Page 12 - AGC Journal 2018
P. 12

AGC JOURNAL 2018


              Corps                                                                                                                   Offi  cer Recruiting                      Community Engagement




              Headquarters                                                                                                            Officer Recruiting is continuing to face the   with the Hampshire Fire and
                                                                                                                                                                              Rescue Service

                                                                                                                                      challenges of the previous years. The offers
                                                                                                                                      in civilian street continue to provide real
                                                                                                                                      competition to the Army offer, especially

              Personnel                                                                                                               with on-going changes to Army schemes.
                                                                                                                                      However, the investment into Worthy Down,
                                                                                                                                      combined with utilising bright, positive


                                                                                                                                      officers and soldiers of the Corps has helped
                                                                                                                                      to impress some of our potential candidates.
              Branch                                                                                                                  The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
                                                                                                                                      is starting to see increased numbers and
                                                                                                                                      hopefully this change will be reflected in our

                                                                                                                                      statistics soon. That said, it will always be

              By Corporal James McCafferty                                                                                             vital to maintain a good nurturing process
                                                                                                                                      at Sandhurst and that we pick the right
                                                                                                                                      individual for the various events where we


              The Corps Headquarters Personnel Branch recruits officers and soldiers into                                               have contact with our candidates. To aid

                                                                                                                                      in this process the recruiting officers are

              the Adjutant General’s Corps.                                                                                           working on various advertising campaigns,
                                                                                                                                      to influence our impact prior to Sandhurst,

                                                                                                                                      with a view to increase the overall number
                                                                                                                                      of candidates in the pipeline.
              The Corps Engagement Team                      To conclude the day we had an afternoon at the Army


                                                             Training Regiment, Winchester to conduct the High Ropes.                 Officer Familiarisation Visits             Offi  cer
              The Corps Engagement Team is part of Personnel Branch   This was designed to put members of the team outside                                                     Recruiting
                                                                                                                                                                               Team


              within Corps Headquarters and is responsible for raising   their comfort zone and it did just that. All members who     The Officer Familiarisation Visits are held
                                                                                                                                      multiple times a year at Worthy Down.

              awareness of soldiering opportunities in the Corps (Staff   attended managed to complete the course.


              and Personnel Support and Royal Military Police).                                                                       During these visits, potential officers,
                                                             Late Entry Commission Assessment Board                                   both serving soldiers and civilians, are


              Jobs Attended                                                                                                           hosted by the three Corps officer recruiting
                                                             One of the main events in the calendar is the Late Entry                 representatives. The visits aim to widen
              The team travel throughout the country attending a   Commission Assessment Board, held at Worthy Down                   the knowledge of the candidates, ideally
              variety of events. These include all the major Air Shows   every September. This year was the second year that some     presenting each cap badge in a desirable
              over the summer months, County Agricultural Shows,   of the infrastructure from Project Wellesley was utilised.         light and sparking an interest in those that
                                                                                                                                      perhaps only came looking at one of the
              Colleges and Universities for Career Fairs, Military   The team is employed throughout to facilitate each serial,
              Preparatory Colleges and town surge events alongside   with their main focus on the Command Task phase and              three. There is also a chance for our team to
                                                                                                                                      assess the candidate and their suitability to
              all other Corps Engagement Teams. The team also   supporting the physical element – Exercise Aching Limb.
              run Regimental Insight Courses for recruits about to                                                                    join our Corps. The team is largely supported
              commence Phase One training.                                                                                            by local units of all three cap badges which
                                                                                                                                      run half day visits for the candidates. These
              Army in Education                                                                                                       are hugely important in delivering the
                                                                                                                                      necessary information to the candidates and
                                                                                                                                      their support is greatly appreciated. These
              The team has continued its work as part of the Army in
              Education initiative, which sees soldiers supporting the                                                                visits are key to our recruitment pipeline and
                                                                                                                                      usually provide a good pool of candidates
              national curriculum by delivering developmental activities
              in schools and colleges.                                                                                                who either receive sponsorship, apply
                                                                                                                                      for Confirmed Cadetship or select us as a

              Nurturing                                                                                                               choice once at the Royal Military Academy   Visit to 10
                                                                                                                                                                               Downing
                                                                                                                                      Sandhurst.
                                                                                                                                                                               Street
              The current focus of the Sergeants within the team,                                                                     Potential Officers Briefing Course



              is to build further relationships with the Phase One
              establishments, to nurture our soldiers as they complete                                                                The Potential Officer’s Briefing Course is run



              Phase One training. We are fortunate to have several Staff
              and Personnel Support members assigned to all three sites   James McCafferty briefing a                                   twice a year and is designed to make the


                                                                                                                                      commissioning process more transparent
              who we must thank for their support so far.      candidate on the Late Entry
                                                               Commission Assessment Board                                            for serving soldiers. The three day course

              Community Engagement                                                                                                    offers vital developmental opportunities for
                                                                                                                                      the prospective direct entrants and allows

              Outside the office, members of the team were involved   Become Part of the Team                                           them to ask any questions regarding the

                                                                                                                                      process to the Recruiting Officers. Off the



              in an educational and community engagement visit at                                                                     back of this course, the soldiers receive a
              our local fire station in Winchester. The visit consisted of   Life as a Corporal within the Corps Engagement Team


              a familiarisation and capabilities brief, and a mock road   is extremely different to Regimental Duty. Corporals are     comprehensive report which indicates their

                                                                                                                                      preparedness to attend the Army Officer


              side traffic collision exercise. Captain Ed Goates, Warrant   selected at the annual selection day to showcase the        Selection Board Briefing and identifies areas



              Officer Class 2 Emily Daley, Corporal Ben Stanley and   opportunities available within the Corps to an ever-              which require more attention. This course



              myself all completed and passed the fire fighter fitness test.   varying audience. Any Corporal who aspires to become      has had extremely positive feedback and is


              We also wore the equipment which is used on a day to day   part of the team must understand time in barracks can

              basis and compared this to military equipment in regards   be of the minimum, especially in the summer months.          open to any of our serving soldiers identified
                                                                                                                                      by the chain of command as having the
              to weight and of course everyone had a go at sliding down   Selection for the Corps Engagement Team is trawled          potential to commission as a Direct Entrant.
              the fire station’s pole.                        annually across the Corps.

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