Earning your stripes: A soldier's first step up the ranks to lance corporal
For a private soldier, the Junior Non-Commissioned Officer Cadre is the first shot at promotion in the British Army.
Earning the first stripe on their rank slide and becoming a lance corporal is a significant step up.
Over seven weeks, BFBS Forces News was granted exclusive access to the latest Junior NCO Cadre run by 1 Rifles.
The battalion is currently based at Alexander Barracks in Dhekelia as part of British Forces Cyprus.
Warrant Officer Class One Mark Calvert, the Regimental Sergeant Major of 1st Battalion The Rifles, told BFBS Forces News: "The purpose of a Junior NCO Cadre is to get people on to that first rung of the ladder for leadership.
"[It] also tests their ability in physical robustness and more importantly mental robustness, and how they can motivate themselves as well as motivate a team as they become junior leaders."
It's a behind-the-scenes glance into a part of infantry life people don't usually get to see.
Among a wide range of tests, they are assessed on their basic soldiering skills, fitness, ability to lead in the field, maintaining safety on firing ranges as well as having to perform drill and pass parade inspections.
They are held to the standards set by the British Army.
During the course, the soldiers were visited by Falklands veteran Lieutenant Colonel Marvin "Manny" Manfred who served in the Parachute Regiment from 1971 to 2011.
Lt Col Manfred started his career as a private soldier.
Having risen through the Non-Commissioned Officer ranks, he offered the trainee NCOs his unique insight on managing a group of soldiers.
He told BFBS Forces News: "Many of the steps that they've taken, I have trodden before them. So hopefully, they can learn from some of the mistakes that I've made."
Lt Col Manfred added: "You can recreate excitement, but not actual fear.
"There must be a mechanism to replace that fear or to overcome that fear by training, and that is what they're receiving."
The temperature in Cyprus averages 32°C during the day, so the students are doing most of their attacks at night.
The first phase of the course solidified soldiering skills, with the trainee NCOs taking part in demanding physical training over a variety of terrain, sometimes without warning.
They also had to prove a strong understanding of navigation theory and show they can work well in a team in a non-military setting.
The second phase consisted of three weeks in the field, a chance for each individual to do the job of a lance corporal.
As second in command of their section, a lance corporal has to display strong leadership, stepping up as section commander when needed.
They are assessed on how they deliver orders to their section, and for most of them it is also the first time in their careers they will have written a patrol report.
It's challenging, but also more realistic for heading on operations.
The exercise phase culminates in Sword Lane.
On the brink of exhaustion, the soldiers are put into a scenario where they are isolated from their comrades and must use their bayonets - which The Rifles refers to as swords - to defeat the enemy to survive.
Forty-seven out of the 68 who started the course make it to the final phase.
Once they get promoted, they will be responsible for teaching junior soldiers how to safely and accurately use their weapons on the range.
As a reward, the soldiers get given a taste of what their future could be like and are treated to a dinner night in the Serjeants' Mess.
Some say it's the most exclusive club in the world as you can only get in by rising up the ranks.
Rifleman Taylor Sims from 3 Rifles told BFBS Forces News the evening was good for morale.
"It does make you feel quite proud. It makes you feel like you have achieved something as well, especially being at the end of the course," he said.
Loved ones travelled far and wide to join the celebrations on parade day at Alexander Barracks in Dhekelia, where 1 Rifles is currently based.
It's said the rank of lance corporal is the hardest to get, and the easiest to lose.
For the successful ones, they will, for the first time in their careers, be responsible for leading a group of soldiers, some of whom will be fresh out of training and will be looking to these new lance corporals for leadership, management and inspiration.
Out of those who passed, many of them will get promoted a month or two after finishing the cadre.
Within one year, all of those who passed will likely be in lance corporal roles.
All, no doubt, wearing their new rank slide with pride.
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