14 selected Cadets, 5 Instructors and 1 PRO (Public Relations Officer) spent last weekend at Bassingbourn. Tucked away in the Minden Band practice rooms at ATR Bassingbourn the Corps of Drums were recording a CD.

Flute section practicing

Saturday was the day of practice. After meeting at County HQ, Waterbeach, 2 minibuses left for Bassingbourn. After unloading all the instruments Drum Major Shaw briefed the cadets on what was to become a very long day. The three sections of the corps split up into different rooms to practices the various tunes. Although there were short breaks throughout the day lunch was a welcomed time to relax and take some time out. The pace picked up after lunch however, as the Corps came together to use the last available time to perfect their performance. Pressure of the day was evident as many of the cadets slept during the trip back to Waterbeach.

For Corporals Jamie Martin and Jake Wharton the day did not end when they got back to Waterbeach. After the evening meal they had to prepare a lesson plan and then teach that lesson while being assessed. This was part of their JCIC (Junior Instructors Cadre) which is an integral part of 3 Star training and is designed to teach senior cadets how to instruct fellow cadets up to and including 1 Star level. The course teaches method of instruction and how to prepare lesson plans. The cadets then have to prepare and deliver lessons which will be assessed by an adult instructor. There was a JCIC taking place at Waterbeach CTC the same weekend.

Recording

Sunday was the long awaited day of recording. Captain Lynn Herriot and Drum Major John Shaw were up at the crack of dawn to be at ATR Bassingbourn to meet Russ Dawson-Butterworth and Ali Barker. Russ and Ali were from World of Sound and would be doing all the recording work for the CD. Taking three hours to set up the equipment the only time that the recording may not have taken place was when they found out there was no power in the building. After checking it was established that there was routine maintenance taking place and that the power would be restored by 10:00, and it was. When the cadets arrived the room transformation was amazing. Microphones, camera, screens, speaker, cables and with no end of high tech equipment they were finally ready. The cadets put in some amazing performances and although the day was hard work it is an experience they will never forget. Listening to the recording through the headphones it sounded brilliant and the final CD should be well worth the wait.

Listening to a track

With final editing, art work and production to take place it will be a little while before the CD is finally ready for purchase. We will keep you up to date on developments.

In summer last year cadet Corporal Catherine McKeever, a successful member of the shooting team, took part in an exchange to Canada. This is her account of the whole experience.

Cadets with a famous yellow bus

 The first time I heard of the exchange to Canada, I was talking to an old member of the Cambridgeshire ACF shooting team called Sgt Henry Day. He was talking about this amazing 6 week trip to Canada, all expenses paid for, an all round trip of a lifetime; I immediately thought to myself that there is no way in the world that I would ever be lucky to do something like that. Then there I was, 2 years later, signing the paperwork and crossing my fingers for good news. Much to my surprise my application was accepted and only a few months later I was at Bisley, just days away from stepping on to the plane!

Within a day of shooting at ISCRM (inter-services cadet rifle meeting) at Bisley, I was thrown in to a room with 13 other cadets who I would be spending the next six weeks with. We soon gelled as a group, and after waving off our fellow team mates as they went back home; we started to get to know each other. The next day we embarked on our amazing journey travelling half way round the world to start our Canadian adventure.

Toasting Marshmallows

We were met the other side by one of the famous yellow school buses to take us to camp, where we were soon taken to the mess hall to have our first Canadian dinner; the food was something that none of us will forget! We were soon kitted out with all the Canadian stuff and assigned rifles. Their rifles were amazing. Jet black RPA C12A1 7.62 target rifles with tracker sights; one of the best types of rifles there is, even the professional civilian shooters were jealous!

The camp held 6 companies; a fitness associated one, 4 shooting courses and a Para course. The British cadets became part of Alpha company, the top coy on camp. One of the first activities we took part in was to compete in a camp sports day as a company which was an excellent chance to get to know the other Canadian cadets. Later on, we went out on an FTX (Field training exercise) which was very watered down in comparison to our ACF, for example, we were given forced-rest in the middle of the Saturday we were away, in other words we had nap time on a field exercise! Although they did make it a weekend to remember as we had an excess of marshmallows to roast over small bonfire which 50 cadets managed to cram themselves around as one of our shooting coaches played us songs on his accordion! 

