My course happened to be the very first one, although we did find out PRAC was done in the past and finished in 1999.Day 1: only nine lads were on my course, on arrival we were shown to our blocks, we were in the same block as regular para recruits although we never got to talk to them as we were kept on a seperate floor, the first day was mostly getting accustom to the daily routine of a normal recruit (although much less intense) we were shown how to make beds, how to iron our clothes and then procceded with the icebreaker. They then measured our feet and issued our boots, boot socks, helmets, coveralls, water bottles and bibs (the boots you recieve are the boots you will use in training), they also taught us to march properly so that we moved around camp respectively. basicaly day one gave us an insight of the basic discipline in catterick during training.
Day 2: up 5:15 immedietly strip the beds for inspection, then a lesson on how to shave by the sergant. 6:00 scoff then time to clean our room, 7:15 room inspection which was very basic. then we had a lesson on the SA80a2 the L110a2 and the bayonet which we would be tested on later, next was the PT. we marched to the gym and did the ususal 2 mins press ups and 2 mins situps then followed by the run, 3.5 miles followed by 1.5 mile best effort, the terrain wasn't severe but the hills did catch me off guard and the 'warm up' did tire me a bit, the 1.5 best effort was the most painful ive ever done thanks to the warm up and the hills. Later on we did the trainasium which we all completed easily and enjoyed doing, i was a bit nervous at first when i looked at it but it was really a peice of piss to complete, the only bits we didn't do were the 60ft shuffle and the run and punch leap. Then we went back to our block and did our life essay which is basically a written icebreaker in detail, plus lots about why you want to join the reg. The rest of the day was similar to day one plus a written test on the weapon systems they showed us earlier. in the evening we went to the NAAFI for a bit, but to be honest it was quite boring there.
Day 3: Again up 5:15 usual routine followed by scoff. then PT, we were supposed to try out the assualt course but the para staff decided to run us round the steeple chase instead (we wore our boots, helmets, and coveralls for this) they took us round once to try each obstacle one at a time, we were all a bit tired from the run the day before so the first go round nackered us all, then we did it best effort. As a heads up for future PRAC candidates i can honestly say ive never hurt so much from PT in my life! the steeple chase knackered me good and proper, after which the PTI got us doing pressups for minor mistakes people made in the event. after a shower back at our block the day ended with hasty interviews telling us how we performed then followed by a lift back to the train station.
Overall the course was tougher than i originally expected, both physically and mentally, however i really enjoyed the course, the staff were all great and approachable. They made it clear the main purpose of the course was to give recruits an idea of what training is like, plus lets them have a look at you, they made it clear that if you arent good enough you can say bye to the reg and join the line infantry somewhere.
Hope this review helps everyone, hopefully i haven't missed anything out, if you have any questions on the course i'll be happy to help
