0:00:08 > 0:00:15This programme contains some strong language.
0:00:15 > 0:00:18Anyone attracted by the glamour of the Royal Marines
0:00:18 > 0:00:22can find it on the Brecon Beacons any February afternoon.
0:00:22 > 0:00:26These young officers can't speak too highly of the glamour(!)
0:00:29 > 0:00:35There's no such thing as waterproof clothing garments.
0:00:35 > 0:00:37They just don't exist Everything gets wet.
0:00:38 > 0:00:44You put socks and gloves in your armpits or groin, to keep them dry.
0:00:44 > 0:00:49It's not very pleasant, but you get a dry pair of socks,
0:00:49 > 0:00:53which is severely good news in these conditions.
0:00:53 > 0:00:58- Are you carrying little packages under your armpits?
0:00:58 > 0:01:00I'll get out the goods here, if I can.
0:01:05 > 0:01:08They've been in about half an hour and they're still damp,
0:01:08 > 0:01:14but they're drying off. I won't bother with down there,
0:01:14 > 0:01:17but I've got some more stuff! I've got a pair of gloves.
0:01:17 > 0:01:23It tends to gets me down, if I think about home - warm things.
0:01:23 > 0:01:25Frankly, I just switch off.
0:01:28 > 0:01:31But switching off is not a popular concept in the Marines.
0:01:31 > 0:01:32Switching off is what civilians do.
0:01:34 > 0:01:41What worries me, at this stage, is that, first of all,
0:01:41 > 0:01:46your personal standards, of patrolling and skills,
0:01:46 > 0:01:49have fallen off the plot, as far as I'm concerned.
0:01:49 > 0:01:53You must get a grip of your personal skills -
0:01:53 > 0:01:55your patrolling skills, your individual skills.
0:01:55 > 0:01:59If you don't, when you're troop commander,
0:01:59 > 0:02:03the standards you reflect will very rapidly
0:02:03 > 0:02:06be reflected in the blokes you command.
0:02:08 > 0:02:12- Civilianship, in short, is a nasty habit to be renounced.
0:02:12 > 0:02:17Yes, they have vestigial traces of the civilian still in them,
0:02:17 > 0:02:21which is a bit disappointing at this stage.
0:02:21 > 0:02:27I think they will transform over the next 10 to 14 weeks,
0:02:27 > 0:02:30leading to their commando course and green beret.
0:02:30 > 0:02:36They'll criticise me for this, but to me, at the moment,
0:02:36 > 0:02:41it is a job, not a way of life. I've not become a military person.
0:02:41 > 0:02:47At the weekends, I'm a civilian and I will be a civilian.
0:02:47 > 0:02:51I'm my own person. They're not going to create
0:02:51 > 0:02:56a military stereotype out of me. I won't become just a soldier.
0:02:56 > 0:02:59I'm going to be ME first, then we'll see what happens.
0:02:59 > 0:03:03For his three days on a mountainside,
0:03:03 > 0:03:06Peter Cameron, a Cambridge graduate, has brought an appropriate book.
0:03:06 > 0:03:11Brought a book called Hard Times, by Charles Dickens, so..!
0:03:14 > 0:03:18The training is remorseless. If not marching or mountains, it's lectures.
0:03:18 > 0:03:22Glasnost is not high on the agenda. Here they meet the enemy.
0:03:25 > 0:03:30The object of our intellectual attentions today is this chap -
0:03:31 > 0:03:35the Soviet soldier and the way in which he thinks.
0:03:35 > 0:03:38On this picture, we see a senior sergeant
0:03:38 > 0:03:43kissing the Soviet flag and the caption reads,
0:03:43 > 0:03:47"They remain faithful to the heroic traditions
0:03:47 > 0:03:49"of our army and of our people."
0:03:49 > 0:03:54Is Afghan Army protects Afghanistan, not Soviet.
0:03:54 > 0:03:58We conduct protection means, protect Socialism.
0:03:58 > 0:04:02Socialism is, you know, an inevitable course.
0:04:02 > 0:04:05It is progressive social structure,
0:04:05 > 0:04:11by words of Lenin, words of Brezhnev and words of Marxism.
0:04:11 > 0:04:15Socialism is an international inevitability.
0:04:15 > 0:04:19Like exciting experience - lie back and enjoy it.
0:04:27 > 0:04:31'I find the physical the most difficult part,
0:04:31 > 0:04:34'especially with commando training coming up.
0:04:34 > 0:04:37'The training drains your body all the time.'
0:04:39 > 0:04:43It's 11pm. After an exhausting day,
0:04:43 > 0:04:46Jim Trottman craves sleep, but there's homework to be done.
0:04:46 > 0:04:48What, eventually, will he dream about?
0:04:48 > 0:04:55Umm...home. Outside life, really.
0:04:55 > 0:05:01Once you get under your duvet, it's a different world,
0:05:01 > 0:05:04until the alarm goes off at quarter past six.
0:05:05 > 0:05:09I'm so tired, my head hits the pillow
0:05:09 > 0:05:12and next thing I know, it's quarter past six and off we go!
