Pakistan Army team wins gold at UK's Exercise Cambrian Patrol 2024

LONDON: The Pakistan Army Cambrian Team has won gold in Exercise Cambrian Patrol 2024 by securing the highest points 864 in Ex CP-24 and defeated 118 teams representing Europe.

The 67 Punjab Regiment won the gold medal by securing the highest-ever 864 points in the competition which also included teams from entire Europe. 67 Punjab Regiment participated in the event for the second consecutive year after standing first in the Pakistan Army's internal competition.

The premier patrolling event has been running for over 60 years and is the British Army's principal All Arms Patrol Exercise. It is open to all three Services (Regular and Reserve) and international participants.

Army and Air Adviser UK Col Taimur Rahat said that Cambrian Patrol is the world's most challenging test of basic soldiering skills, especially under fatigue, sleep deprivation, and stress.

Participants are assessed on their performance throughout the event, based on factors such as battlecraft, individual training, robustness, and leadership, he said, commenting on Pakistan's win.

He said: "Exercise Cambrian Patrol is an annual international military exercise that involves its participating units covering a 40-mile (65 km) course in less than 48 hours while performing numerous types of military maneuvers and patrols placed throughout the rugged Cambrian Mountains and swamp lands of mid-Wales (Brecon Beacons National Forest)."

The Cambrian Patrol is a mission focused and scenario-based exercise. The patrol performance is assessed throughout based on Battlecraft Syllabus (BCS) and Individual Training Requirement (ITR), in addition to robustness and leadership.

The exercise is currently made up of eight phases, each of 48 hours, over 10 days. Each patrol will cover approximately 60kms (average climb and descent is over 1000m) carrying no more than 32kgs per person.

Pakistan team was trained, mentored and guided by Maj Saqib Ali Malik, Training Officer, Maj Usman Iqbal, Team Manager, Capt Raja Hassan Raza, Patrol Commander and Captain Hamza Tahir Shah, Reserve Patrol Commander.