Resiste et Mords!

Back in Officer's school, there was a small poster on one of the notice boards for the Four Days Marches in Nijmegen, NL.

The first time I saw it, and read it, I thought anyone who would attend such an event must be completely mad. Its four days of marching, 40km a day (around 25 miles) with 10kg of marching kit.

As time passed, and the more I thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed. My motivation was twofold. Primarily, it was a challenge no one I knew had ever completed before (that is, none of my friends or acquaintances) and secondly, having started off in the armored corps, and having a few friends who went through the rigors of the Pz/Art OS, I felt the need to up the ante a little.

So back in March I began marching training with the Marschgruppe Aare. I quickly discovered that there is a profound difference between marching in the Army and marching in civilian clothes with civilians. Marching becomes a journey upon which you embark wherein you get to know the people around you, tell stories, enjoy the scenery and generally have a good time.

In May I attended the Bernese two day march. That was the first real test as it was in military attire, with a military backpack and the required 10kg of weight. At the end of the first day, I was completely exhausted and enjoyed a much needed night's sleep. The second day I was surprised to find myself fit and ready to go for another 40km. I met some great people along with way, including a few members of the French Foreign Legion.

My first international march was not Nijmegen, but the MESA, (Marche Europenne de Souvenir et de l'Amitie, European March of Remembrance and Friendship) in the Ardennes in Belgium. The MESA is one of two four day marches sponsored by the Belgian Armed Forces. We marched 4x32km, in Bastogne, Marche en Famenne, La Roche en Ardenne and finally Houffalize, where we were lodged.
The Ardennes were impressive. The paths upon which we walked were mostly just dirt paths, which led through forests, valleys and fields. It was humbling to see the war memorials from the Battle of the Bulge during the 2nd World War.
As far as the marching went, day three was the most interesting because I began to feel the fatigue and weariness of walking for three days. Day four felt the same, however, the final day has the motivational factor of being finally done at the end.
I made some great friends there in the Ardennes, not only Belgians, but a delegation of "Les Chevrons Neutchatelois", a Swiss military group who has sent a delegation to the MESA for 25 years now.
Finally, at the end, we were awarded the ribbon and medal for the MESA. It bears the head of a wild boar, which is the insignia of the "Chasseurs Ardennais" the Belgian Infantry unit that is the Patron of the MESA.

Their Motto is: Resiste et Mords!

This means nothing short of "Resist and bite back" (bite like a boar would)

                                                                          

Left: Bernese 2 Day March with 1st time Military Pariticipation
Right: International Marching League Medal

 

MESA Medal w. WWI Remembrance pin

The Practical Service

After a week of Vacation at the End of Officer School, 19 Aspiring Translation Officers from all over Switzerland, arrived at the Barracks in Kloten to begin 15 weeks of training in the art and finesse of being a Translation Officer.

At first I was unaccustomed to the amount of paper/office work this required. I made some great friends while there however. On base were also a few of my friends from officer's school who were leading their platoons there for the next 14 weeks before they went on for 7 weeks of service in the field.

We were training in a host of things from effective communication and the presentation of plans and ideas, to 3 weeks of intensive language courses as well as planing trips around Switzerland for fictional visiting dignitaries, consecutive and simultaneous interpretation, Swiss History, Swiss Politics and the Political System, Etiquette and fine dining/manners. All of which was interesting and gave a nice and constant change in pace and topic.

Towards the end of our Service, at the beginning of June we were all promoted to 2nd Lieutenant. (Leutnant in German). The Promotion ceremony was held in a 12th century church in Dübendorf. Not only our class teacher Major Fäs from Officer School, but the Colonel and our Brigadier General were in attendance. The ceremony itself was well done, a timely and eloquently put piece by the Military Chaplain of the Brigade as well as a funny and inspiring speech by the former head of the Military Intelligence Service (a close friend of our commanding Officer during the Practical Service).
What made the ceremony quite special for me was the attendance of my former XO (Executive Officer) from boot camp who originally gave me the recommendation to become a Translation Officer.

Shortly after our promotion, a few of us attended our Officer's Ball, which was held at the Victoria Jungfrau Hotel in Interlaken. I had the honor of being accompanied by the lovely Teal S. I had such a great time seeing many of my friends from officer school as well as a few from central officer training in Bern.

Before I knew it, the 15 weeks of service were up on the 20th of June and so too came to an end almost a years worth of consecutive Service in the Army. I was glad it was over, but the transition back to civilian life would definitely take some getting used to.