0:05:12 > 0:05:17Right! Shut up! It's my turn to talk.
0:05:17 > 0:05:20Now that you have completed part of your tactical training,
0:05:21 > 0:05:26we'll have a small pause to consider what you have learned
0:05:26 > 0:05:32and try and generate a new spirit for the rest of your training.
0:05:32 > 0:05:37I'm referring to a generation from knowledge,
0:05:37 > 0:05:39which we've been teaching up to now,
0:05:39 > 0:05:44to the application of a bit of individual flair.
0:05:47 > 0:05:50Each officer takes a turn commanding extremely realistic exercises.
0:05:50 > 0:05:53I've got to get them up to the Section Commander...
0:05:53 > 0:06:00Get the Section Commanders in and tell them where you want the men.
0:06:00 > 0:06:03- You'll save a lot of drama. - Right, Sir.
0:06:03 > 0:06:04Mr James!
0:06:12 > 0:06:15There are tanks, fighters, live explosives and real CS gas.
0:06:18 > 0:06:19Gas! Gas! Gas!
0:06:19 > 0:06:25OK, mate? Move your section from 12 to four o'clock.
0:06:25 > 0:06:29- No problems. - Good man! Get Mr Amos on me.
0:06:29 > 0:06:3484mm, I want you at twelve o'clock on the road, covering the tanks.
0:06:34 > 0:06:35Stay this side of the road.
0:06:37 > 0:06:39- We should... - I've got it. I've got it.
0:06:41 > 0:06:43Get round these blokes, checking their arcs.
0:06:43 > 0:06:46Get all the ammo off them. Start there...
0:06:46 > 0:06:51'I'm very pleased with how it went and I hope they are, too.
0:06:51 > 0:06:53'It was the best bit so far, for me.'
0:06:53 > 0:06:58I love it. It's great. It put me on such a high. Brilliant.
0:06:58 > 0:07:04We're going to Grid 598682, which is an old mine.
0:07:04 > 0:07:07- For others, the course has become too much.
0:07:07 > 0:07:12- Colin Young enlisted from school, where he never came second.
0:07:12 > 0:07:17Opting out requires courage, too. He's joining WH Smith.
0:07:18 > 0:07:21At the end of December they said I wasn't good enough
0:07:21 > 0:07:27and needed to improve a lot. During January, I gave 100%,
0:07:27 > 0:07:32but they still didn't think I was there.
0:07:32 > 0:07:37So I thought about it, rang a lot of friends, spoke to my parents
0:07:37 > 0:07:41and decided that I wanted to do well at my career,
0:07:41 > 0:07:45because I'd done well at school. A change of direction was needed,
0:07:45 > 0:07:52so I saw Lt Darvel-Stone and I took a week's leave.
0:07:52 > 0:07:55At the end of the week, I decided to resign.
0:07:55 > 0:08:00If I'd had a year off and lived away from home,
0:08:00 > 0:08:03I'd have been much better and had no problems.
0:08:03 > 0:08:11Physically, I wasn't too bad. It was more the management side of it.
0:08:11 > 0:08:14I was with people who were better than me, which I hadn't had before.
0:08:14 > 0:08:19At school, I had no problems, but suddenly everyone was fitter
0:08:19 > 0:08:25than me and better mentally and I had problems there.
0:08:25 > 0:08:30Do you think the five and a half months has helped your new career?
0:08:30 > 0:08:36Oh yeah! I grew from being a school kid to an adult. Definitely.
0:08:37 > 0:08:42Some young men come before me and request to resign
0:08:42 > 0:08:49and the Corps is very sad about it and wishes they would stay.
0:08:49 > 0:08:55In other cases, they ask to resign and there's a mutual understanding
0:08:55 > 0:08:57that that is a wise course.
0:08:57 > 0:09:01And, in a few cases,
0:09:01 > 0:09:07we ask a young man to leave because we don't believe he's suitable.
0:09:07 > 0:09:12Some join after the Potential Officers Course,
0:09:12 > 0:09:14the Admiralty Interview Board,
0:09:14 > 0:09:21and visits, where they become aware of what the Corps is about.
0:09:21 > 0:09:24They join and they get into it and they find that really
0:09:24 > 0:09:29this military life is not for them. That is totally understandable.
0:09:29 > 0:09:34There are many for whom the military life just does not suit.
0:09:38 > 0:09:41There's good reason to pay close attention to these exercises
0:09:41 > 0:09:43in peaceful Devon lanes. Six months from now,
0:09:43 > 0:09:46it may be real, in Northern Ireland.
0:09:50 > 0:09:55- Right. Where do you live? - In Exeter.
0:09:55 > 0:09:57- You've come from there? - Yes.
0:09:57 > 0:10:04If you could just drive along there, pull over and get out of the car.
0:10:05 > 0:10:10Give another vehicle a chance to pass. Now, please.
0:10:11 > 0:10:12Stop him!
0:10:15 > 0:10:19RIFLE FIRE
0:10:19 > 0:10:20Cease fire!
