Sgt Colliar's aclc experience

Overall my experience was brilliant, I would happily go again. I succeeded in passing the course with a merit, so I was pretty chuffed. The only drawback was the long 4 hour train journey going down to Cranwell, however when I was travelling back was better, as I had people I knew and was friends with, with me.

---

We did a lot through the week, log run, 16 mile walk, morning run etc. My personal favourite was the command tasks. There were 30 tasks overall, and each of us would get 3 chances to lead it, and 27 chances to be a follower or an observer. The tasks were broken up into the phases, 1, 2, 3, with phase 3 being the hardest. These command tasks varied of the situation, what you would be doing etc. They are made to see how an effective leader you are and how you handle the situation and how you tackle it/ lead the team through it. You were given two small A5 sheets, one yellow, and the other white. The yellow one was to help you/ remind you about the use of PICSIE (Plan, Initiate, Control, Support, Inform, Evaluate) and SMEAC (Situation, Mission, Execution, Ask questions, Check understanding). My flight found this very useful and we all managed to pass the whole course and bond together as strong team.

Overall I loved the course and I would do it again and again. I would recommend this course to any cadet, as anyone would benefit from the experience I developed through the course. The week was tough will early starts and late nights, but as long as you keep your head up and get sleep as soon as you could, then you will love it.