Annual Camp 08
and
US Exchange Visit
September 2008
Having had a great time in Jersey the year before, the plan for this year's annual camp was to prove out amphibious engineering skills. Two weeks in the field, living and sleeping on our rigs and with plenty of time on the water and getting some MATTs done.
As well as our 'in house' training, which
included low level amphibious training, harbour drills and military skills,
we had two main tasks. These were to build two bridges over the River Weser
at different points. One to allow a German Armoured Engineer Regiment to
cross as part of their annual training and the other to provide a
bridge as part of a demonstration for the Chief of the General Staff. So no
pressure at all then!
Between the amphibious and military training, our guests and a lucky few managed to get away on some cultural trips. We managed to get them to Schloss Bückeburg, a battlefield tour of Bastogne, the pituresque castle of Burg Elze and a somber trip to see Bergen Belsen.
At the end of the two week camp, before they left to get their flight back to the States, our guests made a presentation to show their appreciation. I'm sure they enjoyed their stay as much as we enjoyed them visiting and we'd love to see them back any time in the future.
For the last day of the camp we were left with just the CGS's Demo, which unsurprisingly after so much rehearsal, went without any problems. Everyone was so happy to be running around with weapons, webbing, body armour, helmets and lifejackets...... oh what fun! Another successful annual camp done and dusted.
