The 2010 and 2011 Assessments

[Come-quickly]

@SwiftandSure: I wasn't there, but I know exactly the scenario.

It's incredibly frustrating for command appointments in particular, it's an assessment not a training course, people should learn when to stand back and let what happens happen.

[apod]

Base camps were non-tac and I'm yet to see a RDF unit dig shell scapes, I heard my unit actually asked for entrenching tools though.

Why and why to the first two points?Bad drills on both counts.Good effort to look for them though.

For what they were doing (when in CEFO/reduced CEMO), warm kit would not have been be required, waterproofs (maybe), no ration packs issued, chances are no reserve ammo and the only mission essential kit could have been SINCGARS or Kite sights.

Load of cock.Waterproofs always carried.Its SOP.Warm kit for when you do get to stop(in the nice cushy non tac PB)and change out of your soaking wet baselayer after doing PIAs.When you set off again you change back into wet kit.Its called wet and dry routine.I assume most people here have heard of it.Emergency rations???You make those up yourself.Always carried. GPMG belts???CEFO will only carry so many.
Take your point on the M/E kit though.Spare radio btys??Infantry stretchers or at least one pre-prepared poncho/basha stretcher per section???Section medi bags???
The list goes on.Daysacks are SOP.Not optional.
Again.Nit picking to some.Constructive criticism to others.

[trellheim]

I'm yet to see a RDF unit dig shell scapes

+1.

However I quite take your point regarding non-tac base camps.

[hptmurphy]

the personal camo was the major point I picked up from the photos,

Gloves or Cammy up the hands....no day sacks,,rockets

But from a pdf point of view the new capbadges for the staff officers look bollocks

Apart from that unless one was there to see the whole thing in action can comment apart from some of the basics.

[spaceghetti]

Was lookin at the photos from the assessment and i noticed this:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dfmagazine/5067758826/in/set-72157625007342531/

whats your man got on his back?? Looks like some kind of custom made hydration pack

[Bam Bam]

Was lookin at the photos from the assessment and i noticed this:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dfmagazine/5067758826/in/set-72157625007342531/

whats your man got on his back?? Looks like some kind of custom made hydration pack

Looks like he is down an issue shirt

[apod]

the personal camo was the major point I picked up from the photos,

Gloves or Cammy up the hands....no day sacks,,rockets

But from a pdf point of view the new capbadges for the staff officers look bollocks

Apart from that unless one was there to see the whole thing in action can comment apart from some of the basics.

Agreed on both points.
The General staff seem to be forgetting why the subdued rank slide were issued in the first place aswell.They didnt need the new ones or the new capbadges.You see gorgets you know its a general!

As said allready.Nitpicking/constructive criticism.Refreshing thing is that a couple of years ago we could have filled a thread with comments on badly dressed,ill equipped militia like troops(boonies,skip caps,some cammed others not,sleeves rolled up etc).Now its down to a few small things.
Next year there maybe nothing to say at all!

[Master Of None]

Not many photos where I went urgh
but
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dfmagaz...7625007342531/

[trellheim]

We had already had some amount of discussion on the Hi-Viz rank markings and Senior Officers Cap badges. Can't really think of a reason for it.

the points re Pers. Camouflage on the hands and face are taken. Rockets are available to us BTW, in addition troops are not issued daysacks but can bring them.

[ZULU]

The photos were cherry picked. If they had seen the Coy I was involved in there would be plenty of "constructive criticism".

[SwiftandSure]

I'll admit I didn't take my daysack with me on the patrols.

I had it packed and ready to go in the top of my bergan. Inside it had wet gear, shemagh, wooly hat, warm gloves, spare baselayer, brew kit, Kite sight, additional medical kit, spare batteries (enough for NOD, torches, and PRR), rations, spare ammo, spare hydration bladder (empty - as back up, was already carrying 3L in CEFO).

The reason I chose not to take it was because I was lead scout for my Pln (even the Coy at one stage), already carrying a near full battleload I knew I'd be doing a lot of running around up the front and didn't want to crease myself too much in case I ended up slowing up the patrol.
Yes, I'll admit it was bad drills on my part, I do know better and in retrospect I really should have taken the daysack with me regardless. The deciding factor for me was that I knew where we were going, what we were doing and when it was all happening in advance of the patrol, and was confident that there was going to be little to no deviation from the plan because the assessments are very two dimensional. The reality is that I should have planned for worst case scenario and brought the daysack. My bad!

One thing I'd like to ask about though. Kite Sights. I was on a recce patrol and put the Kite sight on my rifle. I was in an observation position in a ditch at a T-Junction on a track. Now the problem I considered myself to have was that whilst I could observe down the stem of the T-Junction, I couldn't freely observe to my left and right without making some degree of noise as I needed to completely adjust my position of aim.
My thoughts post-recce were why not just unscrew the Kite sight from the Picatinny rail and use it as a handheld NOD rather than a rifle sight? Keeping the original housing group and indeed sights on the weapon. After all, the Kite sight wasn't zero'd to my weapon and in it's handheld form I would have had a better field of observation by just turning my head without the risk of compromising my position.
On the other hand I do think you do need at least one zero'd rifle-mounted NOD within the patrol because the Steyrs aren't equipped with any form of illuminated point of aim for night time shooting. It just so happened that on this occasion we only had the one Kite sight in our 4 man recce patrol. I would imagine that this isn't a problem for the PDF who I imagine are equipped with varying forms of NOD, so I suppose I'm looking for solutions within the context of resources available to the RDF. I'd appreciate feedback on this.

One last thing, we wore helmets on the recce, while I'm sure there's occasion for it, would anyone else be of the school of thought that wooly/bush hats are SOP for night recce patrols?

[Come-quickly]

Re Kite:
AFAIK it's nowadays meant to be used as a complement to the LUCIE goggles with the idea beig for it to carry the burden of accurate sighting while the blokes with the head mounted sets have better situational awareness.

With regards to headgear, the argument that you should always have ballistic protection waxes and wanes and depends largely on unit SOPs.

I would however point to the case of the unfortunate SASR bloke in Afghan who chose to leave his body armour off for a recce patrol and promptly got shot in the chest.

It comes down to how cautious you want to be, there are arguments for being more aware/less distracted/encumbered, but I suspect they're diminishing with newer generations of helmet.

[SwiftandSure]

Would LUCIE goggles be commonly available to the RDF?

I get the point about the SASR bloke, but I wonder how many recces were successfully executed without the ballistics protection? Like you say, the SOPs differ between units. I wouldn't say my recce was incorrectly executed just because we wore helmets, it just differed from how I've operated in the past, which is why I'm asking.

[Bayern Fan]

Top marks to who ever requisitioned the weather. I enjoyed the weekend even though it was very dry and I don’t mean the terrain or weather. By the way Cemetery Hill is a good location for a wind farm

[Infy]

[QUOTE=Buck;315118]howd you get on? that kit i gave you hold out? [/QUOTE

Overall it was a good weekend, food was shocking though. A sauasage or a bit of pudding for breakfast is bit light to say the least!