0:10:20 > 0:10:26You've got to have a good think. If I attempt to shoot this bloke...
0:10:26 > 0:10:31Stopping a vehicle - is it someone who doesn't want to stop
0:10:31 > 0:10:32or is it two terrorists?
0:10:32 > 0:10:37We spend a lot of our time here really teaching you
0:10:37 > 0:10:42the disciplined application of extreme violence,
0:10:43 > 0:10:45which is basically what we do.
0:10:45 > 0:10:51It's strange to come to a package on counter-revolutionary warfare
0:10:51 > 0:10:53where we actually have to say,
0:10:53 > 0:10:58"Switch that off. That's not the game."
0:10:58 > 0:11:01In this case, more force was used
0:11:01 > 0:11:06and there is no doubt that it would have ended up in a court of law
0:11:06 > 0:11:10and the person responsible would, undoubtedly,
0:11:10 > 0:11:14have been punished in a civil court.
0:11:14 > 0:11:19This provokes them to consider their work ethic - killing people.
0:11:19 > 0:11:23I've given it a bit more thought in training,
0:11:23 > 0:11:31but I think...I'll HAVE to do it, as a troop commander, one day.
0:11:31 > 0:11:36You might regret it afterwards, but the responsibility
0:11:36 > 0:11:38is to the men and the job.
0:11:38 > 0:11:42I dread having taken somebody's life.
0:11:42 > 0:11:49You automatically think, whoever it may be, Soviets or whatever,
0:11:49 > 0:11:52it's somebody's son, isn't it?
0:11:52 > 0:11:56Most weekends are free, but for a very good reason
0:11:56 > 0:12:00they don't go dashing up to London.
0:12:00 > 0:12:05You sleep for six or seven hours like a log and wake up tired again.
0:12:05 > 0:12:10You have rings round your eyes.
0:12:10 > 0:12:13It's an effort to lift off the bed and get going again.
0:12:14 > 0:12:19We're run-down, so we're not repairing as well.
0:12:19 > 0:12:22Getting all pusy, going septic.
0:12:22 > 0:12:25The webbing burns don't heal!
0:12:25 > 0:12:27This chap's got hideous webbing burns. You ought to see them.
0:12:32 > 0:12:33Don't spoil my image too much!
0:12:33 > 0:12:38Get a bit of skin off and you can put it in your pie!
0:12:40 > 0:12:44Some are much worse than that. It's the constant rubbing.
0:12:44 > 0:12:46It's just a burn.
0:12:53 > 0:12:56I've always found fishing relaxing.
0:12:56 > 0:13:01At the end of the week you're ready for a break,
0:13:01 > 0:13:06to get away from the regular crowd to do something different.
0:13:07 > 0:13:12It's ironic that we slog our guts out wading through Dartmoor bogs
0:13:12 > 0:13:17and that's exactly what I come and do at the weekends, as well.
0:13:17 > 0:13:19I still QUITE like Dartmoor.
0:13:19 > 0:13:25In many ways, I'm unemployable, as your office-type worker.
0:13:25 > 0:13:31Many people in the Batch are. I find many of the lectures very mundane
0:13:31 > 0:13:37and some of them... I better watch what I'm saying here!
0:13:42 > 0:13:45Do you ever think about what will happen shortly?
0:13:45 > 0:13:49You could join a Commando Unit and go to Northern Ireland.
0:13:49 > 0:13:54I do. I think a lot of people don't.
0:13:54 > 0:13:58- I think about it quite a lot. - Along what lines?
0:13:58 > 0:14:06Erm...how you'd cope in that situation,
0:14:06 > 0:14:09because nobody knows just what they will do
0:14:09 > 0:14:12the first time they run into trouble.
0:14:12 > 0:14:17Nobody knows how they'll cope, what the men will think,
0:14:17 > 0:14:23maybe you'll get the sack or shot. Whatever...
0:14:27 > 0:14:29The change from civilian to soldier is taking place.
0:14:29 > 0:14:31How do their friends regard them?
0:14:31 > 0:14:35Sometimes with awe, sometimes suspicion,
0:14:35 > 0:14:43because you're in an organisation which represents the Queen,
0:14:43 > 0:14:47the country or whatever. They think, "Is he still okay?"
0:14:47 > 0:14:51I didn't join for Queen and country.
0:14:51 > 0:14:57I like the outdoor life and I wanted the responsibility.
0:14:57 > 0:15:00Queen and country comes into it, but it wasn't my prominent reason.
0:15:00 > 0:15:04I never get laughed at for it.
0:15:04 > 0:15:09A couple of my friends wish they'd done the same thing, I think.
0:15:09 > 0:15:14I probably treat THEM a bit differently.
0:15:14 > 0:15:18They take me the same way, but I look at them -
0:15:18 > 0:15:20and it's probably very pompous -
0:15:20 > 0:15:26you automatically think, "They've not done what I have done."
0:15:26 > 0:15:30For many this is the turning point.
0:15:30 > 0:15:33Out there are the civvies, but you are a Royal Marine.
