members from 1st Battalion RNZIR, with their gold awards.
Back from left, PTE Amardin Firaza Ragab, PTE Zachary
Cooper, PTE Remy Brown, PTE Matthew Charlton. Front from
left, PTE Jack Scott, CPL Chance Mita-Matthews, SGT Jesse
Faulkner, LCPL Zachary Parks.
(Photo/Supplied)
Eight personnel
from 1st Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment
(RNZIR) were among units from around 30 countries vying for
top honours at Exercise Cambrian Patrol, the British
Army’s principal all arms patrol exercise.
The
exercise involved more than 100 teams traversing the
undulating terrain of the Welsh Brecon Beacons, in all
manner of weather, covering around 60km over 48 hours. It
has been running for 65 years and is designed to be arduous,
with participants needing to be mentally and physically
prepared for the challenge.
Carrying more than 40kg
per person, the 1 RNZIR section employed military
fieldcraft, navigation, tactics, leadership skills and
teamwork in reaction to a variety of scenarios, including
minefield clearance, a tactical water crossing, capture of
an enemy trench and battlefield casualty drills.
Out
of the four passing distinctions (gold, silver, bronze,
basic pass), the NZ Army section achieved a gold medal
standard.
Sergeant Jesse Faulkner, who led the 1RNZIR
section, says the NZ Army takes part every year, with
different units earning the privilege of representing New
Zealand depending on who has won the 1st (NZ) Brigade
Skill-at-Arms competition.
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“As it happened, this
year we didn’t have the competition, but 1st Battalion had
done well in similar exercises in Australia and Fiji. I had
been a team manager for a Cambrian Patrol team in 2017 and I
volunteered straight away for this – I thought I would
have a turn myself.”
He says the section went in
well informed and well prepared.
“We knew what to
expect in terms of skills and competencies, what the terrain
would be like and the kilometres to cover in the time
constraints.
“The Brits describe the terrain and
weather as if it’s nothing we’ve encountered before.
It’s a bit like back country around Waiouru. Our biggest
challenge was that none of us had worked together before. So
we were a mixed bag of soldiers together, including junior
soldiers, wanting to operate at a high level. Which everyone
did.”
Other challenges were basic fatigue while
coming under pressure with tasks and scenarios along the
way.
“At the end of the day, it’s a patrol. We
know it, it’s what we train for every day. I would say to
anyone, don’t overthink it. Everyone in the team had a
good time and wants to do it again. It was a great
experience, especially for the younger guys.”
Team
manager Captain Mitch Berryman says New Zealand usually does
well, with personnel from Queen Alexandra’s Mounted Rifles
also achieving the gold standard last year.
“We’ve
done a lot of exercises and operations this year, and doing
this on top of that shows the depth we have in the New
Zealand Army.
“If we had given them some more
rations and water, they would have been good to go for
another 48
hours.”
