Soldier

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What does it take to be a frontline soldier in the British army?

Who has what it takes to be a frontline soldier? At Britain's biggest garrison, fresh recruits are pushed to the limit - physically and mentally. Only the very best will make it.

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Soldier: Series 1: Episode 3

Episode 3

BBC One - Soldier, Series 1, Episode 3

As recruits face the reality of the infantry, they fight to stay on the course.

Recruits fight to keep their place in the army while the instructors reveal the reality of modern warfare.

The gruelling training course is reaching the halfway mark. Forty-five joined the platoon – now only 34 remain. Who is prepared to do whatever the army asks of them? The instructors offer raw and honest insights into the realities of modern warfare.

On a formal warning, Pte Josh Harte is given a final chance to turn things round. Ex-footballer Pte Curtis Dryden is beginning to impress the trainers after a challenging start, while Pte Owen South worries if he has got what it takes to fit in.

Recruits’ reactions to noxious gas are tested as they are ushered into a tiny room filled with CS gas and asked to remove their masks. At the live firing ranges, they are handed their biggest weapon so far: the general-purpose machine gun that can fire 100 rounds a minute over a distance of 800m. Recruits need to be 60 per cent on target to pass the test and to take on the coveted gunner role during training exercises. Pte Owen South is keen to use the machine gun but struggles to hit the mark.

As the platoon braves the elements of operating in freezing conditions in the North Yorkshire countryside, its endurance is put to the test. During a blizzard, Lt Wahab sets shivering recruits off on a navigation exercise. Armed with a map and compass, some of the recruits fail to reach the checkpoints in the two-hour time window. For 29-year-old Pte Jerry Okyere from Ghana, it’s the first time he has seen snow. He is one of five recruits from the Commonwealth in the platoon who are hoping to join the infantry.

A trip to the war memorial at the National Arboretum in Staffordshire brings all the learning and pressure from the training team into sharp focus. The recruits are given a poignant insight into the sacrifice that they must all be prepared to make if they take on the difficult job of an infantry soldier. One of the training team, Cpl Dean, knows this only too well, as he remembers a colleague he lost during the conflict in Afghanistan. Back at the barracks, 20-year-old Pte Josh Harte comes under pressure again when the CSM inspects his kit. He is left fighting to hold on to his place in the platoon.

Everyone is left in shock and surprise when one recruit doesn’t return after weekend leave and goes Awol.

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