Week 1 (May 8-14) - The Shock of Capture

This week seemed really long. A lot of stuff going on and a lot of new habits to form, a new schedule, and new information.  

We officially started basic training on May 8 so last Sunday. Met a lot of new people. We are Masters Troop in the 96 Duke of Gloucester Squadron at ATC Pirbright. There are 32 of us in the Troop and we are divided into 3 Sections so approximately 10-11 in each section. I am in 2 Section. I feel pretty lucky because I have some cool “muckers” (squad mates). There’s Williams, Clapham, West, Hamilton, Elwin, Mancuso, Cummings-Jones, and me. A couple of them have been in basic training before either in the Navy or the Army so they have some good tips and advice for the rest of us, especially for admin tasks like ironing kit, polishing boots, etc. We get along well and some struggle with certain tasks more than others but we all try to help each other out and support each other. 

I am the oldest in the Troop – the next oldest ones are 25 and below. Many are 19 and even a couple 17-year-olds. Everyone seems to want to be here and are keen on working hard and having a good attitude so that helps promote cohesion in the group.  

In terms of Army life, this week was fairly uninteresting to be honest. We weren’t firing weapons or marching through the hills or anything like that. We had A LOT of briefings (presentation-type classes) in which we learned anything from the Values & Standards of the British Army to how to use social media, to how deployments work, to insurance for injuries and kit, etc. We signed our contracts and our attestations, in which we declare that we will protect the Queen and the nation etc. On Tuesday we had our heads shaved to a buzzcut. We also got issued our kit in about the middle of the week, so we now are starting to look more like soldiers in our uniforms and berets. 

We are led by 5 Corporals who are our Section Commanders. They are our instructors, so they take us everywhere and help us with tasks and also tell us off if we don’t do things right. They are on our side but they don't put up with any degree of laziness or disrespect. I got told off for a thing or two but I also had the chance to talk with a couple of them alone, so there was a chance to get to know them a bit more personally.  

I don’t know if I’ve ever done so much standing still. We have to line up in parade 5 minutes before all our timings, but sometimes we have to wait longer than that. We get yelled at quite a bit.  

“STAND STILL!”
“FACE YOUR FRONT!”
“DON’T TALK!”
"STOP FIDGETING!!"

Our daily schedule typically is as follows: 

5-5:15 a.m. – wake up, make bed, shower, shave, prepare any kit or uniform that you are wearing for the day 

6-6:15 – “Scoff” (Breakfast) 

6:45 – back at the block, block jobs (tidying all the rooms and beds for inspection) 

7:30 – Room inspection by the Section Commanders 

Lessons and other things throughout the day 

~12 p.m. – Scoff 

More things in the afternoon, normally get taught how to iron or do other admin tasks like preparing webbing (the belts with pouches to hold ammunition and supplies), getting issued kit and organizing it, preparing for kit inspections, etc. 

~6 p.m. – Scoff 

More things in the evening, endless ironing and polishing 

Bed officially at 10:30 (but might have to take more time to finish admin) 

Do it all again the next day. 

I’m enjoying it so far. We haven’t done any PT or anything so far yet, we had to get our medicals cleared before any of that, which we did on Thursday. We started learning some basic drill manoeuvres. I like marching. “LEFT, RIGHT, LEFT, RIGHT, LEFT, RIGHT, LEFT!” It’s cool to move as a unit with everyone marching at the same pace with arms swinging. Some people are still trying to get the hang of the pacing though, etc. On Saturday we had some proper drill instruction from the Troop Sergeant on the parade square. I’m looking forward to when we get to parade with an audience having learnt all the exercises.

That's week 1 done and I survived it.

- Sam (a.k.a. Rct. Biggs)