An Cosantóir

12 | area setting up camp, bugging-out, getting hit-up, setting up camp again, and bugging-out again, and so on. "The purpose of the PLX is to assess and enhance the cadets' leadership, team- work and communications skills," explained Lt James Harding. "We constantly changed the scenarios and locations so they didn't get comfortable, and we tired them out physically and mentally in order to put them under extra stress." For the next stage of the exercise the cadets were brought scenarios based on incidents they may have to face during their careers at sea with the Naval Service. The first 24 hours of the exercise were spent in the Kilworth All the taskings facing the Cadets on the PLX were extreme back to the NMCI to face another range of challenging scenar- ios. One task involved using the Bridge Simulator to navigate a ship back to Cork Harbour while avoiding suicide attack craft. After the ship was 'hit' the cadets went to the Damage Control & Fire Fighting yard where they had to try to save the ship. If the directing staff were looking for leadership, teamwork and communication they certainly got it here as the cadets went about their business with quiet determination. The damage control room is an awful place to operate; dark and noisy, and with water pouring in constantly. By the time the water got to chest height it was time for the cadets to abandon ship and get into their survival gear. Along with the constantly changing scenarios the cadets were also hit with regular PT sessions and camber crossings (clambering along a rope suspended in the air; over water in this case). As a result, opportunities for sleep over the four days An Cosantóir May 2012 www.dfmagazine.ie were few and far between and the cadets tried to snatch a couple of hours whenever they could. Another scenario the cadets faced was an armed boarding of a suspected drug smuggling vessel. A very convincing L/Sea De- nis acted as the non-English speaking crew of the suspect ves- sel. Due to a major communication problem an initial boarding attempt was unsuccessful and the cadets had to do it again. "We don't expect them to be experts in the various areas," said Lt Harding, " but we want to see how they react both individu- ally and as a class. Throughout the exercise we brought them aside and briefed them on what to improve on and look out for. This worked very well." The last night of the exercise was spent in Fort Davis where the cadets faced a number of search scenarios, a reconnais- sance of Blackrock Castle in Cork Harbour in RIBs, and round- the-clock PT circuits. The next morning after crossing the estuary the cadets had to complete a route march back to base. Even then they were not finished as they were hit unexpect- edly with yet another camber crossing. Both Lt Harding and L/Sea Denis were very happy with the developing on the exercise it should be noted that at the time of the exercise some of their Naval Service colleagues were de- taining an illegal fishing vessel while others were taking part in the search for several missing fishermen off the coast of Cork. exercise and the cadets' performance. L/Sea Denis said: "A week like this reminds them of what they are about and where they are going." To reinforce the importance of the skills the cadets were

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