Ex LYNX ADVENTURE

Article written by: Officer-Cadet Yonis Axmed

Westmount, Quebec: 07 December 2024: We arrived at Farnham on 26 October at around 1000 for a land navigation and obstacle course day. It was a chilly day and for several of us, it was the first time we put on fleece layers to ward off the cold. We got a refresher on Land Navigation and pace counting before splitting up into small groups. Most of depot platoon started at some bend in the road near the northern end of the training area.

We spent the next two hour “naving” our way to the obstacle course. For the BMQ-qualified recruits it was an opportunity to practice navigation and get feedback from the staff in preparation of further courses. And it went well, we all rendez-vous’d in front of the obstacle course by 1300 for lunch.

Farnham’s obstacle course had 9 obstacles, most of which were surprisingly relevant for infanteers. They forced us to practice crawling, vaulting a window and holding it, taking narrow tunnels, walking on a tightrope and coming down a rope ladder. . The whole course took us 13 to 15 minutes each time. The obstacles by themselves were not difficult but were trying to complete them as fast as possible and we did all 9 obstacles in quick succession. The result was a short, high-intensity work-out, that left us panting. 

We did it once in buddy teams, one qualified guy with a Depot guy and we all did fairly well, most of us had done the course last year or during BMQ. Then we did again but this time in two groups of 7 or 8; Depot Platoon vs B Company in a friendly competition. It felt harder the second time, by the end both groups were screaming encouragements to each other. Depot got the shorter time but B Coy had one more guy and they were louder, so the staff declared it a draw. One of us drew the short straw and did three times in a row. 

After that we cleaned the course. By 1600 we were done in Farnham and drove back to the Armoury and handed in our weapons, and went home.