Two Weeks @ Nesscliffe

After all the fun of playing the part of the enemy was over it was time to concentrate on the annual camp which was at Nesscliffe in Shropshire, i`d never been there before and had looked at several comments on the Army Rumour Service (ARSE) Forum, the comments were not very positive so i wasn't looking forward to it at all.

We Got there by coach quite late at night, luckily the coach stopped right outside the room which was to be mine, accommodation from the outside looked ok, but inside it was a eight man room with only four wardrobes, there was no bedding at all so we had to use our sleeping bags, now using a sleeping bag in summer which was designed to keep you alive in winter meant there were many hot and sticky nights.

Day one was full of classroom type lessons and briefs, there was to be PT (physical training) twice a day once in the morning and again after evening meal, this caused alot of moans and groans but it helped alot of people knock a few seconds off their 1.5 mile run time.

The entire two week camp was based on Operation Tosca (Cyprus) there was a makeshift buffer zone created where everyone hoping to be deployed on Op Tosca would complete the training exercise, it was very enjoyable and to be honest very easy.

During the second week we were given choices on which adventure training we would like to do, i picked kayaking and spent the day on what i think was the river Severn, being a hot summers day made this more enjoyable, its not all hard work in the army you know.

The camp at Nesscliffe was miles away from any shop, the camp itself had no cash point, no shop, only two washings machines for the hundred plus troops that were there and no tumble dryers at all. The food was free and was very good, evening meal is always good with pudding thrown in for good measure. If anyone could open a small shop either in or just outside the camp they would make a decent bit of money i think.

After all the training had been completed we got back on the coach and headed to Grantham where we would stay for a night and do the CFT (combat fitness test) the dreaded 8 mile fast paced walk carrying 15 kg or more. I`ve done many CFT`s and you just have to keep going, ignore any pain and keep going, however this one was probably my most testing one, i do them in my issued boots while most others wear expensive Lowa Combat Boots, this one was to be my last CFT in issued boots. It started well apart from the usual calf muscle pain for the first mile or so, it was ok until the 6 mile mark then my feet started to hurt badly, i was getting blisters on my heal and under my big toe, the ground was quite rough and i found it very hard to walk properly while the people wearing their lowa`s were not having any problems at all, towards the end i was ready to drop, my feet were killing but i knew there was only half a mile to go so just kept going but vowed to myself this would be the last time i do a CFT in issued boots.

CFT completed i headed to the showers and after that patched up my feet, got into a fresh uniform went for final parade and then boarded the coach to go home which i looked forward too very much, while at Nesscliffe i didn't get a single decent nights sleep there was one guy in our room who beat the record for loudest snorer, I've never heard anything like it, its like he was snoring through his mouth and nose at the same time, needless to say he had several shoes and other objects thrown at him during the night.