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Shrivenham Visit (February 2010)

On Tuesday 2nd February, 80 Army and DESG 09E students mustered on the parade square to embark upon a trip to the Defence Capability Centre (DCC) in Shrivenham. After a welcome two and a half hour nap on the coach we unloaded and were given our packed lunches for the day. We were then briefed on the day’s proceedings by a retired Colonel now under the employment of the DCC.

We were split into four groups and shown around the various areas of the Centre. Firstly we were given a tour of the heavy armour, and had the opportunity to climb inside the Russian T-72 as well as the Swedish S-Tank (which much to Chris Harvey’s surprise flashed red upon the flicking of a random switch inside!). The highlight of that area was the Challenger MK2, the 82 tonne main battle tank quite simply outdoing any other vehicle in the county. A REME artificer also showed us examples of the materials used in modern armour including the latest Dorchester, twice as strong as steel.

We were then given a tour of the DCC’s artillery display, ranging from the Excalibur to the mighty AS90, and in true DCC style we were given the chance to climb all over it. We were shown videos of the destructive capability of the Royal Artillery and the career involved in maintaining their weaponry offered by the REME and Royal Engineers. From the hangar of tanks and artillery pieces we were then thrust into the Armoury like infants into Toys’R’Us, with over 1500 weapons ranging from 18th Century muskets to the impressive SCAR - we truly were kids in a sweet shop. With cameras and cocking wrists at the ready we descended upon the many rifles, pistols, machine guns and muskets. While some of us had an insight into the weapons fired by and at fathers, grandfathers and even great, great grandfathers others found great new Facebook profile pictures!

Lastly we were reluctantly shepherded out of the Armoury towards the Simulation and Modelling Section of the DCC, where computer experts use the latest technology to simulate training and manoeuvres, saving money and manpower. We sat down in pairs in front of a steering wheel, pedals and joystick and were briefed on the task of controlling a simulated mechanized attack. This went down well with the ‘Call Of Duty’ generation that we are, and we left with an enhanced knowledge of simulated exercises and their effectiveness and realism as well as their ability to shrink defence spending.

We boarded the coaches at 1700 to return to College, having enjoyed a very interesting and overall fun day out familiarising ourselves with the kit we could potentially be using in our future careers. A large thank you goes to Major Smith for organising the trip, and many thanks to all the other staff who gave up their day to supervise us.

Matthew Auden, Alanbrooke 09E

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