Royal Marines Commando School

[jimbop1]

Megaflow said:

Oily Nails said:

For the love of god as a Cumbrian I have to say this, please realise that plank Bond does not represent us!

Shocking

You are ok, having spent time in Cumbria I realise he is a plank and not representative.

He will not pass out so long as I've got a hole in my ae!

What are you two in/use to be in?

[PHuzzy]

andymc said:

she? women on the course now?

A couple of women have actually passed the AACC and have the green lid.
A new regt 2IC joined just as I was leaving and was one of the few to have completed it.
She was pretty tasty as well.

[98elise]

One thing that strikes me (as ex RN) is they seem to get away with murder on occasions. When we fked up you got a huge bking, we didn't chat back ever, you could never be late for anything. Kit inspection took days of prep and you didn't fart, giggle, talk etc when the inspection was going on. When we did rope climbs it was far more like drill, especially the controlled decent. They looked like a shower of st We also had to have immaculate white kit for PT. Shorts had to be starched like they were cardboard!

I think they are glossing over the physical side though. They just drop in that they have little sleep, and not enough time to eat. They just show a quick snippet of them starting, then finishing an exercise which makes it look easy to anyone thats not done something similar.

[monthefish]

98elise said:

One thing that strikes me (as ex RN) is they seem to get away with murder on occasions. When we fked up you got a huge bking, we didn't chat back ever, you could never be late for anything. Kit inspection took days of prep and you didn't fart, giggle, talk etc when the inspection was going on.

I was surprised at the level of tolerance of this.

[V88Dicky]

98elise said:

I think they are glossing over the physical side though. They just drop in that they have little sleep, and not enough time to eat. They just show a quick snippet of them starting, then finishing an exercise which makes it look easy to anyone thats not done something similar.

I agree. It's probably so they don't turn off potential recruits from joining!

From memory, the first morning of Potential Royal Marines Course (PRMC) goes something like this;

Thorough 'warm up'.
1.5 mile squad run (12 minutes)
1.5 mile individual best effort. (Must be under 10 minutes)
Gym Test commences;
Bleep test (20m) Target: Lvl 13
Press ups (2 mins) Target 60
Sit ups (2mins) Target 80
Pull ups (over grasp on beam) Target 8

If you hit all the targets it's maximum marks, but you can be failed for not reaching a minimum score, although I can't remember what that was.

Fair play to the lads who do this.

[0000]

Interesting. Doesn't sound too bad on the whole to me. I only did a bleep test once as a young teenager but I seem to recall 13 being a fairly tough target without having done two runs that day.

[V88Dicky]

That's it. Individual disciplines aren't that bad, but when they're stacked up one after the other, it's a totally different ball game.

I've seen lads collapse, others puking up during these tests. Cheerfulness in the face of adversity and all that!

[monthefish]

V88Dicky said:

98elise said:

I think they are glossing over the physical side though. They just drop in that they have little sleep, and not enough time to eat. They just show a quick snippet of them starting, then finishing an exercise which makes it look easy to anyone thats not done something similar.

I agree. It's probably so they don't turn off potential recruits from joining!

From memory, the first morning of Potential Royal Marines Course (PRMC) goes something like this;

Thorough 'warm up'.
1.5 mile squad run (12 minutes)
1.5 mile individual best effort. (Must be under 10 minutes)
Gym Test commences;
Bleep test (20m) Target: Lvl 13
Press ups (2 mins) Target 60
Sit ups (2mins) Target 80
Pull ups (over grasp on beam) Target 8

Rope climb?

[Zoobeef]

monthefish said:

Rope climb?

Not on the pre course. All that is only the first morning too.

[pingu393]

V88Dicky said:

That's it. Individual disciplines aren't that bad, but when they're stacked up one after the other, it's a totally different ball game.

Exactly this.

My son was laughing at the lad who can't get over the wall in the opening credits. He didn't realise that it was probably at the end of an assault course and he was carrying his own weight in webbing and water.

[dave_s13]

V88Dicky said:

I agree. It's probably so they don't turn off potential recruits from joining!

From memory, the first morning of Potential Royal Marines Course (PRMC) goes something like this;

Thorough 'warm up'.
1.5 mile squad run (12 minutes)
1.5 mile individual best effort. (Must be under 10 minutes)
Gym Test commences;
Bleep test (20m) Target: Lvl 13
Press ups (2 mins) Target 60
Sit ups (2mins) Target 80
Pull ups (over grasp on beam) Target 8

If you hit all the targets it's maximum marks, but you can be failed for not reaching a minimum score, although I can't remember what that was.

Fair play to the lads who do this.

Sounds like a good workout, might try it in fact.

