Ex TIGER ESCAPADE

1 Royal Welsh LAD

Scribe: SSgt McLuskey 1 R WELSH LAD

Exercise TIGER ESCAPADE (Ex TE) started life as a 1 R WELSH HQ Coy 2week package. Due to the unit deployment on OP CABRIT 10 this was going to be the last opportunity 1 R WELSH would have to conduct AT at this level until 2023. I was essentially told we have been allocated the money and you need to spend it. As a result, Ex TE evolved into a 5-week Bn package with the intent to train 150 soldiers in an AT discipline. The Ex was based out of Capel Curig training camp in Snowdonia National Park and we conducted Hill walking, Kayaking, Canoeing, Rock climbing and Mountain biking. Due to the relentless tempo of commitments that are felt by all first line armoured units, by the time of deployment 1 R WELSH were unable to fill week 4 and 5 internally. As a result, and with the risk of cancelling the last 2 weeks of training I pushed our available spaces to multiple units. This resulted in filling these spaces from: 3 R WELSH, AJAX Sqn RTR, 28 Engr Sqn, 4 ACS Bn REME, 5 FS Bn REME, ATR Winchester and 1 soldier from RCDM.

Organising an event of this size in a COVID environment was problematic to say the least. Plan A was to conduct AT for 254 soldiers, some doing a 5-day course and receiving a qualification and some completing a 5-day multi-event package. Snowdonia National Park immediately shut this down and were unwilling to let these numbers conduct training. Due to COVID, Capel Curig was restricted to a maximum capacity of 130. I lost count of how many plans we went through but it was agreed that we could bring 40 ish people a week for a 5-week period. This was just the start of the issues. 12 Brigade refused to fund any AT until September and 1 week before deployment the loan pool stores informed me that they might not be able to loan us any equipment due to a COVID compliance issue. After I had stopped crying, I managed to make the best of a bad situation and produced a plan that would hopefully allow us to continue training.

On Friday 7 June the Chief Instructor for the ex (WO1 ASM Townsend) managed to collect equipment that would work for us from the loan pool and we were off to Capel Curig. Capel Curig is a tired but functional training facility that is ideally placed to conduct some excellent training. Coral Whiteway (Site Manager) and her team were excellent at facilitating our every need, due to the length of our deployment we took over a large portion of the camp. On Sunday 10 June our first tranche of students arrived, and training commenced.

Hill walking

Scribe: Cfn Asparassa 1 R WELSH LAD

Adventure Training in Snowdonia was a great experience, it allowed me to test my likes and dislikes and gave me the opportunity to take something I had done for years and turn it into a qualification. I really enjoyed hillwalking with Martin, our instructor, as he was extremely knowledgeable about the local

Lcpl Tarazona, Cfn Dennie and WO2 Corfield MBE

Cfn Asparrassa and LCpl Tarazona

build my confidence and support me. On day one I cried entering the water and by the end of the week I was jumping out of my Kayak into it. He taught me to trust in myself and the kit. The course and the team were amazing! I feel like I made friends to last a lifetime. I would like to say a big thank you to 1 Royal Welsh for allowing me to take part in their AT package.

Canoeing

Scribe: LCpl Smith 1 R WELSH LAD

Recently I deployed on an AT package organised by the 1 R Welsh LAD. I was lucky enough to be able to do the full 5 weeks doing numerous different disciplines. My favourite was C2F (Canoeing). At the very start of the course I couldn’t do anything but go in circles, the instructor was full of knowledge, and by the end of the week I was a much more confident and stronger paddler.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the AT package, and would recommend that anyone who gets the opportunity, to take it!

area and hill walking in general. He found us the most picturesque place to stay the night! I found the whole experience really enjoyable, I then managed to complete kayaking and rock climbing during the following 2 weeks.

Kayaking

Scribe: Pte Goodwell RCDM

I took part in the KF2. I was taught by WO1 (ASM) Paul Townsend. He was so professional and taught to the highest standard. I’ve never been a confident individual when it comes to water however, he really took time to

Cfn Asparrassa

LCpl O’Kane LCpl Bain and LCpl O’Kane

Mountain Biking

Scribe: Fus Dodson 1 R WELSH

I was recently on an adventure training package organised by SSgt McLuskey. Whilst on the AT I undertook my MBT foundation level 1 which was led by LCpl O’kane. LCpl O’Kane was a capable and competent instructor who was very understanding and patient with all levels and experiences. The bike parks and trail centres were good fun and challenging for all levels of