Page 6 - Cadet Review Summer 2021

Joint Service News
A HIMALAYAN
ADVENTURE!
By Paul Smith FltLt RAFVR(T), Rtd
It’s Easter, 2011. Some weeks previously I had spotted, in a Central and East Yorkshire Wing communication, an opportunity for cadets to join a 4-week tri-service cadet expedition to the Himalayas, in summer 2012.
As a member of my local Air Cadet squadron’s Civilian Committee, a retired Air Cadet officer, qualified and well-experienced in training and leading groups in mountainous areas in the UK, and an experienced DofE Gold Expedition Assessor, I wondered if this might be an opportunity for me to go somewhere and do something I had vaguely thought about for quite a while, but had largely discounted
– not least because I thought of myself as being a bit old for that sort of thing – early 60s, will never be able to keep up with the young ones, etc etc!
Building on the experiences of preparing for and carrying out previous similar expeditions, there would be an intense period of training/selection (weekends, public holidays, and half-terms) leading up to the final departure date, then coping with a challenging and demanding expedition, trekking every day for more than 3 weeks across rough and obviously unfamiliar terrain, including reaching
an altitude of over 16000 feet, with views of Mount Everest and Base Camp.
Absolutely out of my “comfort zone”!
Anyway, after some thought, and discussions with those “in the know” to see if there might be a place for me on the leadership team (and indeed whether I should be bothering to apply in the first place!!!),
I was invited to turn up to the Deverell Barracks Cadet Training Centre in Ripon on Thursday evening, 23 April 2011, to meet up with a certain Colonel David Fuller. He was in charge of the training and overall organisation for the event, with the support
...I thought of myself as being a bit old for that sort of thing – early 60s, will never be able to keep up with the young ones, etc etc!
of the Yorkshire Cadet Trust, and Lieutenant Colonel Jeremy Bleasdale, the Deputy Chief Executive of
the Reserve Forces’ and Cadets’ Association for Yorkshire and the Humber.
I had NO idea what to expect, and I was also very conscious that, just like the cadets and other adults who might be joining the team, I would be very much under scrutiny – rightly so, as this was not going
to be quite like any UK-based adventure training camp – after all, apart from anything else, I was OLD! (However, I think it’s fair to say David and I “hit it off” straight away, and have remained firm friends ever since).
More cadets and adult staff arrived through the evening, we had a briefing about what was to be expected over the next few days, and then we retired to the bar (or at least the adult staff did).
The following day was largely filled with physical tests – running, press-ups, sit-ups, the infamous “bleep test” – in fact a variety of activities designed to check if we (staff and cadets) were going to
be capable of dealing with the demands of the expedition. To my great surprise, I both coped remarkably well with most tests, AND did better than many of the cadets, which improved my self-confi- dence no end!
The rest of the long weekend was a mixture of walks (I think selective memory loss here – Ed) out
6 CADET REVIEW SUMMER 2021