0:15:33 > 0:15:38I saw my girlfriend and I was talking about the civvies
0:15:38 > 0:15:43and she hit me and said, "I'm one!"
0:15:43 > 0:15:46You see someone with pink hair and say, "Bloody civvy!"
0:15:46 > 0:15:49It's a strange standard they put on you,
0:15:49 > 0:15:52because you feel so much cleaner.
0:15:53 > 0:15:59You dobie two or three times a day and wash your shirts each night.
0:15:59 > 0:16:03You feel cleaner than everyone else around you.
0:16:03 > 0:16:06I feel I've grown up a lot.
0:16:06 > 0:16:10Coming from school, mixing with guys maybe six years older than me.
0:16:10 > 0:16:15I've grown up fast and got more confidence, as well.
0:16:15 > 0:16:20I've had to use that confidence to bridge the problems I've had,
0:16:20 > 0:16:24the walls to climb before you get there.
0:16:24 > 0:16:29The crucial Commando Tests are about to start
0:16:29 > 0:16:33and Peter Ainsworth has a severe ankle sprain.
0:16:33 > 0:16:38I'm sure with enough strapping and painkillers I'll get through.
0:16:38 > 0:16:40I'll get through, somehow.
0:16:42 > 0:16:45Stand by...go!
0:16:52 > 0:16:57The Commando Tests separate the civilian from the Marine.
0:16:57 > 0:17:00Five weeks of endurance and assault courses,
0:17:00 > 0:17:02speed-marching and a 30-mile yomp,
0:17:02 > 0:17:05all carrying 35lbs, against the clock.
0:17:34 > 0:17:37One...two...
0:17:37 > 0:17:40..three...four.
0:17:40 > 0:17:45One...two...three...four.
0:17:50 > 0:17:51Halt!
0:17:51 > 0:17:57Well done! One of the better nine-mile speed marches I've seen.
0:17:57 > 0:18:00Ainsworth vibrates with pain.
0:18:00 > 0:18:04Another man decides it's no longer worth it.
0:18:04 > 0:18:08He quits and walks from the Royal Marines forever.
0:18:17 > 0:18:21This is the last place to discover a fear of heights.
0:18:22 > 0:18:24Jim Morris did, so they sent him round again.
0:18:41 > 0:18:43Come on, Jim! You're doing well!
0:18:43 > 0:18:47CALLS OF ENCOURAGEMENT
0:18:51 > 0:18:52Left hand towards me.
0:18:52 > 0:18:55Relax! Relax! Relax!
0:18:59 > 0:19:00Bend your right leg up!
0:19:00 > 0:19:04Left leg forward!
0:19:06 > 0:19:07< Come on, Jimmy boy!
0:19:10 > 0:19:13LOUDER ENCOURAGEMENT
0:19:30 > 0:19:32Don't overstretch! Toes in!
0:19:32 > 0:19:35Toes in! Use the block!
0:19:35 > 0:19:39Don't lean back!
0:19:43 > 0:19:45Toes in! That's it - all the way!
0:19:46 > 0:19:51Don't overstretch. Don't overstretch, sir!
0:19:51 > 0:19:53You're all right!
0:19:57 > 0:19:58You made it! >
0:19:59 > 0:20:00< Take it off, sir.
0:20:01 > 0:20:04< Don't throw your weapon down or it'll be 20 press-ups!
0:20:16 > 0:20:18< In the nose, out the mouth.
0:20:18 > 0:20:21- Well done, Jim! > - Cheers, mate!
0:20:25 > 0:20:26- You all right? - Yeah.
0:20:26 > 0:20:29Well done, Jim.
0:20:29 > 0:20:34- Did I get in? - Dunno. Did I or you?
0:20:34 > 0:20:38Good effort, sir, but it was 11:45.
0:20:38 > 0:20:43You'll get a re-run on Saturday and that 15 seconds should go.
0:20:43 > 0:20:45OK, Staff.
0:20:45 > 0:20:48You've got over your problem.
0:20:48 > 0:20:54That was your first run. You've 15 seconds to knock off.
0:20:54 > 0:20:58You can do it. Fall in with the rest.
0:21:00 > 0:21:03One anxious week later, Morris ran again.
0:21:03 > 0:21:07He beat the time by a remarkable 30 seconds.
0:21:08 > 0:21:11Welcome to the 30-miler brief,
0:21:11 > 0:21:15your last test of the Commando Course.
0:21:15 > 0:21:2330 miles across the moor, from Okehampton down to Crossferses,
0:21:23 > 0:21:30near Buckfastleigh. The whole thing to be completed in seven hours...
0:21:30 > 0:21:3430 miles in seven hours, carrying one third of a hundredweight.
0:21:34 > 0:21:38Nice big breakfast, sir. >
0:21:44 > 0:21:47- Nice big breakfast. - Got any plates?
0:21:54 > 0:22:00Everybody's nervous. Nobody slept last night. It's really hot.
0:22:00 > 0:22:05It's going to be a combined effort. Stacks of...oomphah!
0:22:05 > 0:22:09Some chaps shouldn't even be walking.
