Perth soldier thanks harsh Scottish weather for his training success

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A Perth soldier credited a lifetime of harsh Scottish weather as crucial to his success during an intense training exercise.

Twenty-year-old private Jack Smith was taking part in an exercise in the German wilderness along with 80 other Royal Regiment of Scotland reservists.The Scottish soldiers were part of exercise Rhino Heart which was the largest deployment of reserve British soldiers since the Cold War.They had been part of 500 UK army reserves undergoing two weeks of rigorous training to demonstrate the reserves’ capability to operate as a standalone battle group.The exercise started with five days of offensive and defensive training at the Sennelager Training Area, North Rhine-Westphalia, where soldiers lived off rations and had just a poncho to shield them from the wind and rain.The Scottish reserves, used to ever changing weather conditions back home, said their “climate” experiences gave them an edge and made the training more manageable.And private Smith said the harsh weather growing up in the region helped him settle in well during the training.He said: “This was my first deployment as a reserve and it was a pretty daunting but eye-opening experience.“When we arrived, we gathered in a hall with around 500 fellow reservists, and the atmosphere and anticipation in the room was palpable — something unlike anything I or anyone else had ever experienced with such a large group of reservists.“Over the past fortnight, witnessing the teamwork and effort we all put in, particularly during the urban warfare exercise where we honed our attack drills in urban terrain, was a real highlight.“It was exciting to work alongside new faces and just get stuck in, even if it meant enduring five days of rain and wind – it felt