Newport Marines experience of the journey to Afghanistan
After they had finished I asked them what was going on
. They had both been border line and had to prove themselves on the first weekend. This was frustrating as I knew I could do what they were being asked to do. The rest of the troops, from the unit, were all really supportive and genuinely gutted that I hadn't made it. The two with borderline passes both were surprised that I hadn't got through as they rated themselves below me. The rest of the afternoon was then spent watching the rest of the guys get their kit, be shown how to put it together and basic personal admin. This was really frustrating and rubbed salt in the wound but the three of us just had to grin and bear it. Eventually we were able to leave after what seemed like a never ending day. The lads were all high spirited on the bus laughing and joking and looking forward to the first weekend. I wasn't able to share their enthusiasm so ended up falling asleep. We got back to the detachment in Cardiff and got split into out pass, partial pass and deferred. The PSI was shocked I had been deferred and was positive and supportive about me continuing the training, unfortunately it rules would change and I wouldn't be able to continue training with them until June (7 months). They did invite me on their Christmas party, which by all accounts was just as well I didn't go as there was a lot of typical mis-behaving.
Newport Marines experience of the journey to Afghanistan