The Trip to Chepstow Army Barraks
On Wednesday the 28th of march the first day of the trip to Chepstow Army barracks we left school at 9.15 am and we all travelled by coach to Chepstow and got to the Army barracks by 10.30 am. After loading all of our bags of the coach we lined up in a line where we were greeted by the Army officers where they introduced themselves and then they put us in three different sections, section 1 was the red team which had seven team members, this was the section I was in, section 2 was the green team which had seven team members and section 3 who was the blue team and they had six team members, then we were showed to our rooms where we were told to put our bags and then line back up in our sections where we each received a sleeping bag, a water bottle and either a red, green or blue bib. With this we had to put our sleeping bags on our beds and we had to get changed into something more comfortable and put our bibs on, we had to where our bibs to every challenge and activity, also we had to have our water bottles filled up and with us at every activity.
The first thing we done was in sections this was an ice breaker where we had to stand up in front of the group and talk about our selves, say about our hobbies, family, jobs if any, what we get up to on the weekends, sports teams and who we support etc. First of all, Danny our leading officer for our section went first to explain to us about his self and explain what he does in the army and what tours and training he has done already, Followed by myself and the other six people in the red team who were George, Liam, Jamie, Cameron, Rhys and Ben.
After this we had some free time where we had a choice of either basketball, footy, relaxing or table tennis, my choice was table tennis a lot of the time where I had a good battle with Adam from the green team, Also George, Nathan and Mr Hooper played their fair share of table tennis it was quite good fun.
After this we had lunch, every time we went to breakfast, lunch or dinner we lined up in either two or three ranks which was the first three at the front followed by another three behind until everyone was in the line. After lunch we headed to our first section challenge which was the paint balling challenge, In this challenge there was 12 targets, all of the targets were animals including a badger, our challenge was to shoot all the animals accept the badger each time you shot or attempted to shoot the badger you would have a point deducted. The most points you could achieve each in this challenge was 11. In this challenge the red section got the most points and won the challenge followed by the green team with the blue team narrowly coming last after a playoff where Nathan from the green team beat Jordan from the blue team by one point. Rhys from the red section got the highest individual score with the full 11 points with an impressive round of target shooting.
After the red section successfully winning the paint balling challenge, we headed off to the basketball court where one of the army soldiers showed us the ration packs, whats in them and how you cook them when out on the field. The food was surprisingly quite nice but still it only needs to be good enough to get by when out in the field because you have to be able to cook something fast and easy to make sure the enemies don't see you.
Next was our second sections challenge which was the co-ordination game called battack where there was eight different buttons that lite up in different order each time, the challenge was to have good reactions and co-ordination skills. The aim of the game was to hit the button which was lite up as quick as you could and then the next button would light up and so on, you had 30 seconds to get as many as you could. In this challenge I managed to get 33 in 30 seconds which was a very average score compared to the rest of my team who was getting 37s, 39s and 40s. The red section won the challenge overall beating the green team by 7 points.
After was the cargo/bag lesson where one of the army officers all the equipment that made up a cargo/bag, we got told and showed everything that was in the bag and the weight of the bag when it was fully packed which was 50 kg's. The equipment which made up the bag was a putchy, a ration pack or packs, cooking equipment, a spare combat jacket, a compass there was also a lot of little bits of equipment. Also there was a lot of other equipment that is needed in the bag in order to survive when out in battle for days at a time. Also we were shown the utility pouch which had 2 ammo pouches on and another 4 pouches for other important gear.
After we lined up in 2 ranks and went to have our tea and we also were allowed to go to the shop that was on site to get some snacks and sweets to last us through the evening and into the morning.
The next morning we woke up at 6:30 am, showered, dressed and lined up in ranks at 7 am ready to go to breakfast which was a nice traditional fry up which was a good way to start the day. The next challenge was the PFT, which is the 1.5 mile run, for this challenge we had to run around a circuit 2 and 3/4 times which added up to 1.5 miles. At the start we lined up in ranks and got taken to where the run was happeneing where the army officer who was leading the challenge showed us the route and the boundries where we were allowed to go and not allowed to go. We were then given about five minutes to prepare for the start of the race. In the race I finished 4th behind Mr Hooper, Nathan and Curtis with a time of 9 minutes and 39 seconds which was over 3 minutes under the time you need to get in order to pass the fitness requirements to be able to join the army.
