Deutschland!

So, i went to Germany this week, which is nice! Just getting away from Sandhurst into the real, no saluting, calling Majors their first names (i'm not even sure i remember my own first name sometimes), 7 o'clock mornings proper Field Army is a joy.  It takes trips like these i think to remind us why where all doing this in the first place, which maybe is the point.  Although the other more salient point perhaps is that it gives us a bloody good look at the Regiments we may be joining and even more so gives them a look at us! 

My visit was characterised my three things, running, looking at stuff and drinking, not always in that order and not always exclusive of each other.  I was hugely impressed by the Regiment, the Mess was massively welcoming and the soldiers some of the brightest i've come across. They did the hard sell and showed us all the 'gucci' bits of kit that the Army actually uses, rather than the Falklands spec stuff we still use at Sandhurst.  They even took me for a ride in a Scimitar (little tank) which was awesome.  As i perched in the commanders position and hurtled about doing my very best tank commander face as a big Fijian gunner explained how everything worked next to me it was blissfully easy to forget about Sandhurst, and the pile of ironing and polishing i have now been reunited with on my return.

The visit was capped off by a very civilised Black tie dinner followed by a rather less civilised drinking session in the Mess afterwards.  I suspect this is where the real test phase began for us, and our performance was most closely scrutinised.  What followed was a typically Cavalry programme of games involving setting fire to stuff, doing potentially dangerous things with champagne, narrowly avoiding ruining the priceless Oil Panting in the corner and ending with a game of Mini Flare Cricket.  We were forcibly encouraged to drink a frankly hideous amount, and then packed off to bed when we had, to the general consensus  lost control of ourselves to enough of an extent.  Drinking raw eggs and Tequila and pints of Gin has never exactly been my cup of tea but these initiations are an unavoidable if archaic part of Army life, especially amongst the more old fashioned Regiments. 

Now back at the Academy things are beginning to ramp up towards our final big exercise of the term Crychans Challenge, which is a week of thrashing in Brecon and promises to be quite a test.  After that we then have to get our Drill up to scratch before the Sovereigns Parade on the last day and begin our move to our new home in New College.  It promises to be a hectic few weeks but i will do my utmost to keep you all updated.