It is not very often that you get to fire off an assault rifle before you have even had breakfast.

Thanks to the Armed Forces of Malta, 60 people and the odd journalist got a glimpse of military life in a ‘Soldier for a day’ event organised in aid of the Community Chest Fund.

Assembling at 6.30am at the Luqa Barracks parade ground yesterday, nervous glimpses were soon transformed into smiles as ‘recruits’ from the newly-assembled Platoon 1 were whisked off to the AFM’s Pembroke firing range.

Under the watchful eye of a myriad of safety staff and Brigadier Jeffrey Curmi, participants were given the chance to fire five rounds of an AK-47 rifle at targets 100 metres downrange.

Some fared better than others. Apart from a slight graze, the target your correspondent was firing at survived unscathed.

The author is shown how to use an AK-47.

After being shown how to dis-assemble and clean the rifles, a quick first aid course was given before we were taken to Ħal-Far Barracks for some more physical exercises.

Blindfolded and tied by the legs to three other ‘recruits’ from our section, we stumbled through tyres and tunnels with only our team captain’s voice from the sidelines to guide us.

Photos: Mark Zammit Cordina

The reward for completing this task was a six-storey climb up the exterior of a tower. There was little time to enjoy the view, as upon reaching the top, participants were made to abseil down again.

Not content to just test our mettle on land, the AFM then took us to its Haywarf base in Floriana to experience some high-speed manoeuvres on rhibs powered by three 350 BHP outboard motors. Despite the captain’s best efforts, everybody managed to keep their lunch  – provided shortly before by the AFM – inside them.

The final part of the day involved vaulting over seven-foot walls and snaking under tunnels, as well as learning the basics of a drill command.

Exhausted participants then assembled on the parade grounds to be given a certificate of participation by Brigadier Curmi, who thanked all the AFM soldiers who helped organise the event in their spare time.