Page 15 - The Wish Stream Year of 2020 Crest

The CC201 debate took place on Monday 22nd June. The location: Churchill Hall, and as one entered the room, a low murmur of anticipation reverberated around the auditorium. The debate: Whether the amount of drill in the programme should be condensed to allow more time for classroom activities. Brigadier (Ret) Thomas called a formative vote to see what the audience thought, and as was expected, the proposers won overwhelmingly. Less drill for all!
The proposition was spearheaded by OCdt Con- way who, with his confident Aussie drawl, laid out the argument for less drill and more mod- ern training. He even left time for that good old Australian humour: “Many of my Platoon-mates would be better off
OCdt Elkington
ine both sides of the argument. Their target was clearly the proposing argument. It seemed that, within less than two terms of training, the Officer Cadets were against the idea of hours on the drill square being taken away from them! Any argument that drill did not form a team seemed a forgotten idea.
But all was not over, as now we came to the final round. The summaries. OCdt Elkington loomed out of the shadow and took centre stage, his imposing figure basking in the light of the stage lamps. The audience sensed a presence and their eyes were transfixed on this new figure. Elkington started strongly, using his knack for
Commissioning Course 201 – Debate Night
comedy to great effect and made a mockery that, in the 21st Cen- tury, the British Army demanded so much time was spent “marching up and down the square”. More Monty Python than modern day soldiering.
Then came the summary for the opposing team in the form of OCdt Grell. Grell played perfectly on the emotion of the audience, invoking
images of tradition, continuity, honour. He came out with lines such as: “I could not stare my grandfather in the face if I told him I no longer did drill.” He used effective pauses to accentuate these statements, allowing the steady silence in the room to do the talking for him. He sat down to a modest applause.
The debate was over. Brigadier Carr-Smith took to the stage to finish the evening. A second vote was taken, and the audience voted overwhelm- ingly for the opposers. Well-presented argu- ments on both sides, as well as good audience questions, had come together for an excellent evening. But on this occasion, the tradition of foot drill would remain at Sandhurst and so the Officer Cadets of CC201 returned to their rooms to put more layers of polish onto their drill boots. Now, perhaps, more aware of the reasons why drill is such a staple of the RMAS Commission- ing Course.
taking their SA80(A2) and shoot-
ing their computers with it.” This
was a strong start for the proposi-
tion. However, the opposing team
put forth OCdt Nappi who, with
that American twinkle in his eye,
put forward some solid arguments
for maintaining drill as an activity to
build team cohesion and discipline
(I could not comment as to the feeling of betrayal from his fellow Officer Cadets in the audience, who were watching the opportunity for less time marching beginning to disappear).
Next, OCdt Hunter for the proposition. She delivered her points with venom from the back of the stage, hammering home why drill must be redacted. A real woman of the people. But her efforts were immediately suppressed by the eloquence of OCdt Cottrell, who reiterated the necessity of foot drill as part of the training at Sandhurst; part of the golden thread that links us to those officers who have gone before us and marched on Old College square before Acad- emy Sergeant Majors for hundreds of years. As he sat down the murmur returned – the oppos- ers were starting to look convincing.
Next came an interlude with questions, and here the audience began to forensically exam-
Many of my Platoon-mates would be better off taking their SA80(A2) and shooting their computers with it
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