Page 2 - The Light Blue Volunteer 2019

Commanding Officer’s Foreword
I have been in command now for just over 1 year and finally feel I have some sense of what is going on and where the OTC is heading.
I will attempt to summarise the key aspects.
Firstly the bigger picture. LBV members may be interested to note
that all the OTCs (fifteen OTCs and two Officer Training Regiments) are now under full command of Commander Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS) Group – Brigadier James Carr-Smith late RDG. This brings more coherence and unity of effort - all the COs are working for the same boss now! The OTCs cost Defence about £44m a year and the last CGS wanted to know what value for money he got. A review was conducted in the autumn of last year. The Army Board was reassured that that the OTCs generate 39% of Regular commissions and 65% of Reserve Commissions; of which 37%
of men and 75% of women are not
“core intenders”. OTCs also support the Army’s Diversity and Inclusion strategy; with higher than Army figures of 10% BAME (Black, Asian Middle Eastern) and 30% females. OTCs are also recognised has having a very positive influence on STEM (Science Technology, Engineering and Maths). Cambridge is at forefront of this with 10% of our Cambridge students studying engineering. Whilst the Army Board has been reassured, efficiencies have still been sought. Both Cambridge and Oxford OTCs have had their OCdt establishment reduced from 186 Cadets to 134 cadets. In Scotland, Tayforth
and Aberdeen OTCs have been merged together to form an OTR.
As a result, we live in a much more
resource controlled world now. I’m held to account on my outputs; principally how many young and women have passed AOSB and will go to RMAS as either a Regular or Reserve Officer. My other output for the 75% or so of cadets that don’t join the army, is instilling in them a sense of pride of military service so when they leave, they will be more inclined to champion the Army in society – such as employing Reserves and supporting charities etc. This is much harder to measure but equally important! LBV members maybe able to help me out here.
To help fill the coffers, I am also looking at income generation options
for Coldhams Lane. We have a superb site, with private lake, assault course, classrooms, bar etc etc. It must be
the best OTC site in the UK! I hope
to conduct some RMAS branded leadership and character development training for local businesses. We kicked off this concept when the Cambridge Blues Rugby team came at the end
of September for 24hrs. We did some survival training and tasks at Waterbeach and then brought them back to our barracks for a leadership discussion, obstacle course and raft building race. We hope Marshalls and other tech/ industry companies in the Cambridge Silicon Fen will come and pay big bucks for a similar package.
Secondly, you will be reassured
that the variety and quality of military, sport/social and adventure training at Cambridge is still second to none. We recruited the best numbers in 5 years last September which set us up for a great training year. Highlights include
our ski trip to Tignes, the annual dinner at St Johns with the Cambridge Vice Chancellor Professor Stephen Toope doing the key note speech with over 10*s of General Officers and twelve Tech CEOs in attendance. In March we sent twelve cadets to Jordan on a Defence Engagement Exercise. They conducted
military training and established a close relationship with Mutah University in Amman, with our Honorary Colonel, Lt Gen Sir John Lorimer (Peterhouse and who is the Senior Defence Advisor in
the Middle East) visiting them for a wadi safari. We also had the first inaugural Varsity weekend at RMAS – playing sport against Oxford OTC and then culminating in a debate on tech and leadership with Cambridge easily manoeuvring their
dark blue counterparts. Our netball team came third in the OTC sports champion ship at RMAS and the year finished with our first overseas Annual Deployment Exercise (ADX) to Bavaria in Germany. We conducted military training at Grafenwöhr and then did some excellent AT based from Vertach near the Austrian border. Over the summer cadets, trekked in Morocco, Slovenia and the French Alps and sailed around Cyprus.
Thirdly and finally an update on you, the LBV; our dinner at Downing College last November was excellent but we
only managed 50 or so of non-serving OTC members. Our London drinks and supper in May only had twelve. We
were delighted to receive a picture from Sarah Springman however which now hangs in our bar at Coldhams Lane. My Honorary Colonel advised me to conduct a review of the LBV and thank you to those of you that came in to help us refresh the aims and options for keeping the LBV vibrant and forward looking. We of course need your help. We are a very small team and can’t do everything on our own, so volunteers that could help with one day a month or so would be very welcome. Some of you may have also heard of the passing of perhaps
our most distinguished LBV member, General Sir Hugh Beach. He epitomised the excellence of Cambridge academia and officership. His memorial is on Friday 29 November in Kensington (Mel has already emailed) and we will toast him at our dinner on sat 23 Nov – please make an effort to come!
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Cambridge University Officers’ Training Corps
South Africa 1900–01 Founded as the Cambridge University Rifle Volunteers in 1860
Honorary Colonel:
Lieutenant General Sir John Lorimer KCB DSO MBE
Commandant:
Lieutenant Colonel A Field MBE RIFLES Honorary Captain:
Matthew Moss Esq MVO
Honorary Chaplain:
Max Bayliss
Adjutant:
Captain A J D Ferguson RLC
Regimental Sergeant Major:
WO1 J Owen R ANGLIAN Editor: JUO Gibbons
Cambridge University Officers’ Training Corps, Army Reserve Centre, Coldham’s Lane, Cambridge CB1 3HS
Tel: 01223 247818. Email: RMAS-Gp-OTC-Cambridge-0Mailbox@mod.gov.uk
2 THE LIGHT BLUE VOLUNTEER