My Life In The Army

Dear Reader,

Please forgive my absence from updating this blog. I've had a very busy summer with army service and other activities. I will hence forth make a consolidated effort to update regularly. Now without further ado: The rest of my army service!

Officer's school progressed well. There were a few night time exercises which included more office/paperwork and planning than anything else. It took me a while to learn how to deal with sleep deprivation. But this, like many other things, you learn how to deal with and overcome.

Week 4 of Officer's school found us in Magglingen for a week of Sports Teacher Training. The VBS (Dept. of Defense) buildings in Magglingen are as close to a 5-Star Hotel as you'll find in the Army and considered the High Seat of Sports in Switzerland. We had toe opportunity to do many fun things and team sports as well as prepare our own sport lessons. The best food I've ever eaten in the army was by far in Magglingen as we had the choice of three different menus for lunch and dinner. Breakfast consisted of a bounty of options from bread, meats and cheese to cereals, pastries and a host of juices, teas and coffee. I now understand why assignments in Magglingen are so relished in the Translation Officer's Company.

The Fifth Week of OS was shooting week. We learned how to properly prepare and carry out a shooting program/lesson, including all the paper work and bureaucracy involved. It was fun, as I not only enjoy shooting but enjoy the responsibilities and difficulties of leading a shooting session. I also improved my skills with the Pistol, though I was unable to earn the Pistol Marksman Ribbon.

Weeks 6 and 7 were spent in Bülach with the commander of the Translation Officer's Practical Service. Whilst our comrades had multiple exercises out in the sticks somewhere, setting up antennas and sleeping in barns, our class was acquainted with the basic responsibilities and capabilities of what Translation Officers do. This includes having good manners, not being a slob, understanding Swiss History and Culture and being able to present it in such a way that foreign delegations. A Basic understanding of good conversation, what not to talk about, etc. There was also a fair deal of paperwork and bureaucracy involved as well as learning how to make a good first impression. At the end of week 6, we had a 40km march from Bülach, up to the Rhine, over to Weiach, and then back to Bülach. Our class proved again that we aren't as bad as the reputation that we inherited in that we arrived a full 30 minutes before the last of the three classes and only a mere 10 minutes after the first class.

Week 8 was spent in Andermatt, high up in the mountains, where we received instruction in basic mountaineering know-how, snow-shoeing, making a Snow Bivouac, as well as the intricacies of sleeping and eating outside in the mountains. I very much enjoyed all of it, especially the mountaineering and knot tie-ing.

Week 9 was endurance week. Its touted as the hardest thing about an Officer's School. It was one of the best weeks of my life. On Sunday night we began preparing for the week. The whole Officer's School was mixed and put into three "combat platoons" I only got around an hour and a half to two and a half hours of sleep a night and yet was well rested and ready to go every time I woke up to a new day. We did many things aimed at testing our resolve, willpower and personal strength. It was imperative to work as a team. I luckily had a great group in my platoon to work with. We had a few bad apples and some friction within our platoon. I credit Platoon Bravo's (my platoon) success in the strong leadership that came from one of the four women aspiring to officer in our OS. Lara did a great job of keeping our platoon in line. She took over command of the platoon late Monday night and was in command until Wednesday afternoon. The moment Lara was in charge, we started winning, and we wound up being the best of the three platoons in all the sports and other challenges.
On whole, Endurance week was one of the greatest weeks of my life. I was not only relieved, but also sad when it drew to a close with the 60km March from Weinfelden to Bülach. We finished the march to steaks, beers and cigars in around 12h33m.

Week 10 held the final inspection, our promotion to Sergeant First Class and the logistics of returning all the corps material and preparing to exit out of Officer's School. The Final Roll Call on the parade square of the Barracks, in the low February sun, was a very odd experience. I had grown so close to these aspiring officer's all around me, especially in the last week and a half. Now we would go off to our separate bases and continue with our practical service. For some that would mean commanding a platoon. For others, specifically us Translation Specialists, it meant 15 weeks of training and learning in a host of subjects. After a final salute and the best wishes from the Colonel, we took our full kit and made our way home, wishing each other a good weekend and good luck at our new postings.

FU OS 30-2 13/14 (The First Week)

On the 2nd of December, after a week of vacation in Malta, I began Officer's School in Bülach. Up until this point the Führungsunterstützungs Offiziersschule 30 (FU OS 30) had been in Frauenfeld. In a way, we were guinea pigs, as much of the logistical details, facilities and exercises were being done for the first time here.

