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Welbeck Leader (March 2010)

After many weeks of scare stories from the UVI and a relaxing Exeat weekend, all of our military kit was packed into a garment bag and a small holdall. With all of the kit needed, it was lucky that we were able to take a day sack that we could fill with more kit as required.

After a 3 ½ hour coach journey, during which some sensible people slept while others played on Pokémon, read or sang, we pulled up outside the mess for a quick meal of sausage roll, chips and beans before being driven to HMS Bristol, our home for the next 5 days. After unloading the coaches we formed up on the road and tried to march smartly while weighed down by bags. Using teamwork we got everyone’s baggage into the respective mess decks (but why are they called mess decks if we are supposed to keep them tidy?), and the 2 platoon girls bagged a mess deck where we would all be together. It was the best mess too, with a table that would come in very useful when we were bulling shoes and boots. When we were cramming stuff into the tiny lockers it became apparent that a male had written the kit list because there were no pyjamas on the list, meaning some people had forgotten them and had to wear the clothes they had brought for socialising to sleep in! It was then time for a health and safety brief before bed at 2200, the latest we went to sleep that week!

The next morning we were awoken by a watch alarm to get ready but were still not dressed when the official wake up call (“Call the Hands, Call the Hands, Call the Hands”) came from the loudspeaker system, but we were ready 10 minutes later when breakfast was called. After forming up on the flight deck we marched to breakfast, before attending lectures, PT and drill before lunch. We then went to HMS Victory for a look round, but due to some confusion over timings the tour was sadly cancelled. Dinner was followed by more boot bulling and an early night.

The ‘Cliff and Chasm’ event next! The following morning we attended drill and had to give our presentations about a leader which we were told to research a week before. We collected our packed lunch and travelled to HMS Collingwood for a wet, muddy assault course called ’Cliff and Chasm’! We had to get a barrel (40kg), 2 ropes and a log around an assault course that consisted of an 8ft wall, 10m tower and steps around the course in the quickest time. Our section gained a not so respectful time of 28 minutes but we did have the fewest penalties which was a little comfort, even though the Marines could do it in 13 minutes! After dinner at Collingwood it was back to the ship for bed.

The 3rd day was a day of PT, museum visits, planning tasks and lectures. I was Prime Minister in the Dacan Crisis planning task for which we had to plan our course of action to help a fictitious country facing civil war and hold a cabinet press conference about it. We also had an opportunity to tour the Royal Marines Museum and D Day Museum at Eastney.

The final day of activities was a wet day with command tasks, drill lectures and PT. As with all the activities we experienced in the week our leadership skills were under scrutiny by the staff and we met the challenges with varying degrees of success. The command tasks at HMS Collingwood included creating a rolling road with reels and planks and creating a rope swing across a pool of water. After another meal at HMS Collingwood we returned to pack and clear the mess ready for our departure the following day.

After a parade in the morning, where Josie Lockwood was awarded best cadet of the platoon and Matthew Lewis for ’Most Improved’, it was onto the buses for another 3 ½ hour trip back to Welbeck during which most people slept.

Amy Couchman, Alanbrooke 09E

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