Page 116 - Mercian Eagle 2013

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Denstone College CCF 2013
A female recruit opens our report with some comments on CCF life. “Everyone thinks that being in the CCF is like being in the army, it’s just not true: it is like the army,
but being in the CCF you get to do all the good, fun bits of the army. You get to learn so many valuable lessons like survival skills, communication skills and how to safely fire and clean a weapon. In the CCF you get to meet people who you wouldn’t normally cross-over with and forge tight bonds with the people around you. Occasionally you get yelled at, but the officers and NCOs
are just doing their jobs, and most of the time you have a laugh with them, creating some strong memories with them along the way. If anyone is even questioning joining the CCF I say “do it” and I’ll tell you why: you get to see the people around you as they really are and not who they pretend to be. You also learn survival skills, like only yesterday I learnt how to build a shelter out of a few branches and bracken; how to
skin a rabbit and how to find water in a dry place. I know that you will, hopefully, never use these on a day to day basis but you can say “I can do that”. Time management is probably the most valuable thing that I have learnt as you can use this wherever you are, every day. The best thing about CCF, in my opinion, is the memories you acquire in your time in the CCF. Not all of them are good, but they are, defiantly memorable. I know CCF is not for everyone, I get that, but my only advice to everyone already signed up or thinking of joining is, giving up too easily is the worst thing you can do. I know it’s hard at times, but trust me, ‘power through’ and the rewards will come in time”.
The year started with a pleasing win in the Brigade Skill at Arms meeting at Kingsbury Ranges with the cadet GP rifle, with Jak Abrahams and James Longman the winning CCF pair. The following weekend Rannoch Linnell, James Higgs and Major Jarvis took
part in the 30:30 event on Exmoor, in aid of the Royal British Legion. As an open mixed team they are looking for more entries;
they won their class in the event, beating the next team by an hour. On the October Field Day at Swynnerton there were 110 cadets out overnight; a record number for recent years. Whilst the weather could have gone either way, our luck held. A new addition to the Michaelmas term was the Patrol Competition, in which we put in a competitive performance.
The highlight of the Lent term was the NCO Leadership weekend at STANTA. Rain turning to 6 inches of snow made
for climatically challenging conditions, as could be told by the footprints that became drag prints as the exercise went on. The Leek night exercise made good use of new facilities to incorporate a demanding final phase. At the start of the summer term the
recruits enjoyed an excellent training event at Swynnerton, where they were able to put new skills to good use. In May the shooting team showed their customary skill, as the winning CCF in the Brigade Cadet Target Rifle Competition. This set the tone for a pleasing 3rd equal in the National Long Range shoot at Bisley in the final week of term, at ranges of 900 and 1000yds.
Army camp returned to Longmoor,
in Hampshire, where we had a baking
hot week of virtually unbroken sunshine. Mauricio Banados-Cornejo showed natural talent in winning the Electric Target Range Shoot with 49/50, firing at targets up to 300m.
Contingent Commander:
Lt Col R C Menneer
School Staff Instructor:
WO 1 (RSM) K J McCammon
Lordswood Boys’ School CCF
The academic year 2012/13 was marked by the continued increase in opportunities for the cadets to travel overseas. The contingent’s embryonic Scuba Diving
Club sent five cadets and two officers to the Caribbean island of St Martin, kindly funded by the European Union’s Comenius programme. A group of seven cadets visited Ecole des Mousses, the French Naval school in Brest, and five members of the Corps of Drums travelled to Boston to take part in the Bunker Hill Day parade and then the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
THE MERCIAN EAGLE