Our CCF team travelled to East Sussex during half term, read about their experience with a few words from Mr Money:
With great excitement (and a little trepidation after looking at the weather forecast) 21 Cadets boarded the coach to start their long leave living in the woods for 24 hours. We travelled to Frant on the East Sussex / Kent border to a private woodland and set up camp. Due to the rain we tweaked the training programme to ensure Cadets stayed as dry as “possible”. The first lesson was delivered by Cpl Molly B-S on the contents and how to cook the Army operational ration pack. They contain 4,000 calories and are designed to keep fighting Soldiers on the go for 24 hours.
Cadets learned how to put up a basha and the best way to stay dry and warm in a sleeping bag. No surprise that they paid a lot of attention to this lesson and asked a lot of questions from the comfort of the sheltered area and campfire. The staff from Tangier wood taught the Cadets how to see and her in the dark followed by a light and sound demo before Cadets set up their bashas in the harbour area for the night. Confirmation that all had learned valuable lessons that evening as all Cadets emerged from their bashas at reveille rested, warm and dry ready to cook breakfast and prepare for the days activities.
Molly B-S and the seniors started the days lessons with a talk on admin and hygiene in the field. The mornings activities involved a round robin of observation and tracking skills, axe throwing and navigation exercise designed to test teamwork and leadership. We seemed to have missed the weather as Cadets started the afternoon in t-shirt. Cadets put lessons into practice on the camouflage and concealment stand similar to the British Army Sniper test. Cadets were taught how to start a fire and a signal fire to call for help. With wet wood this proved tricky but Cadets persevered and with various levels of success worked really well as a team.
As the day came to a close Cadets boarded the coach having enjoyed a great trip that showed they have resilience and still smile whist out of their comfort zone. A great introduction to CCF for the junior Cadets and a chance for the new Seniors to learn leadership skills.