At Niagara Falls

Following this trip, we competed in a civilian competition called the Ontario Rifle Association in which many of the cadets beat civilian professionals. Personally, I placed 4^th overall in the Macdonald Stewart match, winning my category and a medal. The next week we travelled back to our home camp where we competed in another week long civilian competition called the DCRA where more cadets, both Canadian and British won competitions and medals.

The 6 weeks seemed to fly by, and before we knew it we had to say goodbye to some amazing friends, and sadly we knew that we would never be seeing some of them again. I can say with confidence that this was an adventure of a lifetime for everyone involved, and even now looking back on it 5 months down the line, I still sorely miss and treasure every second we were there for.

The British Cadets: Bryan Boyle, Tom Sykes, Connor Boag, Nick Jones, Shannon Garrity, Nick Blunsom, Phil Tucker, Tamzin Atkinson, Zoe Latimer, Grace Coburn, Catherine McKeever, Sam Cocker, Tiff Rewston, Dom Duell.

Cpl Catherine McKeever,

Alpha Coy 2009.

For more information on this exchange, who is eligible to take part and how to apply, please contact Captain Kevin Pilcher, County Shooting Officer.

On the weekend commencing Friday the 15^thJanuary, 11 Instructors became the first to be trained on the new First Aid at Work (FAW) course. The FAW has not been taught for over a year in Cambs ACF, instead Instructors have been trained in Activity First Aid.

PI Brian Bonney gets some sling practice in on CI Tony Hall

The new FAW course involves at least 18 hours of training and run over a minimum of three days. This should be easier for Instructors to take just one day from work, meaning we should be able to get more people through the course. Students come away from the course with a HSE qualification that lasts for three years and covers them at their place of work as well as in Cadets. Some employers will enhance employees wages if they are FAW qualified and become an appointed first aider.

The course was instructed by our County First Aid Adviser SMI Les Edwards, SBst.J and 2Lt Dave Gaskell. Les has been a first aid instructor for over 10 years and became the County First Aid Adviser in 2006. In September 2008 he was honored with the Serving Brother Order of St John and has produced national award winning cadet first aid teams. As it was the first time they have run the new course it was as much a learning experience for them as it was for the students.

SMI Les Edwards instructs the group

There is a fair amount of theory which makes this quite an in-depth and intense course, with a lot to take in over a short amount of time. That said the course also requires student participation in the form of some self study and practical work. At set points in the programme the preselected groups have to study a topic and then present it to the rest of the group. Some of the groups were very imaginative in their presentations and although they were fun they managed to get all the points across.  

At the end of the course the students are assessed in Resuscitation, Recovery Position and Incident Management, involving a realistic casualty simulation scenario. Our thanks go to both Pilot Officer Angie Bone (Practicing Paramedic) from 51 Orton Squadron ATC and Graham Waterson from St John Ambulance, Cambridge Branch who gave up their time to be our assessors.

The only requirement for students to participate in this course is that they have the most up to date copy of the St John First Aid Manual. This course may be a weekend of hard work but it is also fun and the benefits from passing this course extend beyond the Cadet Force. Well done to everyone who passed.

The St John first Aid Manual 9th Edition

• ISBN-10: 1405335378
• ISBN-13: 978-1405335379

Available from Amazon for £7.78

With a New Year we would like to present our new blog. Here we aim to give you an even greater insight into Cambridgeshire Army Cadet Force.

For people who are visiting the site we hope this blog will be of interest to you. With more posts on different aspect of the Cadet Force you will find out even more about what the Cadets and Instructors do. From courses, training, fun and adventure we will be reporting as much as we can right here!

For Cadets and Instructors we will be using this blog to give you as much information as we can, from what’s been happening around the County to promoting things that will be taking place. With this year being Cadet150 and with so much going on this will be a major platform for communicating what is, a historic year. This blog is not be used by one person, we want Cadets, Instructors, Detachments or Companies to submit stories and news for everyone to see. Please submit your posts to the webmaster at webmastercambsacf@btinternet.com .