Apr 16 - Regiment Soldier Parachutes For Charity
Royal Gibraltar Regiment Junior Soldier (JS) Travis Martinez recently conducted a tandem parachute jump to raise money for charity. JS Martinez (17) is currently attending the Army Foundation College (AFC) in Harrogate. In order to qualify for the jump, he had to raise £300 for the Army Benevolent Fund.
The jump, organised by AFC Harrogate, took place at Cark Airfield in Flookburgh, Cumbria and is aimed at developing junior soldiers to take part in adventurous training, whilst at the same time giving back to the community.
JS Martinez said: “The skydive was an amazing experience, I felt the adrenaline rush falling from 14,000 feet and loved looking at the view of the countryside from so high up. I loved doing the skydive and knowing that I was helping ABF, a charity so close to my heart.”
JS Martinez started his course at AFC Harrogate in October 2017 and is due to pass out in August 2018. Following this he will attend Infantry Training Centre (ITC) Catterick until November 2018.
When asked how he was enjoying AFC, JS Martinez said: “I didn’t like school and wasn’t a keen student. Joining the Army is the best decision I’ve taken. I enjoy Army life; training is hard but enjoyable and I’m learning new skills every day. I also love having a laugh with all my friends in the platoon.”
Not content with attending AFC, JS Martinez is also taking part in archery as part of His Duke of Edinburgh award and has gone on adventure training which has involved map reading, climbing, paintballing and karting. Next month he will visit Normandy as part of his military studies to learn about D-Day. He is currently progressing on all the normal military subjects as well as academic work in English, Maths and IT, all of which will give him a qualification at the end of training.
JS Martinez added: “Training is getting harder and we are doing more tactical exercises, as we get ready before passing out in August. I can’t wait to go to ITC Catterick and learn all the infantry skills which I need, before joining the Regiment as a trained soldier.”
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