The story of my time in the jungle begins in the far less adventurous and interesting place that is MRTC Bassingbourn. It was here where we managed to spend over 24 hours signing four pieces of paper and conducting a medical, but by the end, we were mobilised and stood one step closer to joining the Irish Guards in Belize. It is only in periods of reflection that I can understand my naivety at that point regarding the trials and tribulations that the jungle would throw at me in what was my first time working with the regular army and operating in a close country tropical environment.
On arriving at Mons Barracks we began trade-specific training. The training primarily centred around the GPMG and the build up to the weapons handling test. Although the gun was a weapon that I felt quite comfortable with, it is always good to get hands on to ensure that I was making no errors and that I was using the gun as effectively as possible. Being able to brush up on my skills and drills with the gun proved to be a very prudent use of time once we got out to Belize and entered the trees.
Upon returning to Mons, the rest of the Irish Guards had returned from their summer leave, and it was our first chance to meet the members of 4 Company who we would be deploying with. The first week on camp with the Guardsmen was a tasteful mix of pre-deployment administration, PT, packing and numbering boxes, and loading 7-ton lorries. The second week, however, was a range week which exposed me to a wide variety of rifle shoots that I had not even heard of let alone completed. This week proved to be a significant challenge. Whether it was the fact Hythe had decided to become the world’s windiest range or my own somewhat questionable shooting. I don’t think that I will be undertaking a sharpshooter cadre any time soon. In spite of my need for a few reshoots having the opportunity to move onto the 1-person live fire lanes where we had to engage multiple targets both stationary and while closing in to engage the targets. These lanes improved my soldiering, but it would have been nice to knock a few more of the targets down. We also conducted automatic and close quarter marksmanship shoots that worked to set the foundation for the ranges we were going to be doing in the Jungle. Now we had the physical fitness and the fundamental skills to deploy.
Everyone was ready to get amongst it, the freight had gone to Brize Norton with the CQMS and it was just a matter of time until we would be following the freight via Brize, or so we thought, but the flight was delayed. This turned out to be quite a blessing as we were able to relax a little. But after 10 hours we landed in Houston for our one night out, before we continued onto Belize the following morning. Upon arriving in Belize the first thing you noticed was the oppressive nature of the heat and the humidity. There was definitely a sense of the shock of capture particularly as we were at the point of no return.
The first major element of the deployment to Belize was the acclimatisation phase. Eleven days of slow monotonous walks around Price Barracks and the surrounding Belizean Defence Force camp. It was a profoundly mind-numbing experience that was interrupted by lessons about everything in the jungle that would try to do significant harm to you. Fortunately, we did not have to worry too much about the individual species of flora and fauna that were dangerous as it was pretty much all of it. Everything we did during the acclimatisation period served a purpose but by day 11 the whole Company wanted to get into the jungle leaving the incredibly ripe-smelling platoon rooms behind. Then filled with an intoxicating mix of excitement, apprehension, and a small amount of relief as the series of kit checks and never-ending taskings had ended as we loaded onto the coaches and set off to the jungle.
The exercise itself was broken into 4 phases: the survival phase, the intermediate phase, the live ranges, and the final exercise. The exercise had a strong emphasis on learning, as it was the first time the majority of the company had been to the jungle, with the jungle SOPs being rather different from how you would conduct yourself on a conventional exercise on Salisbury Plain.
The Survival phase was predominantly the teaching phase of the exercise where we were introduced to the pleasures of tabbing through the jungle with full kit and negotiating the multitude of vines and vegetation that would relentlessly trip you up or get caught on your weapon or your kit. Other than the introductory tab to the jungle base camp, the survival phase began with pacing lanes to find out our pacing for 100m. Our pacings were fundamental to our navigation through the jungle and something everyone apart from the gunners would have to do. The highlight of the survival phase was the main survival day where local trackers showed us the basics of jungle survival. The different ways to trap animals and how to prepare them to eat. The different types of fruit and vegetation that we could eat or get water from, and the process of determining whether an unknown fruit was good to eat or not. They showed us the different types of shelter that can provide us with a little respite the constant deluges of rain that would completely soak you to the bone and then wait until you had started to dry out before resuming. After all the lessons, and we had taken the first steps towards becoming the next Ray Mears, we were provided with a meal that was made from the animals that had been butchered earlier in the day.