0:22:09 > 0:22:14My ankle was in ice a few times yesterday, so it's well strapped up.
0:22:14 > 0:22:19I can't move it very well. I hope it holds out.
0:22:19 > 0:22:24I haven't walked 30 miles, yet alone run them, in my life!
0:22:24 > 0:22:27I'm nervous. Nobody isn't.
0:22:27 > 0:22:32What are you prepared to do in order to get through this?
0:22:34 > 0:22:36Crawl on my hands and knees.
0:22:36 > 0:22:41You look like you've done 30 miles before you start, Mr Ainsworth.
0:22:41 > 0:22:47I'm always this ugly! I didn't get any sleep last night.
0:22:47 > 0:22:51I don't feel too bad overall, apart from the old ankle,
0:22:51 > 0:22:54but that's by the by.
0:22:54 > 0:22:58You're looking forward to this, aren't you?
0:22:58 > 0:23:01I've waited for this moment for a long time(!)
0:23:01 > 0:23:06Then you've got ten seconds!
0:23:06 > 0:23:08On your marks, get set...
0:24:31 > 0:24:36- Straight to the table! - Get some of these fluids down.
0:24:41 > 0:24:44<Sip it, sir. Don't gulp it.
0:24:44 > 0:24:50I'm running out of painkillers. I've got about two left.
0:25:01 > 0:25:05For those who make it in time, there awaits the green beret,
0:25:05 > 0:25:10the symbol of graduation into one of the world's renowned fighting units.
0:25:12 > 0:25:15In the Falklands War, this man, Brigadier Andrew Whitehead,
0:25:15 > 0:25:18marched 45 Commando the length of West Falkland,
0:25:18 > 0:25:23each carrying 120 lbs. Then they fought a battle.
0:25:23 > 0:25:26Ainsworth hobbles on in that tradition.
0:25:40 > 0:25:44They have a problem. They made a navigational error
0:25:44 > 0:25:47which slowed them down.
0:25:47 > 0:25:50They're also carrying a guy who we know is injured.
0:25:50 > 0:25:57They've run for 4 hours 21 minutes and, to have a chance,
0:25:57 > 0:26:01must finish this leg in the next 35 minutes.
0:26:01 > 0:26:06- What happens if they don't make it? - They go round again. A re-run.
0:26:13 > 0:26:19Top up your water bottles and eat the whole of the pie!
0:26:19 > 0:26:23Take this. It may slow you down.
0:26:32 > 0:26:35Get yourself a pasty.
0:26:35 > 0:26:42Tea's on the left, orange and water in the centre.
0:26:42 > 0:26:48I will speak to the instructor and probably pull back the one guy who,
0:26:48 > 0:26:53by no fault of his own, is injured, to give them a fighting chance.
0:26:53 > 0:26:56They can do it, but it'll be damn hard.
0:26:56 > 0:26:59But Ainsworth refuses to pull out
0:26:59 > 0:27:02and his colleagues wouldn't drop him, anyway.
0:28:04 > 0:28:07- How long have they got? - Eight minutes.
0:29:02 > 0:29:07- Come on, fellas, all the way! - Well done!
0:29:10 > 0:29:11Well done, men. That's terrific!
0:29:11 > 0:29:14Straight in the field.
0:29:15 > 0:29:16Well done, guys!
0:29:20 > 0:29:22Good effort!
0:29:22 > 0:29:26Drop your kit where it is.
0:29:28 > 0:29:31Well done, One Section.
0:29:33 > 0:29:36You aged me twenty years, you buggers! Well done.
0:29:39 > 0:29:40I'm fucked!
0:29:42 > 0:29:43Good effort, sir! Well done.
0:29:43 > 0:29:45(Shit!)
0:29:58 > 0:30:00Well done, men!
0:30:02 > 0:30:06Good effort, sir! Straight in!
0:30:06 > 0:30:08Heads up!
0:30:11 > 0:30:15What's it like being a young Troop Commander? Green hat on your head?
0:30:15 > 0:30:21- Leading men, 30 of them? - Pretty good.
0:30:22 > 0:30:25That's it, sir - guts, determination, effort.
0:30:25 > 0:30:29They pulled it out of the bag. Surprised us all.
0:30:29 > 0:30:30Absolutely.
0:30:30 > 0:30:35- Worried the officers! - Beat the enemy - the clock.
0:30:35 > 0:30:39Well, we've got another two still to go, sir.
0:30:40 > 0:30:42Well done!
0:30:50 > 0:30:51And the verdict is?
0:30:51 > 0:30:54It's worth it. You get a nice pasty at the end.
0:30:54 > 0:30:58# You'll never know, dear How much I love you
0:30:58 > 0:31:03# Please don't take my sunshine away! #
0:31:06 > 0:31:10- There was some nice fishing. - I saw a heron and buzzards!
0:31:10 > 0:31:13We had a skylark, lapwing...
0:31:13 > 0:31:17Hardest thing I've done in my life!
0:31:17 > 0:31:20- What can you compare it with? - Nothing on earth.
