Each year, a military competition is held in Britain, known as the “Cambrian Patrol” to provide a challenging patrols exercise in order to develop operational capability among young and energetic military personnel from almost all over the world. The exercise is held in Wales and is organized by HQ 160 (W) Brigade on behalf of HQ 5 Div and conducted in the Cambrian Mountains of mid-Wales.The three day patrol exercise demands a very high state of physical fitness and endurance, besides testing the leadership qualities of young officers and men in achieving the given mission assignment.
This year, a total of 86 teams participated in the patrol exercise, which included 70 teams from the UK and remaining from other countries that included besides others the teams from Pakistan, India, Canada, France, Afghanistan, Germany and even the USA. Each team comprises of 8 men carrying up to 55 kilos each across some of the most unforgiving terrain. There have been accounts of teams trudging through bog land up to their waist for 4 hours only to cover 1.5 km. It's a test of leadership, self discipline, courage and determination. The exercise usually starts with teams arriving at a RV before having their equipment checked to make sure they have everything required. Missing equipment is replaced by dead weight and points are deducted. After receiving the orders, each team prepares a sand model to make plan. And then the race starts while the clock ticks. The teams almost run to close the timings through marshes, water channels, back breaking mountains and long stretches of plains.
During the three day exercise, all teams tried their best to take a lead on the other. But at the end, it was Pakistan’s team that took the lead over the rest of 85 teams and won the coveted gold medal. Well this goes without saying the winning of the gold medal speaks volumes of excellent training given to Pakistan Army. The credit goes to the entire team, the X Corps and the Pakistan Army for achieving this milestone achievement. Well done Lieutenant Basit and his team.
Pakistan Army Team: Photo Courtesy: ISPR
Cambrian Patrols 14.10.10 Video (YouTube)
0 comments:
Post a Comment