Page 89 - MERCIAN Eagle 2011

Exercise Dragon Venturer Eagle
Army Cadet Force Officer, Lt Andy Smith not only achieved one of his own life time ambitions but decided to add to it by taking 20 Derbyshire Army Cadets with him.
Cadets and adults from around Derbyshire made up the unique team that became Exped 2010, 2 years in the making and with support from the local community the sum of £38,000 was raised through various activities (mainly bag packing at Morrison’s and Tesco) . Additional monies were also raised in support of the Army Benevolent fund and the Help for Heroes.
Support was also given by the climbing centre “Awesome Walls”, where members of the team as part of their selection training had to climb all day in their mountain equipment. Exercise Dragon Venturer Eagle was a trekking and climbing expedition to the Everest region of the Nepalese Himalayas during October 2010 to mark the occasion of the 150th Anniversary of the Cadet Forces. The Expedition team consisted of 20 Army Cadets aged 14 to 18 along with 14 Adult Instructors from Derbyshire. Our youngest members all summited at 5000m whilst the remainder all reached 5364m Everest Base Camp.
The expedition was a great success with all 20 Cadets achieving their planned objectives. Two of Derbyshire’s Adult Instructors, Lt Nicky Beasly and SSI Danny Wilson, also summited Island Peak at
6189metres with the expert help from Lt Col Cath Davies of the AMA and Maj Kev Edwards OIC CCAT.
During their trip to Nepal, Derbyshire ACF met up with the Canadian Army Cadet expedition on the trail to Everest Base Camp. Cadets had the opportunity to exchange experiences before a photograph opportunity was naturally taken.
On the final afternoon in Kathmandu,
the Derbyshire Army Cadet Force Exped 2010 Team visited the British Embassy in Kathmandu. The exped team was received by the Assistant Military Attache, Major Bijayant Sherchan RGR and was later addressed by the British Ambassador, John Tucknott MBE. Afterwards Lt Col Chris Young presented the Ambassador with a
commemorative Derbyshire ACF Plaque before a team photo in front of the Gurkha Memorial in the Embassy Gardens.
Congratulations and sincere thanks go to Lt Andy Smith our Expedition Leader and all the Mountain Leaders and staff who have made this possible: Mountain Leaders:
Lt Col Chris Young, Lt Nolan White, SMI Paul Moffatt, SI Rob Jones. Support and Logistics: SSI Julie Long, SI Eliot Long
We would all like to thank our Commandant, Col Trevor Paulucci for having the confidence and trust in our team and for supporting this amazing adventure.
For further details on Exercise Dragon Venturer Eagle please visit the Derbyshire ACF website www.derbyshireacf.com or the Exped website www.exped2010.com
Merseyside ACF
Army Cadets at Annual Camp are great ambassadors for Merseyside
Whilst a minority of the youth of Merseyside were out
to disgrace themselves in the recent riots, members of Merseyside Army Cadet Force attended their 12-day Annual Camp. Nearly 350 cadets aged between 13 and 17 years of age went to Otterburn Training Camp in Northumberland. It was well supported by their two Mercian badged Detachments and there were also 12 Canadian Cadets who were specially invited to the Camp.They all completed a very comprehensive programme which included watermanship, abseiling and
rock climbing, first aid, mountain biking, assault course, initiative tests, sports, orienteering, signals cadre, confidence course, shooting and over night exercises. A Regular Army
Training Team supported the Camp. A visit was made by their Honorary Colonel the Lord Lieutenant of Merseyside, Dame Lorna Muirhead who together with Mayorall parties and Senior Officers supported the occasion and followed the progress of the cadets who had the opportunity to achieve their Duke of Edinburgh Awards plus B – TEC and First Aid qualifications. The overall results were excellent and the Cadets can be justly proud of themselves as they were also great ambassadors for Merseyside with the way they behaved in the local community. Additionally a record number of 19 new Instructors passed their course run by the Regular Army Training Team and this will allow extra Cadets to be now recruited.
Mayor and Consort of Knowsley, Councillor Christina and Bria
Having a great time at Camp, Cadets Leah Dooley, Pippa Carls
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