shallow water diver practical was in Portsmouth harbour, god knows how deep the mud was at the bottom but the test was saw a plank of wood with a rusty saw and limited amount of breathable air, if you start to panic you use more air. And as you saw the wood you start to sink into the mud,at one time it was up to my shins, the waters pitch black, has anyone ever tried to saw wet wood with a blunt saw its a bugger. 9 PARA R.E.C Com was in the commandos his callsign was Comanchio
Panic is the killer. I successfully earned my 10m badge when I was a kid, none of the others though, and the memory of the test saved my life when I got caught in a rip tide. Couldn't get back to standing depth, just kept getting dragged back, started to tire and thought I was going to drown, had a 'life flashes before you' moment, which I've since read is your brain looking for a way out, which makes perfect sense because that popped into my head and I flipped on my back.
I did a shalow nil viz dive, at the time it was part of the BSAC dive leader training, believe they've stopped it now, came in handy in scapa flow when some knob head in front of us was kicking the silt up.
in my day every course completed was a pay rise, PT instructor passed in the PT school Aldershot, i went for the lot and after the sharpshooter completion i became marksman on the Carl Gustav which meant i only had to carry a browning 9mm,my no2 carried the launcher and the ammo radio user, combat engineer, did mine and camouflet explosives at Yantlet in the Thames estuary, sniper badge at Deal rangers, and a lot of work with the Commandos based at Dover castle
... and not forgetting Kusstard... who was in the Women's Auxillary Catering Corps ... Help for Heroes, Heroines and Herothems
Sucky posting sectarianism, which is what that is as it's aimed at their opponents Rangers. Although the Republican supporters in that crowd have missed one vitally important factor, and that is Sinn Fein has commited publically that it will be in attendance at the Coronation.