0:31:25 > 0:31:28Not bad, eh, Sarge? Still composed after 30 miles!
0:31:34 > 0:31:37Andrew Coulson, who said he would crawl if necessary,
0:31:37 > 0:31:39has missed the deadline by just ten minutes.
0:31:39 > 0:31:41Don't worry, matey!
0:31:44 > 0:31:48OK, give him some water and get a hot wet down him.
0:31:48 > 0:31:50- How are you? - Great(!)
0:31:50 > 0:31:53LAUGHTER
0:31:58 > 0:32:01The following week Coulson did a remarkable thing.
0:32:01 > 0:32:04He ran the 30 miles again, won his green beret
0:32:04 > 0:32:07and resigned from the Marines the very next day.
0:32:12 > 0:32:15Sit him in the shade. Good lad.
0:32:15 > 0:32:19- What now? - Try standing to attention!
0:32:22 > 0:32:24Arms up, sir.
0:32:24 > 0:32:25Look left!
0:32:25 > 0:32:30The award of the green berets to YO, September 1987.
0:32:30 > 0:32:33Second Lieutenant Ainsworth!
0:32:42 > 0:32:43Well done. Good effort.
0:32:45 > 0:32:48APPLAUSE
0:32:53 > 0:32:56- Well done, sir. - Second Lieutenant Amos!
0:32:59 > 0:33:01That's it. Away you go. Well done.
0:33:03 > 0:33:09This literally staggering feat means that of the 29 men to start
0:33:09 > 0:33:12the course, 19 have passed.
0:33:15 > 0:33:18The yomping is over for a while, but the learning goes on.
0:33:18 > 0:33:22They put to sea with the Royal Navy.
0:33:22 > 0:33:26HMS Intrepid can transport 400 men
0:33:26 > 0:33:30with tanks, arms and equipment to any part of the world.
0:33:30 > 0:33:36Welcome to a real fighting arm of the Royal Marines, HMS Intrepid.
0:33:36 > 0:33:39Do enjoy a glass with us. It's our pleasure.
0:33:39 > 0:33:43Have a nice break or whatever you're doing.
0:33:43 > 0:33:48We'll get rain and snow tomorrow, but for now enjoy a quiet passage
0:33:48 > 0:33:50down the West Coast and have a beer.
0:33:59 > 0:34:01You WILL get wet.
0:34:01 > 0:34:03Intrepid is no mere training ship.
0:34:03 > 0:34:07It proved its value in the Falklands.
0:34:07 > 0:34:10In their role as specialist amphibious infantry,
0:34:10 > 0:34:15they will master a range of dangerous toys -
0:34:15 > 0:34:19helicopters, landing craft and high-speed rigid raiders.
0:34:29 > 0:34:35What they are attacking are deserted islands in the Hebrides.
0:34:35 > 0:34:38DISTANT SHOUTS
0:34:38 > 0:34:41RIFLE FIRE
0:34:44 > 0:34:49Officers training alongside their men creates a strong bond.
0:34:49 > 0:34:54An Officer Corps built on class would not be appreciated.
0:34:54 > 0:34:59The type of officer the Corps is recruiting now
0:34:59 > 0:35:03is quite different from seven or eight years ago.
0:35:03 > 0:35:10They are now looking for the right qualities -
0:35:10 > 0:35:17leadership, determination, courage, fitness...unselfishness.
0:35:17 > 0:35:19All the real qualities of a leader,
0:35:19 > 0:35:25rather than somebody from the right school with the right accent.
0:35:25 > 0:35:30Now they're getting guys who, on the face of it,
0:35:30 > 0:35:33you wouldn't think would be a Marines Officer,
0:35:33 > 0:35:35but they're sometimes the best guys.
0:35:35 > 0:35:40The recruits, the Marines, can identify with them.
0:35:40 > 0:35:43They'll follow them anywhere.
0:35:43 > 0:35:47In the next stage of their careers,
0:35:47 > 0:35:51they have to sustain that rapport without undermining discipline.
0:35:51 > 0:35:54John Ross takes his first inspection.
0:35:56 > 0:35:58- Feeling OK? - Yes, sir.
0:35:58 > 0:36:02'It's the first time I've done it and I'm not sure of the standards
0:36:02 > 0:36:05'at which to set my ferocity
0:36:05 > 0:36:11'for the level of dirt. How angry should you be for a piece of fluff?'
0:36:11 > 0:36:16- Everything all right? - Fine, sir.
0:36:20 > 0:36:23'I had this paranoid feeling that maybe I'm not quite perfect.
0:36:23 > 0:36:25'Maybe I've a bit of fluff on me.
0:36:25 > 0:36:29'You just have to overcome that and go for it, really.'
0:36:34 > 0:36:40If a guy's up to standard then you let him know that.
0:36:40 > 0:36:47The next guy may be below and you give him the same treatment.
0:36:47 > 0:36:48You bollock him.
0:36:48 > 0:36:55Authority comes from experience and the Royal Marines
0:36:55 > 0:36:57have a theatrical way of teaching it.
0:37:03 > 0:37:07Sir, I am PO12345 Mike, Corporal Bulmer!
0:37:07 > 0:37:12Just stand a metre further back from my desk.
0:37:12 > 0:37:15Start again and keep the noise down.
0:37:15 > 0:37:21PO12345 Mike, Sergeant...wrong!
0:37:21 > 0:37:24I'll never be a Sergeant at this rate, will I?
0:37:24 > 0:37:26Corporal Bulmer. LAUGHTER
0:37:26 > 0:37:28Right. What do you want?
0:37:28 > 0:37:32Mind if I stand at ease, sir? Thank you.
0:37:32 > 0:37:37Stand to attention. I'll tell you when.
0:37:37 > 0:37:43About this report - what does "loud and exuberant" mean?
0:37:43 > 0:37:45Dictionary fall open, sir?
0:37:45 > 0:37:51It describes the manner in which you have just come in.
0:37:51 > 0:37:52Keen, sir!
0:37:52 > 0:37:57You think you know it all. What do they teach you now?
0:37:57 > 0:37:59I'm qualified to write this
0:37:59 > 0:38:05and the Company Commander has read and endorsed it.
0:38:05 > 0:38:08He wouldn't endorse it if you hadn't writ it! >
0:38:08 > 0:38:13Slagging me off, ruining my career! >
0:38:13 > 0:38:19At the moment, your career deserves to be ruined. Understand?
0:38:19 > 0:38:23- No, I don't! > - You're in serious trouble.
0:38:23 > 0:38:26He's getting up to hit me, sir!
0:38:26 > 0:38:28(Stand him over.)
0:38:28 > 0:38:33Just as I'm getting to my next point! >
0:38:33 > 0:38:36- Get outside. - That's very nice, innit(?)
0:38:39 > 0:38:45All right, overplayed and overacted and, obviously, Sgt Bulmer
0:38:45 > 0:38:49is in the wrong profession, but it still illustrates a number
0:38:49 > 0:38:53of points. What's the first thing in that sort of interview?
0:38:53 > 0:38:57- Take control. - Yes, take control.
0:38:57 > 0:39:00You've got to hold the upper hand.
0:39:00 > 0:39:04It's end of term at Lympstone.
0:39:04 > 0:39:09The officers prepare for a ball, while awaiting their final reports.
0:39:09 > 0:39:14Ten months ago, Jim Trottman was apprehensive about ever making it.
0:39:16 > 0:39:19I was worried about how I would react under pressure,
0:39:19 > 0:39:24especially in the field.
0:39:24 > 0:39:29That's where the job is now, not so much on the parade square.
0:39:29 > 0:39:33I was worried about how I'd cope with the field, basically,
0:39:33 > 0:39:36with the pressures of leadership.
0:39:36 > 0:39:39I'll read you your report.
0:39:39 > 0:39:47"Trottman's consistent performance made him one of the top men.
0:39:47 > 0:39:50"Affable, sincere and with some humility,
0:39:50 > 0:39:52"Trottman's greatest asset is his personality..."
0:39:52 > 0:39:57'I'm different. I work the military way.
0:39:57 > 0:40:00'You don't feel part of civvy life.
0:40:00 > 0:40:05My mother says she can see enormous problems adjusting back.
0:40:05 > 0:40:09That's why I'm only doing a short service!
0:40:09 > 0:40:13"One fault is that he might be taken advantage of.
0:40:13 > 0:40:17"The Sword of Honour contest was fierce.
0:40:17 > 0:40:23"He missed by a whisker. An excellent year for an able man..."
0:40:23 > 0:40:27'You look down on civilians, because they haven't done what you've done.
0:40:27 > 0:40:31'I try not to, because that's wrong.'
0:40:31 > 0:40:36In some ways I find myself comparing
0:40:36 > 0:40:38at a place with lots of other people, like a party.
0:40:38 > 0:40:42Nightclubs, as well.
0:40:42 > 0:40:47You go home and think, "Look at them! Knob-ends! Civvies!"
0:40:47 > 0:40:51And then you think, "Hang on! I'm the odd one out here.
0:40:51 > 0:40:53"It's me. I'M different."
0:40:53 > 0:41:00I didn't used to think like that and I DID at Christmas.
0:41:00 > 0:41:03In between, I'd joined the Marines!
0:41:03 > 0:41:06BAND STRIKES UP
0:41:19 > 0:41:22LAUGHTER AND CHATTER
0:41:41 > 0:41:44It's been an unusual education,
0:41:44 > 0:41:48compounded of fear, indignity, fatigue and pressure,
0:41:48 > 0:41:54and it has produced 19 examples of what it was intended to produce -
0:41:54 > 0:41:58officers with brains, courage, resilience and endurance.
0:42:01 > 0:42:05They've even learned how to wash their socks!
0:42:05 > 0:42:08Sergeant Major Williams returns for their passing-out parade.
0:42:08 > 0:42:11He's now a paragon of civility.
0:42:11 > 0:42:17I remember one Batch marched off with somebody's collar out here!
