The British Army Challenge Book is officially MOD-approved and written in partnership with Dr Gareth Moore. It is described as being ‘packed full of puzzles and challenges… for any team player or budding recruit’. There are logic puzzles, mazes and problem-solving tests to help ‘develop the vital mind-training skills’ needed.
The book focuses on providing a variety of military-based puzzles and conundrums to sharpen the reader’s analytical skills. In the British Army problem-solving is an essential skill. It can be equally applied to other situations too.
The Challenges
Challenges get the reader to:
- crack codes essential to survival situations
- complete complex navigation challenges
- put leadership and teamwork skills to the test with essential lateral thinking techniques
- strengthen crucial cognitive skills through quizzes and word games
- problem-solve under pressure
- put everything learnt to the test in British Army training scenarios
Don’t think you have to be interested in the military to enjoy the book! Despite it’s title, you don’t have to be a budding squaddy to enjoy it. Ultimately it is a puzzle book. There are over 100 challenges altogether. The only difference to other puzzle books is its military focus. This is broken down into relevant sections. The importance of each section is explained and followed by a series of challenges. Sections are as follows:
In the Field
In this section you could be asked to find north using the night sky despite there being partial cloud cover. Alternatively, you may be tasked to find the best place to set up camp, given a set of criteria, using a map. There are also puzzles based on map scales and grid references.
Cognitive Testing
The cognitive testing section involves a variety of different types of soduko, many of which I’ve never heard of before! These may not seem to directly link to what a soldier might have to do on the battlefield. However, they are used to develop those thinking skills required to address different situations.
Teamwork
Teamwork is such an important part of being in the military. Furthermore, building an effective team makes use of the different strengths of the individuals within it. A series of command tasks and leaderless tasks are provided to develop this. You may be asked to build a bridge made of spaghetti that’s strong enough to hold a 1kg weight. Retrieving a bucket from a no-go zone using only rope is another example.
Survival
The ability to think quickly in a survival situation is vital. Many challenges in the survival section are based on time restricted puzzles such as number pyramids. There are also code-breaking puzzles, memory challenges and knowledge tests.
Case Study – Going Deeper
For the final section, a basic problem-solving model is described and expected to be used to complete the challenge. The Case Study – Going Deeper section gives a specific military scenario and exercise that an Officer Recruit might face. From this, the task is to identify the aims, factors which affect the plan, courses of action and plan adopted.
So would this book help anyone to get through their army training? Perhaps. It certainly doesn’t develop the skills required in Skill At Arms. When it comes to Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear defence, the puzzles won’t improve your practical skills. However it is a great puzzle book that will appeal to any puzzle fan. It does give some great information that relates to being in the military. Map reading and navigation elements are covered, for example. The best thing is that the challenges in the book get the reader to think. Some of the tasks are very straightforward but others really get the cogs turning.
All in all, it’s a really good puzzle book with a difference. It’s probably a great way of introducing people with an interest in the army to solving puzzles. Alternatively, puzzle fans in general looking for something a little different will love it. Furthermore, the command tasks are great for group activities and could even be made use of by scout groups etc.
The British Army Challenge Book is published by Harper Collins. Retail price £12.99
Main stockists can be found on the Harper Collins website. Alternatively, visit your local bookshop.
