[Rapparee]

Hate to bring up that stereotype of the lost lieutenant again but I'd always considered it a joke till I experienced it myself a couple of months back.

We were on the battalion/brigade infantry assessment, not sure which one, it was quite possibly the most confusing exercise I've ever been on (Not that I've been on too manY!). Supposedly three medical companies were represented but there was severe scarcity and so most of our guys got pinched for the aid post and ambulance crew. Naturally still being an FNG, I got assigned to an infantry platoon of around two dozen individuals, almost full strength, with a depressingly optimistic lieutenant. Everything was grand till the night exercise....

Since this is the Irish countryside, we found ourselves hopping over cattle fences repeatedly and blundering through generally boggy terrain. Somehow we bumped into another platoon at one fence and the two officers sat down to puzzle out where they thought they were. Then invited others to join. Now please imagine around forty tooled up soldiers, kneeling and sitting in a big clump in the grass and arguing over the maps. After much discussion, we headed off again. Ten minutes later we found out that two of the recruits from the other platoon were with us accidentally. Cue me being dispatched to go looking for a camoflagued platoon in the dark with the two newbs to bring them back. The platoon gave vague assurances that "they'd wait a while". Then trying to find my way back to the platoon.....people wearing DPM, lying in the grass at night, are hard to see!

I eventually made my way onto a road and found the platoon around twenty minutes later, an assistant machine gunner being sent into a hostel to ask directions. We'd managed to blunder through at least six miles of some farmers land and arrived back suspiciously early at the camp. Thankfully no one consulted the MP's pulling security to find out that we'd cut our losses and marched back along the road!