0:42:17 > 0:42:20- Mr Wiltshire. - Sergeant Major.
0:42:20 > 0:42:22- Congratulations. - Thank you.
0:42:22 > 0:42:24- Where are you going? - Command ship.
0:42:24 > 0:42:28Well, OK, I just hope it stops raining.
0:42:28 > 0:42:31I'm a bit worried about your technique(!)
0:42:33 > 0:42:35Sam Browne's looking gleaming.
0:42:39 > 0:42:41- That's all right, is it? - Yeah, smashing. Good job.
0:42:43 > 0:42:45Fine.No problems there.
0:42:45 > 0:42:47- Well done! - Thanks very much.
0:42:51 > 0:42:54You know and I know that I never thought you'd be here today!
0:42:54 > 0:42:57You did it - and we all know it's not because your dad's a colonel.
0:43:01 > 0:43:03- Where are you going? - Four Five.
0:43:03 > 0:43:07- Good. Best of luck for your career. - Thank you.
0:43:07 > 0:43:12I don't think of Queen and country or personal challenge,
0:43:12 > 0:43:14it's "get the hell out of here"!
0:43:14 > 0:43:18I was looking through my bookshelf at home
0:43:18 > 0:43:22and I came across the POC recruiting magazine.
0:43:22 > 0:43:28I read all the things about why you are training and it was rubbish!
0:43:30 > 0:43:34It brought back the feelings I had before I joined,
0:43:34 > 0:43:37not really knowing what was going to happen.
0:43:37 > 0:43:42It glamorised the whole thing and that is one thing training is not.
0:43:42 > 0:43:48Don't come here trying to clock up all the great Scout badges,
0:43:48 > 0:43:53thinking you'll be a great canoeist or captain the First XV at rugby,
0:43:53 > 0:43:56thinking you must be an all-singing, all-dancing,
0:43:56 > 0:44:00lead from the front, sporty individual.
0:44:00 > 0:44:05It's harsh. I think you've got to come here with an open mind
0:44:05 > 0:44:12and keep it open while you're here. That's the important thing.
0:44:12 > 0:44:18You can play the hard, slightly detached officer image
0:44:18 > 0:44:22and lean on a little bit of unapproachability,
0:44:22 > 0:44:28so the message won't come through to you that the Troop isn't
0:44:28 > 0:44:33performing as well as it should. I hope I'll never let that happen.
0:44:33 > 0:44:37Keep in touch with the blokes. They're very important.
0:44:37 > 0:44:43If you're not in touch, heaven help you on the day of the race!
0:44:43 > 0:44:48I'm patriotic, but I'm not doing the job for that reason.
0:44:48 > 0:44:52As I said, I'm doing it to lead people, really.
0:44:52 > 0:45:00We're not all right-wing thugs. People do try to encourage us
0:45:00 > 0:45:02to think about the things we are doing.
0:45:02 > 0:45:07Sometimes you have to do things that are wrong in the eyes of many,
0:45:07 > 0:45:11but you do it because you're supposed to.
0:45:11 > 0:45:16I perhaps have a slightly childish, I suppose,
0:45:16 > 0:45:19idea of heroism and this sort of thing
0:45:19 > 0:45:24and I think I'll also get some sort of kick out of it.
0:45:24 > 0:45:27That makes me sound like a pervert,
0:45:27 > 0:45:32but it all goes back to leading guys in action.
0:45:32 > 0:45:37It's the worst possible situation and to be good at it,
0:45:37 > 0:45:42I would personally feel that I'd done a pretty good job
0:45:42 > 0:45:48and I've done something much harder than what other people do.
0:45:48 > 0:45:54- I just hope it stops raining. - There's not much chance of that!
0:46:09 > 0:46:13BAND STRIKES UP
0:46:27 > 0:46:31Parade turn!
0:46:38 > 0:46:42The Sword of Honour is presented by Lt Gen Sir Martin Garrett,
0:46:43 > 0:46:45Commandant General of the Marines.
0:46:56 > 0:47:00Sir! The Young Officer Batch of September 1987
0:47:00 > 0:47:05is fallen in, in three ranks, and awaits your inspection.
0:47:15 > 0:47:17Stand at ease!
0:47:21 > 0:47:27The Royal Marines Sword of Honour, awarded by the Admiralty Board
0:47:27 > 0:47:30and presented by Wilkinson Sword
0:47:30 > 0:47:34to the most outstanding Young Officer of his Batch,
0:47:34 > 0:47:37Acting Lieutenant Van der Horst.
0:47:39 > 0:47:42APPLAUSE
0:47:48 > 0:47:52'I don't think, myself, that I'm far and away the best.
0:47:52 > 0:47:57'I'm one of the best, but it could have gone another way.'
0:47:57 > 0:48:00- Congratulations. - Thank you, sir.
0:48:00 > 0:48:02Thank you very much, sir.
0:48:14 > 0:48:18By the left, quick march!
0:48:22 > 0:48:26BAND PLAYS "A LIFE ON THE OCEAN WAVE"