[z4RRSchris99]

monthefish said:

98elise said:

One thing that strikes me (as ex RN) is they seem to get away with murder on occasions. When we fked up you got a huge bking, we didn't chat back ever, you could never be late for anything. Kit inspection took days of prep and you didn't fart, giggle, talk etc when the inspection was going on.

I was surprised at the level of tolerance of this.

speaking to someone who was filmed for this the program is very tame and misses out most of the bking and pain

i suppose its a recuriting tool after all

[monthefish]

z4RRSchris99 said:

monthefish said:

98elise said:

One thing that strikes me (as ex RN) is they seem to get away with murder on occasions. When we fked up you got a huge bking, we didn't chat back ever, you could never be late for anything. Kit inspection took days of prep and you didn't fart, giggle, talk etc when the inspection was going on.

I was surprised at the level of tolerance of this.

speaking to someone who was filmed for this the program is very tame and misses out most of the bking and pain

i suppose its a recuriting tool after all

I'd say that level of tolerance would be off-putting to potential recruits; They're supposed to be the absolute elite, with the ultimate discipline - I think we had more discipline in the cubs (no-one would have dared fart in front of our Akela)

[Zoobeef]

The other thing is almost all of it is filmed with static cameras, not a camera team following them around. When they came to us they sent 1 bloke with a small camera so I'm not sure it'll make it in.
But it means they can't film the recruits being crash moved in the field at 3.15am after 10 minutes sleep.

The exercises after the half way point get more interesting anyway as the early ones are just about being thrashed and morning kit musters. With a bit of cam and con thrown in.

[pingu393]

PHuzzy said:

A couple of women have actually passed the AACC and have the green lid.
A new regt 2IC joined just as I was leaving and was one of the few to have completed it.
She was pretty tasty as well.

I'm not 100% sure, but I don't think the AACC entitles you to a green beret. The guys I knew who had done it wore a red dagger.

IIRC, the AACC is much shorter than the course they are on. I think it has the same tests (fitness, timed marches, etc.), but without all the bullst. Anyone in any of the Forces can apply to do it, but they have to pass assessment. I don't know if there is a minimum rank, or a minimum time that they have been in for.

Not sure about the RM, but in the Army, you get to wear the beret by being attached to the unit. You usually have to wear at least one embelishment of your host unit and it is usually the beret. That's why people who haven't passed the para course can wear the red beret, but with their corps' badge. It's the wings (or the dagger) that count .

[98elise]

pingu393 said:

PHuzzy said:

A couple of women have actually passed the AACC and have the green lid.
A new regt 2IC joined just as I was leaving and was one of the few to have completed it.
She was pretty tasty as well.

I'm not 100% sure, but I don't think the AACC entitles you to a green beret. The guys I knew who had done it wore a red dagger.

IIRC, the AACC is much shorter than the course they are on. I think it has the same tests (fitness, timed marches, etc.), but without all the bullst. Anyone in any of the Forces can apply to do it, but they have to pass assessment. I don't know if there is a minimum rank, or a minimum time that they have been in for.

Not sure about the RM, but in the Army, you get to wear the beret by being attached to the unit. You usually have to wear at least one embelishment of your host unit and it is usually the beret. That's why people who haven't passed the para course can wear the red beret, but with their corps' badge. It's the wings (or the dagger) that count .

The only person I knew in the RN who had done the AACC didn't wear a green beret. All they had was a commando badge on their jersey (and probably their No1 uniform).

[dai1983]

dai1983 said:

They are only allowed to wear the beret when attached to a Commando unit but still wear the dagger at other times. I think that's the same with the maroon beret once they pass P coy. Other ranks attached to the paras get gifted the beret but can only wear the wings on completion of P coy.

As far as I know 2 women have passed the the AACC and at my previous unit I witnessed a female matelot being thrashed on the bottom field replica during the pre-all arms course. 21 pounds and a rifle is worn for bottom field pass out btw

I agree the TV show is missing a lot of the phys and field stuff out focussing instead on the "drama" aspect. They must be coming up to ex Hunters Moon which has the potential to be horrendous depending on the weather and training team. The training teams have been quite chilled out and approachable.

I'm glad the ex builder wrapped as I can imagine him to be the type to see the lads off and be an all round annoying gobste. One phrase I've not yet heard is "if you did that at a unit you would get banged out!"

[Langweilig]

Mmm. A potato crisp butty with crinkle cut crisps. I must try that.

[pingu393]

Langweilig said:

Mmm. A potato crisp butty with crinkle cut crisps. I must try that.

Sounds like you have never had a crisp butty. It must be the thought of crinkle-cut crisps that you find strange.

[andymc]

Contrast these young men with the pond life from dangerous dogs on at the same time