By Cpl A M^cLellan 

This summer I was lucky enough to secure a place on a highly competitive camp down in Camberley at Cadet Training Centre Frimley Park which is the Headquarters for the ACF (Army Cadet Force) and CCF (Combined Cadet Force.) This meant that it was a combined camp where all cadet movements were involved; we even had a sea cadet! But our camp was special as not only did it have UK cadets but we also had some Canadian cadets attending on an exchange programme. This brought much diversity to the camp with “pom-poms” on berets (ACF) as well as funny accents (the Irish) and even funny uniforms (the Canadians)

When I arrived at Frimley Park the transport stopped outside a huge white mansion house. I was then promptly escorted to the “cadets’ accommodation,” tents on the back lawn. After I had registered I was taken for an unforgettable trip to the stores. Here I was issued with everything I needed for the week- and I mean everything - from a sleeping bag to jet packs as well as rifle slings, pillows, bungee cords, pegs, a poncho, magazines (rifle), yokes, side pouches, utility pouches, socks, a Bergen, insect repellent, waterproofs, a roll mat…all not assembled! Attempting to balance all of my issued equipment, I made it back to my tent just in time for the initial parade. This set a precedent for the weekend where it became apparent that if you did not run between countless exercises during the day then you were already late.

The entire camp was split into six platoons with each platoon having two sections with 12 people in each. I was in platoon 6 and section 11 along with another Air Cadet, four Army Cadets, a Sea Cadet, five CCF Cadets and a Canadian – to begin with! Our section had already become renounced for losing cadets, as we were the first section to have a drop out, the one who didn’t turn up.

That night we all worked hard to try and help each other assemble their kit, some being more clueless than others and by the morning we had managed to get everything sorted so we could at least use it. The first two days were taken up entirely by training for the final exercise on the last three days. This training ranged from skill at arms, leadership tasks and raft building to orienteering exercises and even underwater aerobics in the lake. During this time, some intersection competitions occurred including volleyball matches, a boat race, a tug of war, and even a log race with telegraph poles, running straight on to an assault course.

By the end of the training section we were all very tired and the main part of the camp hadn’t even begun yet! My section had also managed to incur even more dropouts with a Canadian, two ACF cadets and an Army Cadet all falling out. We had gone from the biggest section to the smallest.

 That night the entire camp was issued with their own rifles that we were to carry at all times and even sleep with. My rifle was no. 127 or “Betty” as she was better known. The section next morning, fully loaded with kit and armed all jumped onto the back of a Bedford and went out on Ex-superstars where we had to find secret information, practice our first aid as well as navigate gorges and at one point we were even POWs. In all of these stages different team members would be leading and taking charge.

After this exercise we were dropped off in the centre of a forest and told to “basha up” which I later realised was army for “dig in.” We all now got out our ponchos and bungees and proceeded to make tiny shelters, which we could just crawl into. Here we were introduced to the concept of a stag where two members of each section were expected to stay awake on guard at all hours, this included a three o’clock to four o’clock shift for me with only an equally tired friend and a packet of ration pack boiled sweets for company (as well as Betty). That night the section went on a mission to gather secret information at midnight. We were all issued with blank ammunition and got fully camouflaged. We headed up the hill in stealth mode using patrol tactics we had learnt earlier on in the week. After receiving the information, we were heading back across a clearing when suddenly gunfire erupted from a near thicket. We immediately returned fire and executed a snap-ambush on the position where we overwhelmed the enemy as they turned to flee. This was the first moment during the week when we had been fired upon and it was quite a frightening experience however the satisfaction of seeing your muzzle flash against the night sky was overwhelming.

The next morning we woke after only two hours sleep to crawl back onto the Bedford and go to Ex Range Rover, which was a gruelling 5km forced march/run in full kit followed by a shooting competition trying to hit targets the size of dinner plates from 150yds. This was my major lead and my section managed to excel by winning the entire exercise. Once we had completed this exercise we had 15 minutes respite before we were loaded back onto the Bedfords and driven off. By now most cadets had become so exhausted that whenever they sat down within 30 seconds they fell asleep. The same was true on this journey, however, these cadets were suddenly woken up when we arrived.

We arrived to the sound of gunfire just outside the lorries, which sharply braked, before all of my section were thrown off. We had our kit thrown at us and a map stuck in our faces with an X and told not to be caught by the enemy, which was everyone to make it clear. We started by just running away from the gunfire and made it across a clearing before a patrol spotted us and came to investigate. We narrowly escaped capture (by metres) before continuing onto our objective where we were told to set up camp for another night sleeping rough.

This night we went on another ambush with blank firing and a “real” enemy returning fire. After another night of only 2 hours sleep, we began the final field exercise (at four in the morning). This exercise involved rafting the entire platoon across a river followed by a boat assault on a beach and then a section attack designed to kill the entire remaining enemy. This whole exercise also involved the firing of forty blank rounds each and was probably the most exhilarating activity I have done in cadets, as well as one of the most realistic.

By now all of the camp had been awake and on exercise for over 48 hours and had managed only 4, or less, hours of sleep, however continuing with the tradition of Frimley Park it was not all over yet! There was one last gruelling task which was the Wish-Stream race where we were re-united with our friendly log for a race up a hill followed immediately by the assault course at Sandhurst which contained many challenging –and wet- obstacles, which resulted in one concussion (not our section for once!) By now our section had been depleted even further and we were to finish the camp with only six cadets, half of the original section. We did exceedingly well on the final race and finished with the fastest time but also encored the most penalties due to cadets who left during the week.

The course eventually ended with a massive BBQ on the final night followed by karaoke and sketches. Here I managed to drench an officer from the Paras, all in the name of comedy of course. The whole night seemed to symbolise the entire course with the camaraderie running high and everyone had a massive sense of achievement and relief.

The course I found is very good at testing your leadership when you are at your limits, both exhausted and extremely stressed. I thoroughly enjoyed the course although there were some moments when I do not know how I kept going. I would recommend this course to anyone who is able to keep going even when it seems impossible and has lots of drive. I am very proud now to have completed one of the most challenging courses open to cadets at this time and set the challenge for anyone else to follow.

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