It’s said that the rank of lance corporal in a British Army infantry unit, denoted by a single inverted chevron, is the hardest one to earn and the easiest to lose.
Whereas the U.S. Marines run a two-week corporal’s course for what is a step higher rank (E-4), the British Army puts the screws to privates looking to earn their stripe.
For reference, the British Army’s lance corporal’s course, run by 1 Rifles on Cyprus, takes seven weeks.
In a recent course that saw 68 privates start and 47 complete, they conducted:
- 47 days of training vs only three down days
- 20 days of field exercises
- 15 section attacks
- 14 platoon attacks
- 7 reecces
The footage, in a great 25-minute doc: