Flagg
02-10-2004, 06:44 AM
G'day folks....I was fortunate enough to participate in Exercise Tasman Reserve in the past week. It's an exercise consisting of mostly Reserve members of the New Zealand and Australian Defense Forces held in both countries.
My Cadre NCO swapped me into a light infantry recce section at the last minute when one of the four guys went down with a broken ankle.
I spent the majority of my time in the bush....which was the most hostile terrain I've EVER had to move through. We had an understrength light infantry company tasked with clearing an Area of Operations that consisted of a steep gorge covering about 16 grid squares(1km x 1km).
I'm getting some film developed, hopefully the photos will turn out well so I can post them.
I thought I'd throw up this post while the funny stuff is still fresh in my mind, here goes......lessons learned:
1.) Carrying 45+ KG in pack and webbing through a very steep and rugged close country gorge in sh!t weather isn't as exciting as reading Bravo Two Zero on my couch in a warm house.
2.) It is virtually impossible to visually differentiate between moss covered firm ground and moss covered bog leading to knee deep boot sucking sinkholes that add at least 3 pounds per boot on top of the sherpa sized load your already carrying.
3.) Playing "enemy party" is the best job ever(at least for me during my short tenure)....except for #4.....see below.
4.) Although playing "enemy party" throwing thunderflashes, smoke grenades, and firing 150 blank rounds infiltrating the battalion CP to test their defenses and "standing to" over 120 people at 1AM is more fun than a barrel full of monkeys...
Being the designated "enemy combatant" to be captured ISN'T FUN....nor is being placed into "notional" stress positions during the "notional" interrogation by the S2 and his NCO so they can practice their POW handling...now I know why no one else volunteered to be the one captured....
5.) Never volunteer to engage in POW handling exercises as the POW.
6.) Murky brown water from a stream tastes fantastic after a patrol without resup.
7.) Watching a mate fall on a slope during a patrol and getting injured can be scary.....but when it's been raining all day, the temp has dropped, and the same mate is developing hypothermia it gets REALLY scary.
8.) Helping your mate get extracted in an Air Force SAR helo in **** conditions through the canopy is pretty F'n cool if you've never seen it happen up close before.
9.) Spending the rest of the night stuck on the same slope until the weather breaks isn't the best way to celebrate your birthday....and needless to say...I didn't get a cake and prezzies.
10.) After patrolling and simulated contacts for 5 days in wet and muddy everything......a clean and dry pair of socks in the morning is like winning the F'n lottery.
And the most important lesson I learned from the week long circus is:
Don't be swallowing some beer when your mate tells you he got "knocked the F out!" being lifted in the basket through the canopy and right into the Helo landing skid.....carbonated beer blasting through your nose from laughing so hard hurts.
My Cadre NCO swapped me into a light infantry recce section at the last minute when one of the four guys went down with a broken ankle.
I spent the majority of my time in the bush....which was the most hostile terrain I've EVER had to move through. We had an understrength light infantry company tasked with clearing an Area of Operations that consisted of a steep gorge covering about 16 grid squares(1km x 1km).
I'm getting some film developed, hopefully the photos will turn out well so I can post them.
I thought I'd throw up this post while the funny stuff is still fresh in my mind, here goes......lessons learned:
1.) Carrying 45+ KG in pack and webbing through a very steep and rugged close country gorge in sh!t weather isn't as exciting as reading Bravo Two Zero on my couch in a warm house.
2.) It is virtually impossible to visually differentiate between moss covered firm ground and moss covered bog leading to knee deep boot sucking sinkholes that add at least 3 pounds per boot on top of the sherpa sized load your already carrying.
3.) Playing "enemy party" is the best job ever(at least for me during my short tenure)....except for #4.....see below.
4.) Although playing "enemy party" throwing thunderflashes, smoke grenades, and firing 150 blank rounds infiltrating the battalion CP to test their defenses and "standing to" over 120 people at 1AM is more fun than a barrel full of monkeys...
Being the designated "enemy combatant" to be captured ISN'T FUN....nor is being placed into "notional" stress positions during the "notional" interrogation by the S2 and his NCO so they can practice their POW handling...now I know why no one else volunteered to be the one captured....
5.) Never volunteer to engage in POW handling exercises as the POW.
6.) Murky brown water from a stream tastes fantastic after a patrol without resup.
7.) Watching a mate fall on a slope during a patrol and getting injured can be scary.....but when it's been raining all day, the temp has dropped, and the same mate is developing hypothermia it gets REALLY scary.
8.) Helping your mate get extracted in an Air Force SAR helo in **** conditions through the canopy is pretty F'n cool if you've never seen it happen up close before.
9.) Spending the rest of the night stuck on the same slope until the weather breaks isn't the best way to celebrate your birthday....and needless to say...I didn't get a cake and prezzies.
10.) After patrolling and simulated contacts for 5 days in wet and muddy everything......a clean and dry pair of socks in the morning is like winning the F'n lottery.
And the most important lesson I learned from the week long circus is:
Don't be swallowing some beer when your mate tells you he got "knocked the F out!" being lifted in the basket through the canopy and right into the Helo landing skid.....carbonated beer blasting through your nose from laughing so hard hurts.