Hurry Up and Wait!

Physical Training (PT) followed with a circuit set up, followed by a game of basketball. All of us enjoyed this as it meant no run! We all gave a sigh of relief. The session helped us work up an appetite as next we were off for dinner. Oh the joys of Army food, it was more unhealthy options again.We had another lesson after dinner on values and standards and then we broke for half way interviews, all of which was very good. The Sergeant said I need to have more confidence in myself, and that I do come across as the more mature student, not sure if that was good or not!

It’s funny how 2 weeks can fly by as quickly as it had done.We were inspected first, water bottles checked and then straight on to dismissal and fall out. This went on for what seemed like forever, but I quite like doing drill. Some of the group couldn’t quite get it, so the Drill Sergeant shouted that we were an embarrassment to the camp, and made us just march large on the spot, fast for five minutes. It was hard not to laugh when you’re being shouted at, but the ones who did had to run to the telegraph pole at the other end of the square and back. We all groaned but no one wanted to be last.

The second lesson of the day was a rifle lesson, and this was much more fun. We were firing in the prone position, which we all enjoy, although it does take some getting used to as you shift weight to get comfy and then so your elbows don’t hurt. I was trying to get my breathing right and then going through the drills, all the while down on the ground and on my elbows. It was quite tough at first, as the rifle seems so heavy when you’re on your elbows and trying to do the drill, and my rifle was falling all sorts of ways. Also, trying to reach into your webbing whilst holding the rifle straight and change magazines is something we will all have to practice, but by the end of the lesson we all pretty much got it after much fumbling around.

Before lunch we had a health and hygiene lesson. We worked on how to look after yourself out in the field in different climates, and some of the clips and videos they showed were quite horrific: gangrene and foot rot from the heat and cold, frost bite where fingers and toes had fallen off, noses that had blackened. It was all really interesting. We broke for lunch and then returned to the class room for another lesson. This was more of the same but more focus on preventative measures. The Sergeant who took the lesson had quite a dry sense of humour and some of the younger boys didn’t get his jokes. I thought it was quite funny! After this we had a short break and then off for more firing drills. As soon as I dropped down to my knees I felt it – my elbows were bruised. God they hurt, and the rifle seemed even heavier after another 2 hours. But at least we were inside.