THINGS were looking bleak. We were pinned down by enemy gunfire, freezing cold, soaking wet and trying to carry a wounded, screaming Geordie soldier. Our mission was to scramble 500 metres across country, keeping low to avoid the soldiers taking pot shots at each other on either side, and collect some fuel supplies from an ambushed jeep somewhere along the way. All in 20 minutes.

The brief neglected to mention that the half a kilometre route followed a deep, overgrown stream, covered with gorse bushes, and that our armed guide would get himself shot in the leg just metres from base.

I should have smelt a rat when we were offered a stretcher during the briefing to "help us carry the fuel supplies".

Nevertheless our team of seven battled on, and after considering drowning the loud-mouthed whiner, we managed to push, drag and carry his sodden frame another 100 metres towards our target. It was now raining heavily.

With numb feet, aching limbs and the crack of gunfire ringing in our ears, a few hundred metres more seemed like a long way.

So, forgetting everything we had been told, we decided to leave our casualty with one person and push ahead, hoping to find the fuel supplies on the way, as well as our destination.

What a mistake. We ended up knackered, mentally, physically and in respect of the task, with a wounded soldier and jeep driver, only three of the four cans of fuel we needed and seven soaking team members, covered in thorns and squelching around disconsolately.

This was not a good start. It was 8.15am on Saturday morning and I had already been up for more than two hours.

Driving from Catterick to the isolated Wathgill camp where Exercise Executive Stretch was set to take place I realised I had left most of my bravado at the office.

The fog was closing in, the car's radio reception was beginning to waver and something was weighing heavily on my mind: I had forgotten to bring any spare pants.

If anything happened that needed a penknife, chocolate, torch or five pairs of socks, I was in the clear. I just prayed my M&S two-pairs-for-a-tenner specials were up to the worst the British Armed Forces could throw at me.

Unluckily for me, I was to learn that the event organisers, the 150 (Northumbrian) Transport Regiment Royal Logistic Corps - a Territorial Army regiment based in Hull, with squadrons in North Shields, Leeds and Doncaster - had a few surprises in store.

More than 100 business people from 60 companies in York and North Yorkshire, as well as Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, Durham and Cleveland, amassed at Wathgill to change business suits for combat overalls and take on a demanding and challenging weekend, designed to test them to the limit.

The weekend was organised around a civil war scenario where a small independent East European state was being torn apart by in-fighting following its recent split from the Soviet Union. Our task, as members of an International Stabilisation Force, was protection and assistance to charity and other personnel on the ground.

We were to do this through a number of fast-moving tasks at locations around the Catterick Training Area, which involved team work, physical strength, mental agility and a sense of humour. Our progress would be closely monitored by our team escort and the organisers on each stand who awarded us points for our effort and success.

If all went to plan we would be back in time for medals and beer, physically shattered but with a warm sense of achievement, at the base camp by Sunday lunch time. Sadly, that was a long way ahead.

On Friday night, we were given our kit for the weekend, which included a pack, sleeping bag, 24-hour ration pack, overalls, waterproofs and a water can, before being split into groups.

My team included a former professional short-distance runner, an engineer, a financial director, a swimming pool life guard and an accountant.

Saturday morning came too quickly and from the moment we were woken up by a piper at a very early hour it was all go.

Our tasks included first aid challenges, clearing minefields, recovering vehicles and abseiling down quarry faces.

We were given the chance to ride in and inspect some heavy-duty military equipment, including whopping great trucks, jeeps and light-armoured reconnaissance vehicles. As a group we constructed survival shelters, a seven-person raft and a hydraulic siren.

Physical challenges included rowing the raft across a lake, taking on an assault course, with and without heavy equipment to carry, and jogging over a daytime orienteering course.

After making camp and tucking into our ration packs, nightfall brought an orienteering challenge and lessons in radio communications, search and rescue and observation. The final task saw teams take it in turns to race through a mock village, designed to help soldiers practise operations in built-up areas, in and out of claustrophobic, partially-destroyed buildings and with a knee-bruising lengthy crawl through sewage pipes and dusty lofts.

The challenges were demanding and there was a strong emphasis in clear decision-making under pressure, as well as leadership, negotiation and team work skills. As a team we worked well together, combining our different skills, strengths and talents to solve virtually all the tasks.

It was a tough, seat-of-your-pants weekend and a fantastic opportunity to test abilities and try something new.

Thankfully my pants stood up to the challenge - just long enough for me to cheerfully chuck them in the bin when I got home.

Updated: 09:18 Saturday, June 29, 2002