In the final part of a three-part report from Croatia, Jamie McKenzie highlights the range of challenging pursuits on offer through the Army Reserves after spending a day with recruits on the scenic Adriatic coast.
It took nearly two hours to drive to the coast from the Croatian army base, where 100 Reserve soldiers from the 7 Scots battalion had been training hard for a week.
We had just arrived in the Adriatic coastal city of Zadar, where there was an opportunity for the soldiers to try out a range of challenging adventure pursuits to test their physical and mental endurance and bond with other recruits.
The Caberfeidh platoon, which includes reservists from the Highlands, Moray and north-east, had been training with Croatian soldiers in rugged hinterland on a two-week exercise called Sava Star.
But now was the time for them to take a well-earned mid-exercise break in Zadar, and upon arrival, we split up and travelled in different directions to go caving, hillwalking, cycling and scuba diving.
Many of us chose diving and, after a one-hour journey south along the Dalmatian coast, we arrived at a beach in the small town of Tisno, where we squeezed into wetsuits, strapped up oxygen canisters and plunged to a depth of 5.5 metres.
Sergeant Nick Dearden, who lives in Smithton in Inverness, said the purpose of the adventure pursuits was to take the reservists out of the training environment for a chance to relax.
He added: “It’s also a lot about teamwork as there’s always one or two people who have never done this before.
“It’s especially the case here as you are under pressure because everyone has different lives with regard to how much they cope.
“Those who cope more help others cope with the temperature or altitude and it’s all about keeping an eye on each other.
“Some of the new soldiers coming in have shown great potential for regular service. Some have not shown the willingness to open up because it is an alien environment, but that’s what these adventure training elements are for.”
Sgt Dearden joined the Reserves in February this year after serving as a regular for 25 years.
He was a sniper platoon commander with the Mercians, a battalion based in Berkshire and spent seven months in Afghanistan as an observer for their national army, and two years as a sniper instructor at the school of sniping in Brecon in Wales.
He revealed he had spent a lot of time away from home, but stressed that he had been “lucky” with the support he received from his wife of 13 years and his daughter and two stepchildren.
He added: “They have always known me for doing this. I think a lot of people here have wives and girlfriends and boyfriends and they see it as a whole part of the relationship”.
Elgin-based diving instructor Ken Scott has been diving since 1985 and has done so in various far-flung places, including Scapa Flow, Indonesia and The Galapagos Islands.
The former Queen’s Own Highlander has been a diving instructor since 1999 and has been running the Moray Firth Dive Centre in Elgin since 2009.
He is a Captain in the Reserves and joined the 7 Scots battalion more than a year ago.
He said: “The dive is important because it puts the guys in an environment where they are apprehensive and maybe have a fear factor, and it shows them that, with proper training, knowledge and experience, they can overcome all that”.
