the training team who gave us coordinates (map grid references) to another point, small amounts of food or information to be taken back to our shelter area.
The rabbits must have sensed we were in the area because night after night the snares were empty and the worm soup was no substitute. Then one morning to our surprise and delight one of the snares had caught a rabbit. This was great for morale, but one rabbit didnât go far between four. Our bodies were now starting to break down through lack of nutrition and we were getting lethargic. A small bowl of worm soup and a morsel of rabbit just wasnât enough fuel to cover the energy we were expending.
As the final task of the exercise, they gave us the scenario that we had been compromised and a large enemy force was on its way. With no time to waste we had to dismantle our shelters and cover up signs of our presence as best we could, once again not leaving anything behind. Everything in training was done with a sense of urgency, so when we were organised we got together as sections again and were quickly led with packs onto the base of a very large and very steep hill. Quick instructions followed and we were off racing the others to the top of the hill. During the ascent everyone dug deep and managed to find an energy reserve from somewhere, God knows where, but we found it. With arms pumping diagonally across our bodies trying to aid with momentum, and snot and saliva tracking horizontally along the sides of our faces like a crusty snail trail, we encouraged each member on and helped the lads who found it more of a struggle.
There was no time to rest once we reached the top. A very vocal and fit staff member who ran with us was urging us to keep going. It was a welcome relief to be on the descent, but we still had to watch our footing; a twisted or broken ankle would result in removal from the troop and weeks or even months of rehab to become fully fit again. At the base of the hill we refilled our water bottles from our webbing, sucked in as much oxygen as possible and prepared ourselves for the walk out. We all struggled over the following hours but we put mind over matter and made it to the finish line.
Our bodies were going through a radical change. Not only were we looking different, but we were also becoming fitter and stronger by the day. The physical training was relentless and the PTIs always pushed us to the limit. We had all reached a similar level of fitness, but as human nature dictates, you will always get people who are naturally stronger than others, and some who will always struggle. The training program at Lympstone has been purposely designed over many years of experience not only to give you the best chance of success to finish training, but to turn you into a very strong willed and physically fit Royal Marine capable of great feats of endurance.
It didnât seem like it at the time; it felt more like a physical beasting, and I remember feeling quite nauseous before every phys session, as the PTIs just seemed to punish your body lesson by lesson. We feared the PTIs, as they were beholders of mega amounts of pain that could be forced upon you at the drop of a hat. And if you were a âslugâ, you got extra treatment!
Unbeknown to us, this was a great team-building tool, and slowly we began to work together more efficiently by helping each other and conducting our own mini-inspections, also rechecking the training program to see if there was any extra kit we needed for the next lesson. God help you if you turned up to the lesson unprepared.
In the minutes before we had to be formed up in three ranks outside the grots, fear and anxiety began to creep in and there was a mad rush to the heads that resembled more like blind panic to evacuate the bowels. This became the norm before every session, and some of the noises and grunting that echoed the concrete and tiled ablutions will haunt me forever. Arguments sometimes developed as some
The rabbits must have sensed we were in the area because night after night the snares were empty and the worm soup was no substitute. Then one morning to our surprise and delight one of the snares had caught a rabbit. This was great for morale, but one rabbit didnât go far between four. Our bodies were now starting to break down through lack of nutrition and we were getting lethargic. A small bowl of worm soup and a morsel of rabbit just wasnât enough fuel to cover the energy we were expending.
As the final task of the exercise, they gave us the scenario that we had been compromised and a large enemy force was on its way. With no time to waste we had to dismantle our shelters and cover up signs of our presence as best we could, once again not leaving anything behind. Everything in training was done with a sense of urgency, so when we were organised we got together as sections again and were quickly led with packs onto the base of a very large and very steep hill. Quick instructions followed and we were off racing the others to the top of the hill. During the ascent everyone dug deep and managed to find an energy reserve from somewhere, God knows where, but we found it. With arms pumping diagonally across our bodies trying to aid with momentum, and snot and saliva tracking horizontally along the sides of our faces like a crusty snail trail, we encouraged each member on and helped the lads who found it more of a struggle.
There was no time to rest once we reached the top. A very vocal and fit staff member who ran with us was urging us to keep going. It was a welcome relief to be on the descent, but we still had to watch our footing; a twisted or broken ankle would result in removal from the troop and weeks or even months of rehab to become fully fit again. At the base of the hill we refilled our water bottles from our webbing, sucked in as much oxygen as possible and prepared ourselves for the walk out. We all struggled over the following hours but we put mind over matter and made it to the finish line.
Our bodies were going through a radical change. Not only were we looking different, but we were also becoming fitter and stronger by the day. The physical training was relentless and the PTIs always pushed us to the limit. We had all reached a similar level of fitness, but as human nature dictates, you will always get people who are naturally stronger than others, and some who will always struggle. The training program at Lympstone has been purposely designed over many years of experience not only to give you the best chance of success to finish training, but to turn you into a very strong willed and physically fit Royal Marine capable of great feats of endurance.
It didnât seem like it at the time; it felt more like a physical beasting, and I remember feeling quite nauseous before every phys session, as the PTIs just seemed to punish your body lesson by lesson. We feared the PTIs, as they were beholders of mega amounts of pain that could be forced upon you at the drop of a hat. And if you were a âslugâ, you got extra treatment!
Unbeknown to us, this was a great team-building tool, and slowly we began to work together more efficiently by helping each other and conducting our own mini-inspections, also rechecking the training program to see if there was any extra kit we needed for the next lesson. God help you if you turned up to the lesson unprepared.
In the minutes before we had to be formed up in three ranks outside the grots, fear and anxiety began to creep in and there was a mad rush to the heads that resembled more like blind panic to evacuate the bowels. This became the norm before every session, and some of the noises and grunting that echoed the concrete and tiled ablutions will haunt me forever. Arguments sometimes developed as some
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