Stretched to the limit: P Company instructor Sgt Ryan Swindale steers candidates through the stretcher race, designed to simulate moving a casualty from the front line

Report: Heidi Mines
Pictures: Graeme Main

AS one soldier’s head hits the ground, another is violently sick. Dragging their exhausted, soaking bodies to their feet, they carry on – the fear of failure far greater than any physical agony.

This is P Company, short for Pegasus Company, one of the hardest and most challenging selection processes in the military. Open to both sexes and all ranks, anyone can have a go.
However, having won battle honours in every major conflict in which it has fought, The Parachute Regiment is zealous in upholding its fearsome reputation. Many fail this test, undone by injury or pounded into submission by mental stress. The prize for those who pass is the right to wear the maroon beret.

Speaking from the Infantry Training Battalion in Catterick, North Yorkshire, OC P Company Maj Sam McGrath told Soldier that although the P Company programme is exhausting, it is designed to hammer troops into shape for battle.

“For many, P Company is the first thing they will have tackled in the military that they are not 100 per cent sure they are going to pass,” he said.
“In order to select the qualities needed, we have to get people into a position where they are stressed and tired so their real character qualities come to the fore.

“However, passing P Company gives people the realisation they can overcome something that they didn’t think they were capable of doing – and this is valuable when they find themselves in a firefight or living in a trench.”

Those who tackle The Parachute Regiment’s gritty selection regime are exposed to eight tests designed to find out what they are really made of. The challenges include a demanding eight-mile tab, endurance march and steeplechase.

Each of the trials replicates an obstacle that a paratrooper will face in conflict. The log race simulates carrying ammunition to the front line and the trainasium –
a giant climbing obstacle – quickly reveals whether candidates can overcome their fear of heights and go on to jump from
an aircraft.

One of the most controversial tests is milling, where opponents of similar height and weight punch it out in a controlled environment. It is included to encourage potential paras to remain focused in the battlefield environment.

Soldier spoke to Pte Sam Lake, a Para hopeful who was preparing for his 15th week of training and about to embark on P Company. The former professional footballer with Premiership club West Ham United admitted he was nervous about the physical test ahead.

“I have always wanted to strive for the best and Parachute Regiment selection was something that would push me to my limit,” said the 20-year-old. “My brother is in The Royal Anglian Regiment and I wanted to be better than him.

“I’m apprehensive about P Company but I am ready, and want it out of the way.”
Despite the daunting trial ahead, Pte Lake was well aware of why the tough regime was essential. All four battalions have deployed to Afghanistan – a first in modern times – and the tempo of ops means selecting the right soldiers is vital.

Instructor Sgt Ryan Swindale stressed that the demands on the regiment meant P Company had to be one of the most demanding military selection processes in the British Army.

“It has to be of the traditional standard so that when you see the maroon beret you know what someone has been through and that you can rely on them.”

Sgt Swindale was speaking as the P Company candidates lined up on a bench, waiting their turn to see the duty medic for injuries picked up doing the harsh programme. Patched up, they all returned for more – overcoming pain is part of this test.

Although the selection process is brutal and relatively unchanged since Winston Churchill’s call for the first airborne forces in 1940, it attracts the most committed. More than 60 per cent of participants pass the course and most of those who achieve the maroon beret go on to be awarded their coveted wings.

Maj McGrath explained that the process produces men who go on to become some of Britain’s finest soldiers. “I think P Company speaks for itself in the fact that only a small proportion of the Army has passed it and yet they make up more than 50 per cent of our most élite forces."