Instructors deployed on Operation Kudu are coming to terms with the local weather, as they train the second rotation of recruits from the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU).
One of the platoon commanders from the 5th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, said they were taking the recruits through basic soldiering skills in the snow.
“With all of us being from Darwin, this isn’t exactly the climate we’re accustomed to soldiering in – and the environmental shift has meant performing demonstrations and giving lessons has proven challenging,” he said.
While the Australian soldiers gave their lessons, the changing environment saw the role of teacher and student reversed, with the trainees providing cold-weather survival tips to their instructors.
“The recruits and AFU instructors, who are accustomed to snowy conditions, and many of whom have seen combat, have been teaching us the best way to survive and to conceal our movement in snow,” he said.
“We’ve been using the lessons learned from the previous rotation, as well as the recent real-life experience of the Ukrainian section commanders, to further refine and improve the training.”
