Caversham
RM Commando, Crossed The Bar 13/12/2020
- Joined
- Mar 22, 2009
- Posts
- 5,665
- Reaction score
- 9,018
C/Sgt Nobby Clarkson of 45 Cdo. My TQ when I was there. Great guy!
Alan
C/Sgt Nobby Clarkson of 45 Cdo. My TQ when I was there. Great guy!
If you put a round into someone with a 7.62 they went down six foot away from where the round struck them and more importantly, stayed down.
Alan
And the round would keep going 1/4 of a mile down the road through old Mrs Granny Smiths Bathroom brick wall and bounce round until it finally lost energy...
I’m sure there’s reports of 5.56 having no effect on drugged up insurgents and that the Yanks are considering changing the NATO round.
Why is that? Surely if a 5.56 round fits a 5.56 weapon it is good to go?
5.56 NATO is a very specific balance of bullet and load. It is standardised to ensure compatibility across NATO weapons of the same calibre. Compatibly in this context means that the weapon will operate reliably and safely with minimal stoppages while delivering ballistic results.
A 5.56 NATO round is the same calibre as the popular commercial .223 Remington in dimension. But there might be a considerable variation in propellant loads which are commercially available or which one might load oneself to suit particular requirements.
So the answer about not having to worry about it makes sense.
By the way, a standard .223 Remington round (equivalent to 5.56 NATO) will turn a fox inside out and project it ten feet off the ground at 200 metres. I can only guess that such energy would take the shine off a human's day.
Maybe quite technical but I remember learning as a nod that the SA80 functions best with a very specific NATO 5.56 and I've got it noted somewhere that "other 5.56 ammunition will not fire effectively and may lead to stoppages".
Why is that? Surely if a 5.56 round fits a 5.56 weapon it is good to go?
Never got an answer because when I asked back then I got the duty "you don't need to worry about that because you'll only ever be supplied the correct rounds anyway" answer![]()
Before PRMC there was the PRC (Pre Recruit Course), before that nothing! When I joined it was the recruit test, interview and medical, all done within a short space of time and within weeks you were on your way to The Depot, Deal.
When I asked my CA what I could do fitness wise before joining I was told to do nothing, as "that's our job to get you fit". Those first gym sessions at Deal were horrendous! But by the time we left for CTC we were fitter and leaner than ever before.
I think the main reason back in my day was due to most of us coming from work involving manual labour, (I worked on building sites) and we tended to walk everywhere when not working. Despite all of this the numbers reaching KS was around 50% or less. We had a 12 week opt out window, where you could buy your way out the gate for £20, after that you were in for the duration. Out of around 50, (we had a number of Junior Marines join the original 38), that left Deal for CTC around 18 passed out, including some who had been back trooped, I was not one of them. In the Troop that I did pass out with, around 8 weeks later, there were 11 and of those, only 9 originals.
So I believe that the PRC/PRMC was introduced to try and stem the dropout rate, because of the perception that the generation applying in the 1980s did not have a baseline level of fitness that my generation had. Judging by the numbers reaching KS these days, not a lot has changed.
I do believe that that the reason that the standards for entry are more stringent is because of the long term injuries that we are now suffering with. Myself and most of the former Marines that I know are in receipt of a pension for injuries. Mine is for knees and hearing, which was a common ailment and the cost must be huge to the public purse. I believe that I would not have made the start line had the current requirements been in when I joined. I weighed 9st 10lb, around 60kg and I had a pre existing injury to my knee, as well as various other "problems".
I also believe that the training is more structured and even "harder" than before, (mine was around 30 weeks), although it still follows the same principles as today, as gym, bottom field pass out and the Commando Tests are exactly the same. However the equipment is far superior now. I have mentioned before that some of our kit was from WW1 and the webbing and boots were not fit for purpose. The only decent kit was our rifle, which was the SLR and the GPMG, all the rest was gash. No Gortex, no sleeping bags, no Jet Boils etc etc.
However, when I see what the guys who went to Achnacarry had to contend with, I expect they were saying that we had it soft when compared to them! I think they were right!
Alan
We also had one Cpl who, after I laughed at the state of him after he had been in Peter's Pool in February on the Endurance acquaint, promptly filled me in. This was in front of the Troop stripey and grunter and the only response was from the stripey who said, "I bet you don't take the piss out of another PW!Legend.
Don’t play it down. It was a lot harder and far more brutal in the 70s 80s and 90s.
The fact you had less kit, probably actually benefits the end product, more than anything else.
I respect all who have been through the mill and got a green lid. But experiences at Lympstone massively vary from troop to troop.
We had one team member who had been to the Falklands in 82, and was almost unacceptably ‘orrible’ even by Commando training standards*
I think he alone accounted for my troops attrition rate and Kings Squad of 11 out of an original 57 lads.
Times change and as long as the training is still of the highest renown and tests the same, we can all remain proud of our achievements and our beloved Corps
* edited to add that this training team member was one of the warmest and entertaining guys you could ever hope to meet once, of course, you had ‘earned’ the right to spin him your Chad dit’s by way of earning your green beret!
We also had one Cpl who, after I laughed at the state of him after he had been in Peter's Pool in February on the Endurance acquaint, promptly filled me in. This was in front of the Troop stripey and grunter and the only response was from the stripey who said, "I bet you don't take the piss out of another PW!
I didn't get to meet up with the Cpl again after I did pass out, which was just as well, as I didn't get to keep the promise that I made to myself about what I would do to him. Thankfully, those practices are no longer tolerated.
Happy days...... not!
Alan
RT was only 30 weeks as well.
I scratch my head about it and ponder in 2020 but from a Para perspective the blokes who fought at Darwin Goose Green and on Mount Longdon did only 22 weeks of RT. And four weeks of that was the Basic Parachute Course at Brize.
Disregarding Brize some of the blokes who deployed directly from RT at Depot Para—including the seventeen-year-olds who were KIA—had only 18 weeks of training before going to war. A sobering thought now.
Sorry, I dunno how to PM!
Thread starter | Similar threads | Forum | Replies | Date |
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() |
How realistic is the commando training school series on YouTube? | General Royal Marines Joining Chit Chat | 19 | |
![]() |
RAMC & 3 Commando Brigade | General Royal Marines Joining Chit Chat | 8 | |
R | Reserve commando course | Introductions & Welcome to the Royal Marines Site | 3 |