RDF Tactical Exercises.. a joke?

[Kevin. B]

My ability to delete this post has seemingly been removed so this is the best I can do...

[Barry]

Can open. Worms everywhere.

[kermit]

A Pl in attack is just a large Sec in attack.

[Goldie fish]

What rank are you again? I didn't do a Pln in attack until I was on my Standard NCO course. Exercises are just that. To learn.

[ZULU]

Thread: Ten foot pole, not touch with!

[Goldie fish]

I didnt realise the Air Defence Regiment were equipped with heatseekers...

[johnny no stars]

He has a point. Teaching drills should be done on weekends and parde nights, not on the exercise itself. that way the exercise can be used for teaching admin in the field. there's also a fundamental lack of exercises....

[spudula]

there's also a fundamental lack of exercises....

There's only a lack of them if the wafficers cant be arrsed to organise them.My lot had exercises coming out their ears last year between the ones the SGT's organised and the main unit exercises.

Recruits shouldnt be involved in patrol drill type exercises unless their acting as nme, otherwise you waste half your time teaching them basic stuff that they could be learning while the 2 and 3 stars are doin the contact stuff.

[spudula]

Agreed but you can also understand the logic of giving them such an experiance. It's also good for retention and attraction. They have fun(let's admit it, we're there to learn but it is a whole lotta fun), they tell their friends, more people looking to join, less people asking to leave.

Well if its fun then why are you complaining?????????

[Barry]

Don't worry, eventually all the tactical exercises will blend into one, and you'll be unable to tell where one memory starts and another ends. You need to throw in the occasional "once in a lifetime!" (which means annual, it seems) bit of ceremonial for some variety.

[B Inman]

you have to walk before you can run. Speed and confidence comes with constant practice...

and well organised exercises.

[turbocalves]

...

and well organised exercises.

therein lies the problem,

[spudula]

Er... because of what could be done and the fact that these exercises are almost like a broken record in what happens on them.

And what could be done is, recruits off learning basic fieldcraft as per their training syllabus (its much better doing it on the gound then in a barracks on a training night),
and 2/3 stars doing the ptl drills and so forth............

Not lumping everyone in together and expecting people to do things they MAY NOT know how to do, so instead of everyone learning something constructive, you end up recruits having lots of fun but walking away from the exercise saying "what just happened there" or "what was all that about" and 2/3 stars coming away saying "i'm sick doing the same things over and over again" or as you say, "these exercises are like a broken record"

But you also need to look at what your instructors are capable of teaching!

Some may not know anything except section in attack or ptl drills or platoon in attack, but if their RDF then its not their fault cause thats all the army seems to want us to know how to do.....................

Otherwise NCO courses would be longer and cover a LOT more fieldcraft lessons.

[Gunner Who?]

one effect of being shot at is that you learn a lot very fast , don/t try this unless on active service as the paperwork is very tedious.

[Docman]

A Pl in attack is just a large Sec in attack.

And you're an Officer???

Then again, you are not Infantry. Platoon in Attacks are a VERY different beast from the Section in attack.

Every time I get out on the ground things move painfully slow. I realise this is for a variety of reasons.(People going on/coming off/still on courses practicing certain positions and they are learning, recruits(often over-loaded with info I admit) not being shown how to do simple things like contact and withdraw drills until they are 'hit-up' and they get all excited).

Ok, My 2 cents - You have to walk before you can run. When I first joined, we were trying to do Platoon in attacks, contact drills etc. As a recruit, I didn't have any basic knowledge and ended up not learning anything. It was cool, people shootong and stuff happening all ove the place But I always had a cpl telling me to do something. I didn't know why I had to do it in a particuliar way or what exactly I was doing but it was fun.

As I went up through the ranks, I made sure people did the basics first. Contact drills, Platoon in attacks, ambushing etc. can wait till Fieldcraft and section in attack is out of the way. A couple of years ago, we managed to keep a platoon of people together - worked them through the basics, move onto more advanced stuff and most of them had good initiative and knew what was going on.

It is easy to want to push on and do more complicated stuff. But until everyone knows their stuff, it is a waste of time. The army works on section, platoons, companies. Having a handful of well trained privates in a poorly trained company is a recipe for disaster.

As for organising exercises, you wouldn't believe the paperwork and time that goes into one. Fine, that is what officers sign up for but it REALLY pisses me off when you spend all that time and effort getting everything together and you can barely get a section and a half together on the day. Then you have officers from every other unit stepping in, teaching heresy, telling you how thing would be better if they organised it etc. etc.

And another thing, does anybody else hate the new main meals being given with the new ration packs? Spicy farmer' pot pork arse breakfast or whatever the hell it's supposed to be. Boo! Bring back the old ones!

Man, you haven't been in the Reserve for long have you. After having eaten more Ration packs than I care to ever remember, the new ones are a major improvement. They don't taste like cardboard for one.