They had warned us to expect a call at 0400 for physical training. Mention was made of the five-mile route march with full kit as well as the spell in the gas chamber and the stomach-churning flight on a Black Hawk helicopter. Somehow, it seemed a lot less challenging on paper.

As the pre-dawn parade ground echoed to the creaking of under-used journalistic limbs and the wheezing of cigarette lungs, there were those who realised this really wasn't for them.