Exercise Cambrian Patrol is an annual patrolling competition that takes place throughout the Cambrian Mountains of mid-Wales. An internationally recognized military exercise, previous participants have included numerous European states, in addition to Commonwealth countries and the United States.
Cambrian Patrol was first set up more than 40 years ago, by a group of Welsh Territorial Army soldiers who designed the training event to feature long distance marching over the Cambrian Mountains and which culminated in a shooting match on the Sennybridge training area. Since then, the exercise has been rigorously updated to meet the challenges faced by modern soldiers.
In 2006 the event which ran from 27 October to 5 November 2006, attracted 95 teams from the British Army (regular and territorial) and Royal Air Force. Foreign army teams from Pakistan, Canada, Lithuania, Latvia, Denmark, India, France and the Czech Republic also took part. A total of 64 teams completed the exercise.
The competition consists of teams of 8 men carrying up to 60 Lbs each across some of the most unforgiving terrain. There have been account of teams trudging through bog land up to their waist for 48 hours only to cover 60 km. It's a test of leadership, self discipline, courage and determination. The exercise usually starts with teams arriving at a Rendezvous before having their equipment checked to make sure they have everything required. Missing equipment will be replaced by dead weight and will mean points will be deducted. From there the team leader will be taken to orders while the rest of the team set up a quick hide, start their battle prep and prepare to receive orders i.e. prepare a model of the ground which will be covered during the patrol.
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The exercise is a test of military skills including:
It's arduous, it's physically and mentally demanding, it's viewed internationally as one of the toughest patrolling tests facing the modern soldier, it's the Cambrian Patrol...
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