Back with my unit after almost three years

COVID-19 threw a spanner in the works of training — after cutting our reception period short it went on to limit exercises for active reserves. Last year, unfortunately, none of the dates worked for me due to personal reasons, so I was all the more excited for February this year. It wasn't a field exercise, so I didn't have to take everything and the kitchen sink. Combats, beret and writing materials.

My unit is great — they do really interesting work. Our tasks for the week reflected that. Unfortunately the Russian Federation threw their own spanner in. The invasion of Ukraine in the early hours of Wednesday to Thursday changed our plans. As a child I remember the war in Yugoslavia, 9/11, Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom, the conflicts in Georgia and Nagorno-Karabakh, and the occupation of Crimea. Those were always news reports. That's changed now. With my background knowledge I was able to follow the advance of the invasion forces almost in real time via Twitter.

It was a really interesting experience — I'm looking forward to the next exercise. Out in the field.