The structure of the army
Name Commander or leader
Region, theater xxxxxx General, army general, five star general or field marshal
Army group, front xxxxx General, army general, five star general or field marshal
Army xxxx General, army general, four star general, colonel general
Corps xxx Lieutenant general, corps general or three-star general
Division xx Major general, divisional general or two-star general
Brigade x Brigadier general, brigade general or one-star general
Regiment or group III Colonel
Infantry battalion II Lieutenant colonel
Infantry company I Chief warrant officer, captain or major
http://www.scribd.com/doc/98872063/Chepstow-Witness-Statement-Ashley-R
The first thing we done was in sections this was an ice breaker where we had to stand up in front of the group and talk about our selves, say about our hobbies, family, jobs if any, what we get up to on the weekends, sports teams and who we support etc. First of all, Danny our leading officer for our section went first to explain to us about his self and explain what he does in the army and what tours and training he has done already, Followed by myself and the other six people in the red team who were George, Liam, Jamie, Cameron, Rhys and Ben.
After this we had some free time where we had a choice of either basketball, footy, relaxing or table tennis, my choice was table tennis a lot of the time where I had a good battle with Adam from the green team, Also George, Nathan and Mr Hooper played their fair share of table tennis it was quite good fun.
After this we had lunch, every time we went to breakfast, lunch or dinner we lined up in either two or three ranks which was the first three at the front followed by another three behind until everyone was in the line. After lunch we headed to our first section challenge which was the paint balling challenge, In this challenge there was 12 targets, all of the targets were animals including a badger, our challenge was to shoot all the animals accept the badger each time you shot or attempted to shoot the badger you would have a point deducted. The most points you could achieve each in this challenge was 11. In this challenge the red section got the most points and won the challenge followed by the green team with the blue team narrowly coming last after a playoff where Nathan from the green team beat Jordan from the blue team by one point. Rhys from the red section got the highest individual score with the full 11 points with an impressive round of target shooting.
After the red section successfully winning the paint balling challenge, we headed off to the basketball court where one of the army soldiers showed us the ration packs, whats in them and how you cook them when out on the field. The food was surprisingly quite nice but still it only needs to be good enough to get by when out in the field because you have to be able to cook something fast and easy to make sure the enemies don't see you.
Next was our second sections challenge which was the co-ordination game called battack where there was eight different buttons that lite up in different order each time, the challenge was to have good reactions and co-ordination skills. The aim of the game was to hit the button which was lite up as quick as you could and then the next button would light up and so on, you had 30 seconds to get as many as you could. In this challenge I managed to get 33 in 30 seconds which was a very average score compared to the rest of my team who was getting 37s, 39s and 40s. The red section won the challenge overall beating the green team by 7 points.
After was the cargo/bag lesson where one of the army officers all the equipment that made up a cargo/bag, we got told and showed everything that was in the bag and the weight of the bag when it was fully packed which was 50 kg's. The equipment which made up the bag was a putchy, a ration pack or packs, cooking equipment, a spare combat jacket, a compass there was also a lot of little bits of equipment. Also there was a lot of other equipment that is needed in the bag in order to survive when out in battle for days at a time. Also we were shown the utility pouch which had 2 ammo pouches on and another 4 pouches for other important gear.
After we lined up in 2 ranks and went to have our tea and we also were allowed to go to the shop that was on site to get some snacks and sweets to last us through the evening and into the morning.
The next morning we woke up at 6:30 am, showered, dressed and lined up in ranks at 7 am ready to go to breakfast which was a nice traditional fry up which was a good way to start the day. The next challenge was the PFT, which is the 1.5 mile run, for this challenge we had to run around a circuit 2 and 3/4 times which added up to 1.5 miles. At the start we lined up in ranks and got taken to where the run was happeneing where the army officer who was leading the challenge showed us the route and the boundries where we were allowed to go and not allowed to go. We were then given about five minutes to prepare for the start of the race. In the race I finished 4th behind Mr Hooper, Nathan and Curtis with a time of 9 minutes and 39 seconds which was over 3 minutes under the time you need to get in order to pass the fitness requirements to be able to join the army.
The structure of the army
Name Commander or leader
Region, theater xxxxxx General, army general, five star general or field marshal
Army group, front xxxxx General, army general, five star general or field marshal
Army xxxx General, army general, four star general, colonel general
Corps xxx Lieutenant general, corps general or three-star general
Division xx Major general, divisional general or two-star general
Brigade x Brigadier general, brigade general or one-star general
Regiment or group III Colonel
Infantry battalion II Lieutenant colonel
Infantry company I Chief warrant officer, captain or major
http://www.scribd.com/doc/98872063/Chepstow-Witness-Statement-Ashley-R
