The annual Nottinghamshire Cadet Forces Competition branded this year Cadet 16 took place on Sunday 11th September at Nottingham High School, the event saw teams representing the Army Cadet Force (ACF) the Air Training Corps (ATC), Sea Cadet Corps (SCC) and the Combined Cadet Force (CCF) all from local units within Nottinghamshire.
At 0930 hours on a bright Sunday morning the teams gathered within the grand grounds of the High school to battle it out in a variety of fields. Warrant Officer Dan Haywood from South and East Midlands Wing ATC the event organiser ensured that the cadets were tested in a number of ways. Each activity is designed and included to test each cadet in leadership, teamwork, mental and physical abilities as well as military skills.
Each cadet forces organisation has the chance to enter two teams of ten cadets to represent their cadet force. Each cadet would then get the opportunity to push themselves as a team and individually whilst being assessed by cadet forces adult volunteers from across the cadet forces and/or professionals from the community. This year there was seven activities in total, a climbing tower whereby the cadets had a set time period to climb the tower as many times as possible. A vehicle pull whereby the teams were required to pull a 3 Tonne Land Rover over a set course. A first aid scenario lead by East Midlands Ambulance Service Hazardous Area Response Team (EMAS HART), Military Drill routine whereby they were assessed in their smart military bearing and foot drill. Water leadership within the swimming pool that saw them building make shift rafts and dealing with a simulated chemical spillage, a target shooting range testing their air rifle skills and finally a military field gun requiring stripping down and pulling over a course before firing its adapted water cannon.
This year the Lord Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire Sir John Peace was the reviewing VIP during the day Sir John Peace says “This event is something that has clearly taken a lot of time to create and build to this standard. I am immensely impressed with what I have seen and the standard of the cadets, they really are a credit to their respective organisations and the County of Nottinghamshire.”
“This event is extremely challenging yet fun!” CSM Lewis Smith from A Company ACF Wigman Road Detachment
After gathering the scores for each event this years victors once again were the Air Cadets of South and East Midlands Wing.
Warrant Officer Dan Haywood Event Organiser says, “What each cadet has achieved here today is fantastic, my aim was to test each organisation but also push each and every cadet out of their comfort zone in one way or another. From what I have seen and heard today this has been achieved which means I have done my job, I look forward to starting the planning for Cadet 17.”