The remaining part of the survival phases was more focused on jungle warfare and how we would conduct ourselves on patrol and the reactions to different types of enemy encounters. Patrolling with Bergens is the main characteristic of fighting in the jungle, with 90% silent patrols with 10% extreme aggression. As such we spent a good few days patrolling learning about the ground and learning about the multitude of different mistakes we could make that could harm or compromise us in a tactical scenario, especially telegraphing. Telegraphing was the act of grabbing or knocking the base of a small tree to hold yourself up and causing a massive disturbance in the canopy that would easily denote your location to the enemy forces. Universally trying not to telegraph your location was the main struggle of the tactical elements of the exercise. We also got introduced to the break contact drills and began running in straight lines through the jungle regardless of what was in front of us. It was fast, aggressive, and you were getting a good rate of fire down range and onto the target. The performance on these first four lanes definitely would not be striking fear into the Viet Cong but it was the starting point for what would be a very steep learning curve.
The next phase of the exercise was the intermediate phase, although still another teaching phase it was now set out under tactical conditions. This was our introduction to deliberate actions like the deliberate attack, an ambush, and close target reconnaissance. Although I was initially tasked with being the Platoon Sergeant’s runner, a more administrative role, due to the attritional nature of the jungle and the ensuing personnel changes, I then became the a GPMG gunner. A role I was much more satisfied with. The intermediate and all of the previous teaching was put to the test in a camp attack. The operation began with an insertion tab that ended up being considerably longer than we had first anticipated due to the difficult nature of navigating through the jungle as everything looks the same and it is very easy to get disorientated. But once we finally met up with the recce call sign the gun group immediately got the nod to step off and into the fire support location ahead of the attack. Once we were in position the day went from bad to worse. Unbeknownst to me my position was right next to an ants nest but they only started to bite me once the gun had a gas stoppage. Despite the challenging attack and the even more laborious casualty evacuation up this seemingly indeterminate hill, we were allowed to cool off in a river before heading back for another maintenance day.
The next phase, which turned out to be my favourite phase was the live ranges. Six days of shooting that progressed from an instinctive shoot to section break contact drills and a deliberate camp attack. Coming from the reserves my opportunities to conduct LFTT have been pretty much limited to the ACMT and the static CQM shoots, and I would be lying if I said I wasn’t quite nervous for what would be a major step-up from what I was used to. It was a completely new experience moving down range while engaging a target with other people around you, as having live rounds brought forth a new level of risk, especially as for the most part we weren’t using body armour or helmets. Yet as we progressed through the phase my confidence level both in myself and the trust in the others around me considerably increased as my skills and drills began to embody those of someone more competent. Towards the end of the week when we were working in the fire teams and section lanes; having to decide whether to fire, if you could identify a breakpoint, and then conduct your drills amongst the shouting and the rounds going off. These were the actions that you signed up for.
The pinnacle of the ranges and my time in Belize was the deliberate camp attack. Patrolling out, receiving the section commander’s QBOs, then being led towards the line of departure by a recce element. We were lying there in a bush waiting for an all-encompassing burst of fire to initiate the attack, at this point everyone in Delta was firing while we in Charlie began crawling up to the next bit of cover to begin engaging the targets while Delta would crawl up. Working so closely together in such an aggressive manner was a truly great experience. Our kit held up, the section held up, but halfway through the attack one of the trees on the range decided that it could no longer withstand the heat of battle and fell, nearly crushing one of the JWICs and our section commander. Yet, even with what I can presume would have been a significant sound of the tree falling, no-one in Charlie could hear it. This attack allowed us to enter the final maintenance day on a real high, as well as knowing the fact that there were 5 more days left in the jungle before End Ex.
Not only were we staring at the end of the exercise, but we were awaiting the results of the section competition. Winning the contest between all the sections allowed us to enjoy one night in a jungle lodge retreat where we could sleep in a proper bed and enjoy some freshly cooked food. It was quite surreal, no one in the section had ever anticipated that we could be on exercise while also spending an evening in relative luxury. Despite the comforts we were under no illusion about what the next day would bring as the final exercise was sat there lurking on the periphery. The final exercise, the climax of all the training, the opportunity to put everything that we had learned into practice was both enjoyable and challenging.
The reward for the hard effort was 4 days of rest and relaxation in San Pedro. Two days rest was then needed to recover from the previous four days after which came the long-awaited return to England and the inevitable demobilisation for a Reserve soldier.
Pte Tanak, 4th Battalion The Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment