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PLANEX?

lizardo79

Swinger
There is probably already a thread on here about this but here goes.

Does anyone have any advice for tackling planning exercises? I've done a few including the one on the AOSB website but I was wondering if there was any particular method/s people use in dealing with these?

Also any other hints or tips regarding the weekends assessment would be appreciated.

Thank you
 
lizardo79 said:
There is probably already a thread on here about this but here goes.

Does anyone have any advice for tackling planning exercises? I've done a few including the one on the AOSB website but I was wondering if there was any particular method/s people use in dealing with these?

Also any other hints or tips regarding the weekends assessment would be appreciated.

Thank you

Certainly is and you posted both of them :yawnstretch:
 
lizardo79 said:
Does anyone have any advice for tackling planning exercises?

If you want to, try a uotc leadership and development course. I think they are covered in there.

The planning exercise is designed to see how you make decisions under pressure, so perhaps tackling it head on might be an idea? I mean, don't you want to know if you are the right sort of person to make an Army Officer rather than a person who did the right sort of revision?
 
best bit of advice is practice your mental arithmetic i.e. speed = distance/time mostly, as you will get asked this and variations when asked to back up your plan, and will be asked on the spot to quickly recalculate with different values

if you have difficulty rearranging the formula in your head imagine it in a isosceles triangle where speed is bottom left corner, distance at top and time at bottom right corner. to calc the distance, cover it with your thumb then it leaves speed and time, so they are multiplied. cover time and it shows distance over speed, so divide distance by speed and so on. did i make that clear enough? i feel the urge to draw a diagram...
 
Thanks. No need to draw A diagram. I think thats what probably slowed me up in practices so I will put a bit of effort into improving that.
 
Irish_Cream said:
best bit of advice is practice your mental arithmetic i.e. speed = distance/time.

Practice this, also keep in mind that the point of the rcb brief is to brief you on up comming events in the main board, ergo the group leader will explain the ins and outs of plan-exs, pm me your email ad and I will send you the 12 or so that I have.
 
C-C is absolutely right. I have been to AOSB briefing (as a visitor) and it is designed to help you not fail you. The DS actually enjoy them since they can assist whereas obviously the main board is a test and they are completely impartial.

What the chain of command has been trying to stop (absolutely correctly) is for too much pre-cramming which can give a false impression, or if badly done can instill bad habits.

To actually fail (category four) the briefing you need to be absolutely thick as mince or else a sociopath whom the rest of you syndicate wanted to kill! This category is very small.

My advice is to go along and enjoy it.
ET
 
Am attending main board soon and have been looking for a few plan ex's to have a go at, can anyone suggest a good source apart from the winter aid one on the website?
 
Just a bit unfair on everyone else is it not, I used just Winter Aid beforehand, didn't really have much of a clue and then the one at AOSB was 10x harder! :)...Still passed though

I mean I suppose it is taking initiative but it really is designed to see how you cope 'on-the-spot', you can look at all the planex's in the world but its still going to be bloody scary having a Captain barking at you to look up at him and work out the time it takes to get from A to B.
 
lewis1991blue said:
Just a bit unfair on everyone else is it not, I used just Winter Aid beforehand, didn't really have much of a clue and then the one at AOSB was 10x harder! :)...Still passed though

I mean I suppose it is taking initiative but it really is designed to see how you cope 'on-the-spot', you can look at all the planex's in the world but its still going to be bloody scary having a Captain barking at you to look up at him and work out the time it takes to get from A to B.

True, but there ain't anything wrong with doing a bit of practice, isn't that what winters aid is there for.once you have done it twice its useless. As for captain try LT Col with a brigadeer full colonel and some random civvy bird in for a butchers.
 
captain_carnage said:
lewis1991blue said:
Just a bit unfair on everyone else is it not, I used just Winter Aid beforehand, didn't really have much of a clue and then the one at AOSB was 10x harder! :)...Still passed though

I mean I suppose it is taking initiative but it really is designed to see how you cope 'on-the-spot', you can look at all the planex's in the world but its still going to be bloody scary having a Captain barking at you to look up at him and work out the time it takes to get from A to B.

True, but there ain't anything wrong with doing a bit of practice, isn't that what winters aid is there for.once you have done it twice its useless. As for captain try LT Col with a brigadeer full colonel and some random civvy bird in for a butchers.

Ahh i just had the Captain barking at me, the Brigadiers, Colonels etc were sat at the back and said nout, their piercing eyes and tuts were enough! haha My Dad did A.I.B. a few years back and had a civvy woman and said it was scary as siht!
 
when at Westbury the saturday morning wil be spent with an instructor/assessor who wil teach you how to do a planex. The idea of Winter aid is to get the procedures right. As previously been stated when up in front and they are barking at you simple arithmatic becomes a problem to do, but if your plan is positive and achieves the objective required then stand by your convictions and do not get put off by the assessor.
P.s crying does not help!

At the end of the day you are only being tested for Nine Hours?
 
C-C is correct, you have to stand by your plan and defend it to the hilt. The crafty buggers wil do their utmost to make you change your mind. Some Jock Major told me when i was at Westbury that he wouldn't follow me into a pub. I told him at the end of the weekend that maybe the case, but i wouldn't lead him into one! Don't stress too much before you go, it will make you worse. It's actually an enjoyable weekend. Everyone fears the planex. Anyone who states they do not is a liar liar pants on fire.
 
Hello Mate
I noticed you may have a few extra Plannex exercises? I have my main board in January and any help that can have me prepared would be awesome. I have only had a shot at the "winter Aid" plannex, any others would be appreciated.
Any tips or help I can give with brief, or after January for the main board, I will be happy to help.

Roger
 
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