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Week 6I think everyone was glad of a week of nice relaxed lectures designed to teach us all we could ever need to know about nuclear, biological and chemical attacks and, with the exception of the occasional shout of “gas, gas, gas” followed by a practice scramble to get our gas masks on, in nine seconds (or more in some cases…) Everyone took the time to rest and recuperate, some possibly a little too much, as the odd head hit a table for a rude awakening. I don’t think the same can be said for PT. After a brief trip to the old city walls and some ‘inclined running’ dragging ourselves up and down the steps, a sudden cry of “right, everybody down onto the beach” turned thirty-odd exhausted faces into thirty-odd exhausted and disbelieving faces. The rumours of PT in the sea were running high but until then no one had really believed them. Alongside some very unhappy fishermen, Troop 1/07 ventured into the deep blue for what had to be our most enjoyable phys session yet. The rest day brought more lectures followed by yet more PT, an even harder session than the previous day and definitely not what any of us was expecting. After a classic period in the gym, the majority of us collapsed into our grots and didn’t emerge until the next morning. Thursday night was one of little sleep. With Major Burcham conducting our first OC’s rounds the next morning the cleaning continued into the small hours. The sight of nineteen lads dancing around to Queen’s ‘I want to break free’ with dusters, scrubbing brushes and hoovers, is one that will be with me forever. Despite the slightly concerning images from the night, rounds were a great success and the right to celebrate was definitely earnt by all that night with more ‘troop bonding’. Musn King Monday started with exciting lectures with the extremely enthusiastic Cpl Underwood. Monday afternoon brought a thrilling PT session where we were told to wear ‘gash’ PT rig as we were heading off the Naval Base for a run along the seafront. We were all enjoying our nice run through Portsmouth until we came across Portsmouth’s version of The Spanish Steps. After numerous attempts of running up and down them, we fell in, in single file, on the beach facing out into the sea. The next thing we knew, we were in the sea, completely submerged in water trying to do press-ups much to the amusement of passers-by. Tuesday brought another morning spent in the classroom learning our NBC drills and watching videos of rabbits being gassed, which the lads obviously found very amusing; the girls are looking forward to the gas chamber even more now! Tuesday afternoon was one the Troop certainly won’t forget for a while as it was spent in the hardest PT period, in the gym, conducted by Cpl Sansby and consisted of everything from press-ups, to sprints to squat thrusts. Wednesday morning we all awoke with aches and pains from the day before but most of us recovered and we spent the whole day in the classroom covering more NBC drills and lectures. Thursday morning was spent in the swimming pool and finished with the Troop jumping off the 5-metre diving board. This was an easy feat for some (Sgt Bissett) and a harder task for others (the rest of the Troop). The rest of the day was again spent in the classroom where we practised putting our respirators on in nine seconds. Most of the girls decided they’d already be dead if they still hadn’t got it on after 20 seconds. (Bring on the gas chamber!) Friday morning began with OC’s rounds in which, thankfully, we passed (after the previous evening of brassoing the pipes in the toilets), although some of us still managed to pick up extra parades on Friday evening. It was also an NBC filled day revising what we’d already covered and practising the canister change. We were all panicking just practising this in the car park, so now Cpl Haigh has informed us that he is going to enjoy seeing us when we’re trying to do it in the gas chamber. The weekend came around quickly and most of us took advantage of our shore leave on Friday evening. Unfortunately, Monday morning came round even quicker. Musn Merrell
Week 6Predicted forecast of the training programme (Subject to change at short notice)Mon 08 Oct Drill Tue 09 Oct Drill Wed 10 Oct Cewmical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear (CBRN) Warfare Lectures Thur 11 Oct CBRN Warfare Lectures & Practical Fri 12 Oct Commanding Officer's Rounds Sat 13 Oct Shore Leave Sun 14 Oct Church Parade The Troop's Diary will be posted next week after they have written it
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