and a significant improvement was seen by many, particularly from Friday’s PT period. The Main job on Monday evening was to pack up our kit and get ready for our first field exercise on Tuesday, Exercise 'First Step'. So there we all were, thinking to ourselves; "How hard can it be to pack a bag for just one night in the field?" But, as we were very quickly told, everything had to be totally waterproof! So, every single little bit of kit was sealed up in little plastic bags, carefully packed away in layer after layer of waterproof lining, just to make sure that everything stayed dry, come rain, storm, or in this case 'Wet and Dry Routine'.

Tuesday morning 0800. Bright Eyed and Busy Tailed, we boarded the coach that was to take us to the exercise area. The anticipation was so great, in fact, that most of the troop found it essential to inspect the inside of their eyelids for the hour long journey, just to try and distract themselves from the fun we were about to have!

We arrived and after a short march to our designated location we started pitching tents and setting up the base camp. After a short break it was straight into lessons. First lesson was shelter building, followed by a few practises by ourselves. Next we had lessons on Ration Packs and how to cook them and divide them up for different meals. We had a bit of a sample of the food, which all in all was quite tasty. Personal Hygiene in the field was the subject of the next lecture.

Cooking Al Fresco

Following a brief stand-easy (break), it was time to be introduced to step one of Wet and Dry Routine! It was time to don all our kit including our webbing and bergen, line up in pairs and then march ourselves waist deep into a pond to a member of the training team who was already wet and waiting for us! We arrived at the Sgt and fell backwards into the water, assisted under by our loving and helpful Sgt Bissett, and then brought back up again to fresh air before marching out and beginning the task off setting up our shelters for the evening. That was the wet bit over and done with (for now). We changed into our dry kit, climbed into our lovely snuggly sleeping bags, made ourselves a hot wet (drink) and drifted off to sleep.

The troop formed up ready for the wet

Two groups leaving the water during exercise Forst Step

Troop 1/07 taking a dip together

Shelter/bivouac building

Now, as anyone will realise, you can't just have a harbour position full of sleeping Royal Marines Musicians and Buglers left un-guarded! So, we took it turns to rise from our custom scraped ground and shelter, put on our wet kit again and take Sentry Duty for an hour at a time. With our sentry duty completed we got back into our dry rig and went back to sleep for another couple of hours. At 0530 it was time for everyone to be up, start breaking down our shelters, get a quick breakfast and have a good wash. By 0730, it was time to muster again ready for field PT. ‘YEY’! we rejoiced! We had a pleasant cross country run, with plenty of breaks to practise our press-ups, sit-ups, Burpees and various other fun activities, followed by a full kit muster ready for an inspection from our Section Commanders.

After Packing down all our kit, the base camp and loading it all on the transport, it was time for a very tired Troop 1/07 to head back to the confines of HMS Nelson. We were greeted with more lectures, ranging from Health and Safety to Equality Opportunities and Diversity followed by a lesson on how to effectively de-service (clean) all our kit after being out in the field.

Thursday morning arrived far quicker than it really should have! It was 0530 again and time to rise and shine! We had accommodation rounds programmed for 0800, so we hurried round the block, sweeping, mopping, dusting and hoovering. Beds were made and kit hurriedly put away and tidied. A little too hurriedly it turned out. Rounds didn't quite go as well as we would have hoped, and with PT as our first period that morning, we knew were going to be in for a tough one!

As expected, Cpl Sansby gently reminded us how important it is to ensure that our accommodation is properly cleaned, and especially that our kit is always clean and dry before placing it in our lockers! We wearily marched back to HMS Nelson after an action packed PT period to be greeted by our mildly annoyed drill instructor, Cpl Haigh. He was eager to ensure that we didn't get in trouble over rounds again so took the time to point out our short comings once more, just to make sure we all were sorted!

Following our morning of excitement, it was back to the Parade Square for more drill followed by an evening of squaring away our kit ready for a full locker inspection the next morning.

Friday. 0530. 30 very nervous members of the troop wiped the sleep from their eyes and set to; cleaning and scrubbing, ironing and folding any last little bits of kit they had left to do. We had a quick breakfast and stood by ours beds ready and waiting for rounds.

On the whole, they went well, a few points picked up on, but it could have been a lot worse! Anyway, we're all still here, so it can't have gone too badly.

The rest of Friday saw our ‘introduction to weapons training’ continue. We split up into our Sections and dispersed to our various training areas across the camp to learn how to strip down our rifle, re-build it, check all the functions, load it, un-load it and all sorts of other bits and pieces. It's quite intense, as we have to get through our Weapons Handling Tests (WHTs) fairly soon so we don't hold up our training. But all in all it’s being enjoyed by most.

Saturday and Sunday see more shore leave and a chance to 'ease springs' (relax) slightly. The troop are beginning to slowly gel together more as a team now, a team now out of the Foundation Phase. Week 3 will see the pressure being applied that bit more. Bring on the Challenges!

Bug Crossley

Predicted forecast of the training programme (Subject to change at short notice)

Mon 10 Sep

Rounds of accommodation
Film 'It could be you'
Education Brief
Drill
PT - Military Fitness
Draw Stores for Ex First Step

Tue 11 Sep

Exercise First Step
Bivi construction
Cooking in the field
Hygiene in the field
Non tactical sentry routines
Wet and Dry routine
Night routine

Wed 12 Sep

Fieldcraft
Kit Inspection
Admin
Clean and return exercise equipment
Endex Exercise First Step
Lecture - Manual Handling Health & Safety
Lecture - Equal Opportunities
Lecture - Service Welfare

Thur 13 Sept

Rounds (Inspection) of Accommodation
PT - Military Fitness
Medical - Inoculations
Weapon Training - Rifle Lesson 1

Fri 14 Sept

Weapon Training - Rifle Lesson 2
PT - Military Fitness
Weapon Training - Rifle Lesson 3
Drill

Sat 15 Sept

Instruction as required
Shore Leave to be confirmed

Sun 16 Sept

Church Parade

	Meet the Troop
	Meet the Training Team
	Meet the School of Music Staff
	Service Slang Abbreviations