Page 73 - Wish Stream Year of 2018

Exercise KOOKABURRA CADET
During the Easter 2018 Recess period 19 Officer Cadets and three Directing Staff from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
(RMAS) travelled to Australia as part of a Hockey and Defence Engagement Tour. A Hockey side, constructed of varying members of the Acad- emy, saw a good range of skills and personal- ity that highlighted the spirit of the game, and one that matched that of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) that warmly hosted us.
Working from North to South, we began with our first game in Brisbane. RMAS had a shaky start as the team struggled to find our feet, los- ing our first game to the Queensland ADF. A hard-fought game, with an exceptional amount of rainfall that managed to flood a water-based astro-pitch, provided challenges the majority of the squad had never encountered. Over the fol- lowing matches however, the squad tempered into a solid, well-knit team that could hold their own against the Australians, whose love of
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hockey is clear. A narrow loss at the Olympic Pitch to a very experienced ADF side could have gone either way, but was clinched by our hosts in the closing minutes. This led onto our final game, and what was certainly our most impor- tant, against the Royal Military College Duntroon (RMC), the ‘Aussie Sandhurst’.
A tour of the RMC showed the differences between our training programmes, with ADF Officers required to complete a university degree at the RMC for three to four years, whilst con- ducting military training with a further year of solid military training. Here, all branches of the Australian Defence Force study together before separating into their respective services. Our guided tour concluded in the Mess for refresh- ments where, with sporting photographs all over the walls and ice hockey on the TVs, it was clear that sport was a large part of life at the RMC. We also noticed posters of our up-and-com- ing game on the walls, and that a large crowd
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