After the Korpsvisite (the introduction of all the officers and class teachers at the beginning of a course or school), we got settled as best we could in our rooms (6 guys to a room, the smallest room I've ever been in during my time in the army). We also met for the first time our class teacher and his aide: Major F. and Lieutenant H. The Major is an old school bunker artillery gunner (a function they no longer train in the SAF) he has a very sarcastic humor and straightforward practical way of doing things. It took some time to come to appreciate it, in the long run however his opinion is one I learned to respect and heed (not only because he was my superior, but because there was no bureaucratic non-sense involved and he gave practical, real world advice) The Lieutenant began his service as an infantry grenadier (a detail we only learned of at the very end of Officer school) but after and accident in the 5th week of boot camp and some surgery had to change functions and ended up with the Transmission and Communication Corps as a "Richtstrahlpionier" (Lit.:Direction Beam Pioneer, they are responsible for line of sight communications in alpine areas) He then choose to become an officer and is now on track to become a professional Officer.

After settling into our rooms, in the evening before dinner we had an intro test about the basics of the Army, Swiss history, the geography of Switzerland and other stuff along that line. Thereafter we had the 5km "Waffenlauf" (Gun Run) in which you put your assault rifle in your otherwise empty combat backpack and go for a run. The time limit was 31 minutes and I finished somewhere between 26 and 27 minutes. The following day we received our personal Officers material including the Pistol 75, the Officer's Box and a third set of Combat Boots. Having a new side arm was, and still is very exciting.
Early on Thursday morning, Exercise "DARKSIDE" began. The exercise was "Band of Brothers" themed and was very exciting. I had the opportunity to be our class' platoon leader for most of the exercise. Despite being a rather taxing job, being platoon leader was an exciting and valuable experience. The exercise lasted until Friday afternoon and saw us set up a bivouac area, get dropped off (like WW2 paratroopers) without any maps or any other direction aid or locating device aside from a compass, and need to find our way back to the rendez-vous point in Frauenfeld, as well as fire our pistols for the first time.

All in all, it was a good first week. There were 14 of us in our class, the Army Translation Officer class. We are now part of the Transmissions and Communications Corps, which belongs to the Air Force, and not the Army. The objective of an officer school is to train and prepare individuals to become platoon leaders and officers. in the FU OS, there is only one Translation Officer class once every two years. Some of the training and exercises are geared towards platoon leaders. Us Translation Officers will never be platoon leaders, or have our own recruits. Because the officer school is not geared towards us (which is fine and good) the previous Translation Officer class created a bad reputation that we would have to face at every turn. Instead of just manning up and getting it over with, many of the previous Translation Officers (or so I was told) complained and made a fuss about needing to accomplish tasks geared toward leadership and leading a platoon. Because of this reputation, any of the class teachers were loath to take responsibility of and lead our class. We really lucked out with our Major, who proved to be the best of the three throughout the course of officer school.

Last Days in Thun/ Bern: The Central Officer's Course

After the UOS I attended the first week of the Panzer/Artillerie Offiziersschule. This first week of any new school or course is known as the KVK, the Kader Vorkurs. That is when all the officers and under officers spend a week together, getting to know each other and prepping for the up coming period of service together.

Though I wouldn't be attending the Pz/Art OS, I was still obliged to attend. While there, we learned some of the basic skills required of an officer: Learning how to read a map, the basic geography of Switzerland, the Tactical signs used on maps and the entire theory block and test on being a military sports instructor (which would come to my aid at a later point). At the end of this all, I was required to return all of the Corps Material (Material that belongs to the army and needs to stay on base) that I acquired during my first week in Thun as a recruit.

The following week, I arrived in Bern at the Mannschaftskaserne in the middle of the city. I was to spent the following four weeks in Bern with all of the aspiring officers from all of the branches of service.

We were divided into three companies, each named after one of the Swiss Generals. (Switzerland has had only four full fledged Generals as they need to be elected and confirmed by the Swiss Parliament) I had the honor of being in the best company: WILLE (Named after Ulrich Wille, General of the Swiss Army during the first World War).

