Our day out with the Queen's Gurkha Signals Regiment - Part 1

As previously indicated in my posting "We're in the Army now?", this weekend we got the opportunity to spend a day with the Queen's Gurkha Signals Regiment at their barracks near Nuneaton. We also had the pleasure of meeting some of the other Trailwalker teams including "Seriously Chaffing" and the "Blister Sisters", all of whom had been invited to the event for having raised or pledged to raise over £3,000 for Oxfam and the Gurkha Welfare Trust.

And what a day it was! 

The day was split into 6 sessions, which we were rotated through: three physical and three basically educational. Little did we realise that the order in which we undertook the events would be so important.

Our first sessions, involved us in going for a "tab" (walk/march) with the Gurkhas...whilst wearing some of the equipment that they have to carry in combat. As the following pictures show, we got to wear their heavy body armour, as well as the even heavier bergens (rucksacks).

They even gave those of us (who they had obviously already identified as being somewhat "mentally challenged"), the opportunity to carry even more weight by adding on the heavy radio/telecommunications equipment. Maybe I didn't understand their question before I raised my hand, or maybe they took some exception at my observation that if they carried iPhones they would be considerably lighter, but I was soon carrying the heaviest of all the packs.

Body armour and bergens in place...

Ready for armed combat in the deserts of...Nuneaton?

Despite the weight, and because we were only walking for a mile and a half, we managed keep up a reasonable pace and completed the exercise in 30 minutes. Graciously, I was even allowed to give Matt and one of the other team the "development opportunity" of carrying the heavier pack along the way.

However, we were told that one of the army tests is to do the same distance with much heavier packs in HALF THE TIME!

Whilst an enjoyable exercise for us, it made us appreciate the demands that are placed on soldiers in the front line. They have no option but to carry heavy kit in order to survive, and have to remain mentally alert at all times to avoid being killed!

A great session, and we met some great soldiers, whose instructions we followed to the letter...especially as they were the ones with the guns! More soon....