Nemesis

EXERCISE NEMESIS Living up to its name

Officer Cadet Craig McKernan had heard about Exercise Nemesis when he put himself up for selection to be an Army Officer in 2019. Despite it being every bit as harsh as it is reputed to be, it was his favourite so far. This is his story.

Nemesis is the only exercise on the New Zealand Commissioning Course that is supposed to be a secret, therefore virtually guaranteeing that every cadet thinks they know exactly what to expect.

It is six days of starvation and sleep deprivation intended to test the mettle, resilience and grit of Officer Cadets. I had my reservations about the stories I had heard, and I assumed the tales of hallucinations and collapse from fatigue were the Cadets’ equivalent of exaggerated war stories. Having just completed the exercise I can confidently say that the stories were not just stories. Nemesis well and truly lived up to the hype.

When the 12am fire alarm sounded it was not a surprise. Through the garrison grapevine the start time of the exercise was known by every cadet on the course. The forewarning was little comfort however, and that abrasive alarm signalled the beginning of a thing that had been in the back of our minds for months. Inexorably drawing closer, Nemesis was finally here.

To ease us into the exercise we were treated to five hours of the most intense PT session of our brief military careers. One cadet threw up just one hour into the pool session – this received zero attention from DS apart from him being abruptly told to clean it up. The tone was set early on, and we would not be receiving any sympathy for our suffering this week.

My initial plan was to hold back as much as possible during the PT session. I’m not as young as other cadets and I intended to save my body for the hell to come. A combination of ego, excitement and adrenaline meant that these plans were quickly forgotten.

I threw everything at each different exercise, smiling at the PT Instructors as they were trying to wear us down. Perhaps not a good plan physically, mentally however, this attitude set me up for success during the exercise, laughing at the world of pain that was sure to come.

The following six days consisted of two 11 hour tasks per day. Over 180kms with loads ranging from 30kg to 70kg when carrying the double jerries through the fabled Ngamatea Swamp task. The hallucinations started from around day three. Though terrifying at times, they did provide a welcome respite from the monotony of muttoning up Waitangi for 11 hours straight with tyres around my neck. Equal parts frustrating and hilarious were attempts at conversations with other cadets while they were not at their mental best. I had to laugh despite the chaos when I realised our signaller had been scrolling through the Brigade Standard Operating Procedures for half an hour looking for the section on how to Roudem power lines during a long halt.

Our section started with ten, and ended with five, with knees, ankles and finally the cold all taking their toll. Of the ones that did last, none of us came out the other side unscathed. The morning after the exercise it took me 15 minutes to walk the 50 metres to the showers. When I saw our platoon march the following day it was clear that we were all in a similar amount of pain.

Despite the hardship, or maybe because of it, Nemesis was by far my favourite exercise to date and a pivotal experience of my life. Though I’m sure that in the future when I’m retelling the story of my Nemesis, the weights will be heavier, the pack marches longer, the hallucinations more vivid. I will know with absolute certainty that the infamous exercise well and truly lived up to its name.