More Shropshire school leavers are expected to seek a career in the armed forces this year – but they’ll need to be physically and mentally sharp. Dani Wozencroft took a break from her day job at radio station Telford FM to tackle a gruelling army ‘taster’ day.

When I squint my eyes a little, I can almost believe that I am part of the Kosovo peace efforts of 1999. Snow has dusted the ground, an eerie silence throngs the ice cold air and I am surrounded by burly army folk.

A sharp back pain halts my delusion.

No, this is not Pristina – nor Afghanistan or Iraq for that matter – but I hadn’t quite realised what I had signed up to when I agreed to take part in a media open day at the Staffordshire military base.

I had failed to read the small print. This was to be more than a camouflage catwalk – this was a day of real army training.

“It is not a test, rather an assessment of fitness when potential recruits take part,” said fitness instructor Lance Corporal Richard Pitman.

“We put them through their paces and if they are not up to it they can go back and do a three day course at Lichfield, or they are issued with a six week training programme to do three or four times a week to get up to standard.”

Better book me in for 12 weeks, Sarge.

After wimping out of the press ups and pull ups, having nearly passed out from the warm-up alone, I find some energy from somewhere to complete 57 sit ups in two minutes, and a 14-minute 1.5 mile run.

Corporal Pitman usually works with trained soldiers but is based at Stafford MOD for four months to put new recruits through this gruelling examination. “Many potential recruits don’t come back just because they don’t get through,” he adds. “This is the Playstation generation. There is no drive to go away and do the work to succeed. Some people stand out – the ones who have the heart to do the initial test three or four times before proceeding to the next stage.”

Whilst push-ups and rope climbing remain part of the staple diet for any training soldier, I was about to learn that things have also changed fundamentally.

Chicken tikka masala is now as likely to be found on the menu as corned beef – with the option of Halal meat or a vegetarian alternative if such is your requirement.

“The pack is full of pre-packed food and snacks as well as drinks,” says Lance Corporal Wayne Smith, introducing us to lunch.The most you would carry is three at once, always carrying an extra 24 hours of food in case communication lines get broken or something happens. The food is okay. When you first go out on exercise you may live off the same menu for four months, which isn’t too nice.”

There is always a trusty bottle of Tabasco on hand though for lovers of spice as well as chewing gum and Yorkie chocolate bars that girls can eat, but they’re ‘not for civvies’!

Our standard 6,000 calorie pack also includes water purification tablets, snack bars, pre-packed biscuits and boil-in-a-bag treats.

Corporal Smith adds: “We don’t cook things at lunch time so that we don’t give away our position. These packs include all cold food such as a tube of strawberry spread, which is just like jam. There is a syrup pudding too. It’s like a hard block of ice when uncooked, but when boiled its edible.”

It’s not five star quality but this pack would set you back around £40 if it were available in Tesco.

Our bodies suitably exhausted, our minds are next to be put through the mill.

These tasks are taken into school workshops with 11-year-olds. Apparently we aren’t much better.

“We go to better schools in the area because they tend to have a better calibre of students,” admits Lance Corporal Dan Johnson of the Technology and Logistics department.

“Our aim is to work their minds. We need strong people of course, but these exercises are good for finding natural leaders and people who are naturally good at taking hold of a situation.”

The day continues with more embarrassment as the sheer impracticality of the all-in-one suit begins to take its toll.

‘Elvis’ becomes my new nickname for the remainder of the day after my shaking legs do their best impression of The King following an assault of the climbing wall.

Eventually though my ordeal is over. There is no fanfare, not even a medal from the Queen, but I am suitably chuffed with my day’s work. There is of course a reason for this madness.

While all but Aldi appear to be slashing jobs as the economic downturn threatens to turn into downright depression, the army is pushing on with its recruitment drive.

And with a starting salary of £12,000 for 16-18-year-olds who join straight from high school rising to £20,000 for infantry soldiers, it seems highly likely that more will turn to an army career.

“A total of 15,000 recruits is our target for the year,” explains Commander of regional recruiting Cornal Stuart Cattermull. “We are on target to hit this. We begin nurturing in schools but really our target audience is those that can enter the army immediately.

“Although we are looking to hit our target, the army is still 3,500 soldiers short – we need to fill this void and pull numbers back.”

Thanks for the offer, but I think I’ll stick with radio for now.

* Dani Wozencroft is a news reporter on radio station Telford FM. She took up the challenge with her colleague Ruth Griffiths from sister station The Severn, in Shrewsbury.