Owen learns survival with the jungle look
ASOLDIER from Widnes is battling tropical jungle conditions learning how to survive and fight in some of the world’s toughest environments. Owen Pettican, 21, a Lance Corporal in 2nd Bn The Duke Of Lancaster’s Regiment, will be in Belize for a month working in energy-sapping humidity and temperatures of more than 30°C. He is working alongside the Belize Defence Force (BDF) – among the world’s best tropical fighting forces – and has been in the Army for four years, serving in Cyprus, Estonia, the Falkland Islands, Latvia and Kenya. The former Wade Dea- con High School pupil said: “I never had any family connections to the Army but it was something I had always wanted to do since I was a little kid, some of my best mates are in the Army – I made a good choice.
“This is one of the best places I have been to so far.
“The terrain is hard to move through because the heat saps your energy, but it is more enjoyable for me than anywhere else I’ve travelled to with the Army.”
Owen is in Belize with more than 100 others from the battalion’s Blenheim Company, with the soldiers’ hardest training coming in Sibun Gorge.
Despite the location’s holiday brochure natural beauty, there is a deadly arsenal of snakes, including the giant boa constrictor and the venomous fer de lance.
Owen added: “I’ve seen a few snakes but none fellow his soldiers close enough to worry me.
“My family think we’ve come here to chill out but we’re working really hard: we’re living out of a hammock under a waterproof shelter, but I do enjoy being away.”
The region’s dense vegetation, hilly terrain and still air, thick with humidity, add an extra dimen- sion to the daily tests of survival, navigation and attack.
Exercise Mayan Warrior is examining how well the soldiers adapt to a demanding environment and they have been living in the wild, sleeping in tree-slung hammocks and drinking river water they purify themselves.
British Army jungle warfare instructors and soldiers from the BDF educate the soldiers in how to navigate the lush, featureless jungle, move through it undetected and strike enemy positions fast and hard from close quarters.
Blenheim Company’s commanding officer, Major Nick Higgins, said: “This whole exercise is designed to be progressive so we’ve been giving the soldiers time to get used to the environment.
“They’re coping really well. We have some good platoon commanders and section commanders, and that’s important; they make sure the lads look after their feet and drink enough water.
“I can see from the morale of the platoons and how they’re integrating with the instructors and the BDF that, although finding it hard, they are enjoying the challenge.”