Exercise Dynamic Victory (Ex DV) Commissioning Course 193 (Summer Term 2020) is the final field exercise of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst Officer Cadets which usually takes place in Germany but this time, it was held in Stanford Training Area (STANTA) from 16th – 26th July 2020 due to travel restrictions imposed by COVID-19.
As always, 32 members from Gurkha Company (Sittang) (GC(S)) played a vital role under the command of Captain Tarjan Gurung to support this Ex DV. GC(S) fulfilled enemy role, three Gun groups attached to the Company and two teams of Police team. This was my second time supporting as a Gun Group team member and my aim was to be more pro-active and demonstrate our light Infantry excellence in the field to the Officer Cadets.
A Gun Group attached to a Company provides pivotal fire support to troops in contact, ambush, raid, camp attacks, massive suppressive fire power during A2C and enable the officer Cadets in Command appointment to suppress, neutralize and destroy enemy forces and conduct manoeuvres in the close combat battle.
We ensured our basic drills and field crafts were 100% up to scratch, everyone within the team well-versed to Platoon level tactics in order to provide the best support as a team. Throughout, the cadets, Officer Commanding and Platoon Sergeants from Borneo company were really impressed and praised us for adding value to the Exercise. This gave me a sense of accomplishment. A day before FTX; my gun group was told that the Commander Sandhurst Group, Brigadier James Carr-Smith, was coming to the Company harbour to give some of us coin presentations for our hard work, commitment and setting a good example in front of the cadets. As the saying goes, “Hard work pays off”.
This term’s Ex DV was challenging yet rewarding at the same time. Overall, our role as a gun group made a good impression of how an infantry soldier operates in the field, and once again, we maintained the reputation of Gurkha Company (Sittang).
By Rifleman Rasib Pun, Gurkha Company (Sittang)
