Page 115 - Wish Stream Year of 2019

International Cadets at RMAS in 2019
The British Army has been offering training to International Officer Cadets since the first arrived in 1828. The practice entered policy after the First World War with the arrival of six cadets from India in 1919 and thereafter the numbers have increased. Since 1947 RMAS has trained over 4,900 officers from 122 countries.
Today our community of International Cadets reflects UK’s historic ties (the Commonwealth and Alliances) and our world-wide strategic associations. During 2019 there were a total of 100 International Cadets on the 44-week Regular Commissioning Course, and 24 on the 8-week Commissioning Course Short. Never have we had so many here.
The challenges presented and overcome on the year-long officer leadership course by our home- grown UK Cadets are immense. For our Interna- tional Cadets, those challenges have been even more acute. Language, weather, having in some cases to step down from commissioned rank (sometimes with extensive operational experi- ence) to becoming an OCdt again, distance from home and family, cultural adjustment, culinary differences, interpretation, processes and much
Col (Ret’d) Roddy Winser OBE
more besides requires determination and resil- ience of great depth.
The achievements of our International Cadets, and the journeys that they have travelled on our courses are in most cases far greater than for our own Cadets. Each is selected, albeit through a myriad of mechanisms to come here: to rep- resent their military, academies, families and countries. That is a significant additional burden of responsibility for some, especially those who are at the van of Cadets coming here from a new country.
2019 saw three superb International Sword Win- ners from the Regular Commissioning Course in Devon Smith, USA; Alexandre Baranenko,
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