While there I was able to make new friends, see old ones like Suresh G. (who I've know for close to 8 years from the church we both attended in Zurich) Within WILLE we were divided into six classes, each headed up by a Major. Over the course of four weeks, we learned the basic thought processes an officer and platoon leader needs to master, we looked at the various elements of the SAF from the Armoured Corps and Artillery to the Air Force, Special Operations Command and SWISSINT (the Peace Support branch of the SAF). We played Five games of Ultimate Football, not soccer, but American Football. It was interesting. I quickly realized that it was a team building exercise. Our class won out in the end and as the best team from WILLE competed against the best teams from HERZOG and GUISAN (the other two companies). We won against GUISAN and tied against HERZOG. Unfortunately, HERZOG won against GUISAN with a better Goal difference and was declared the victor of the competition.

The best experience out of this all however was the contact I had with people from the different branches of the SAF. Our class, as well as all the other classes were a healthy mix of everything from infantry and engineers to tankers and medics. It was great to be able to swap stories and see how the other half lives. At the end of it all we were a close knit group. We then said our good byes and went our separate ways, off to a week of vacation and then to our respective Officer schools.

L: the badge we had made as a souvenir from our time in Bern
R: The WILLE Co. Badge, comprising the Wille family coat of Arms, the Officer's Dagger and a scroll representing Instruction/Teaching

Unteroffizierschule (NCO School)

The "Unteroffizierschule" was a whole different type of difficult. We began to look at the various aspects of our training not as recipients or students (e.g. recruits) but as teachers and instructors. Unfortunately, at the beginning of the second week of training, I began having trouble with my left knee which hindered my participation in the better part of the field exercises we had.

Our Class teacher was a grizzled veteran, Stabsadjudant R. (Staff Warrant Officer) whose voice never sank below 90dB. He was stubborn and liked to have things done his way, and his way only. He was assisted by three Adjudant Unteroffiziere (Warrant Officers) [Addressed simply as "Adjudant"]. Adjudant V.  who was trained as a crewman (at that level as both Gunner and Driver) Adjudant W. who specialized in the Urban Combat practiced by the mechanized infantry. Finally, there was Adjudant J. who was originally one of the combatants and then re-trained as a crewman. Our Stabsadjudant himself is a combatant. There was a rumour that made its way through our class during the first week of the UOS (Unteroffizierschule) that our class teacher had served in the Foreign Legion. Whether there is any truth to that rumour, I will never know.

The instruction and training we received was fantastic. We finally received answers about all the finer details of our trade as well as the basics of being a soldier: First Aid, Means of Coercion, NBC defense and the basic manipulations and practical use of our assault rifles.

As previously mentioned as of the start of the second week of the UOS, I was having trouble with my left knee. The military med station being what it is, I was given anti-inflammatory creme and pain killers and sent back on my way. At the beginning of the last week, I was sent to the local radiological institute to have an MRI done: Low and behold, there is something missing around or near my meniscus, which allows the tendons to slide in a way they shouldn't. (I'm not exactly clear on the finer points of it) In any case the deficiency in my knee was the cause of the pain, especially if strained over long periods of time.

Another highlight of the UOS was the combined arms exercise during the final days of the UOS. We began preparing our tanks the evening before so that we could get up the next morning and make the final checks and prep before heading out to the firing range. That evening, it was also decided who was to man the four tanks the next day. I had the great good fortune to be the gunner in Uno (Tanks in a platoon are numbered in Italian). The commander of Uno was Adjudant V. whom I got along with quite well. So, In the morning we rode out to the firing range and after going over the exercise on the small miniature of the firing range as well as one dry run, we opened fire. We ran the exercise three times through, making the appropriate breaks for lunch and reloading the machine guns and smoke screen grenades. During our final run through the Chief of Staff of the Austrian Army as well as Korpskommandant A. Blattmann of the Swiss Armed Forces. I was afforded the opportunity to exchange a few words with the Austrian General, a great honor to be sure. An honor I will never forget.

A few days later the UOS drew to a close with the final inspection via the Colonel and his assessment team as well as the age old tradition of the final exercise. We had no idea what to expect, though being grenadiers, we expected the worst. We were in for a quite a treat. We were flown with a Super Puma from Thun to Grauholz (just outside of Bern) to learn about the battle that happened there on March 4th 1798 and afterward being driven to Neuenegg (also just out side of Bern) to hear of the skirmish there on March 5th. How the Swiss forces won the battle, but lost the war due to political blunders and cowardice in Bern.

Thus the two mottos engraved in the memorials: Seid Einig (Be unified) & Den Kampf Gewonnen, Das Vaterland Verloren (The battle won, the homeland lost). Due to the disputes and political indecision in Bern (thus: Be unified) the Swiss government surrendered to the French and French rule until 1803.