In July, 4 heavily laden girls arrived on the lawn of Monmouth School, to be greeted unceremoniously by 28 boys and rather more eagerly welcomed by Major McQuitty.

During 4 days at Penally camp in Pembrokeshire, we learnt how to tie a hundred different knots, build a raft from planks and barrels, trek across miles of coastline on the orienteering exercise, scale rock faces on the end of a rope, and what it feels like to be woken at 5:45am.

But after a thorough kit and room inspection we were herded back onto the buses, prepared to spend 3 days and nights on exercise, which had never been done before by Monmouth School CCF.  In the middle of miles of the rolling hills and marshland of the Brecon Beacons, we were unloaded, with little other than a rifle, rations and camouflage paint.

Welcome to Sennybridge.

So for 3 days we were infantry soldiers, and after getting our ponchos out, and struggling to tie our laces at 2 in the morning we began to realise the realities of life in the field.  We patrolled for miles in the middle of the night, and slept under makeshift shelters.  Our attack on the enemy base was praised by the Officers and NCOs of the Regular Army, for our enthusiasm, speed and teamwork, the best attack they had seen since they had been at Sennybridge.  We also tested our rifle shooting, archery and clay pigeon skills.

So after a final night on sentry duty guarding our base and a day spent defending the camp against the enemy we piled back into the buses, exhausted, but with a sense of achievement, having tested ourselves and survived in an environment that was truly foreign and challenging.  Surely this deserves a promotion?