Gurkha Recruit Intake 26 Get to Grips with Urban Warfare Training
Original article by David Sivills-McCann, Forces News (Edited)
The latest intake of Gurkhas has been going through their urban warfare training as they continue their long journey to pass out as fully fledged soldiers. The trainee riflemen have been practicing their drills and tactics at the Whinney Hill training area at Catterick Garrison in Yorkshire. It is one of the most formidable tests these aspiring soldiers will face and there is no room for error. They were learning about the dangers and challenges as well as how to overcome them under the instructors of the Infantry Training Centre, Catterick.
Trainee Rifleman Surithang Lawati said: “This is our first urban training. We are learning the techniques and tactics to operate in urban areas. In urban areas we have to operate in the buildings which are very narrow, and we don’t have enough space to go from one direction to another direction. Our Guruji is teaching us new things and new techniques and tactics so we are becoming comfortable as well as confident.”
The recruits are being taught to fight building to building, floor to floor and room to room to eliminate any enemy. Teamwork is an important part of this and making sure everyone knows their job and everyone knows how to carry it out is key.
Trainee Rifleman Bikash Rai added: “Every person has their own role in this attack and without them we can’t achieve our mission. So, every individual person has their own goals and their own targets. At first, we did not know how to attack and we have practised a lot of time and slowly we built our confidence.”
It is a steep learning curve for the recruits who are learning everything in just a matter of days and the pressure is on. The trainee riflemen have gone through so much to get to this point that failure is unthinkable. But the staff training these new recruits are very happy with what they have seen from those on the course.
Sergeant Amir Chamling (Queen’s Own Gurkha Logistic Regiment) said: “When I was here as a full screw, I used to teach them and talking about their input is quite paramount every time. Not only here in the exercise, back in the barracks they do their own time in drills and everything. So I think because of that reason I think their skills are quite sharpened when they come to the exercise. Being a Corporal before and Sergeant now I can say that our boys work very hard to get to where they are now.”
Images supplied by BFBS
Gurkha Recruit Intake 26 Get to Grips with Urban Warfare Training
