Soldiers from the 2nd Cavalry Regiment (2CAV) put their skills to the test during this year’s Exercise Beersheba Cup, which comprised a combination of activities over a 72-hour period.
They conducted arduous serials involving live-fire shooting, fitness training, section attacks, gas serials and tactical combat casualty care at Lavarack Barracks in Townsville.
The exercise involved a scoring system to encourage friendly competition between the squadrons.
A scenario was built into the exercise, providing a realistic expectation of what would be expected leading up to and during an operation.
Corporal Dein Lane said it was a valuable experience.
“This Beersheba Cup has been a learning curve and real eye-opener, as we’ve introduced dismounted elements into our training,” Corporal Lane said.
“It’s been good to focus on dismounted elements in this much detail.
“We do training like this regularly so that our squadrons can identify areas of improvement before we jump into arduous activities such as Exercise Talisman Sabre.”
Soldiers from 2CAV, with other units from 3rd Brigade, will participate in Exercise Talisman Sabre later in the year.
This year’s Beersheba Cup challenged many soldiers to work under pressure in a leadership role.
For Lance Corporal James Mulholland, this exercise was his first exposure in a command role, as second in command (2IC) for a section which, he said, was a challenging and valuable experience before a promotion to corporal at the end of the exercise.
“A big part of my role was effectively disseminating important information to the section and supporting the section commander,” Lance Corporal Mulholland said.
“On this exercise we’ve been challenged to think beyond being just a mounted capability.
“In my new role I had to complete a key leadership engagement serial, which involved practising how to engage and build rapport with community leaders in the area.
“The workload of a 2IC was definitely a surprise, but it was a good challenge.”
