CCF
On Tuesday 8th July 500 Royal Marines
Cadets were inspected by His Royal
Highness The Duke of Edinburgh at
Buckingham Palace, in celebration of the
Royal Marines' 350th anniversary. The
parade was the first time that the Royal
Marines Cadets had been inspected by The
Duke of Edinburgh, who holds the title of
Captain General Royal Marines. To add to
the uniqueness of the event, the guard at
the Palace was made up of ranks from 42
Commando Royal Marines, as the Royal
Marines took on Royal Guard duties for
only the 4th time in their history. Led by
Capt. Steve King RMR, five Cadets from
King's College were amongst the 500+
personnel on Parade and this was followed
by a reception at Wellington Barracks for
their guests and assorted VIPs.
The highlight of the RM Cadet training year
is the Annual Training Camp in Scotland
each summer. Based at Garelochhead, this
two week exercise tests every aspect of
the Cadets' training and was a challenging
and rewarding experience for all.
Cadet Sergeants Henry Dufosee, Tom Frankham and Edward Gibb; Captain Steve King RMR;
Cadet Colour Sergeant Josh Stickland and Cadet Corporal Eric Tsai
In a field of over 30 other students from
around the country, Royal Marines
Cadet Henry Dufosee was awarded the
prize for Best Cadet.
Henry Dufosee with his trophy for Best Cadet
T
he Army section had a busy
year, with a good mix of external
activities, training courses and
the normal Monday routines.
The Fourth Form Cadets completed
their Army Proficiency Certificate. This
involved being tested in all the skills
one would expect to need on field days:
navigation, weapon handling, field craft
and camp craft.
The Fifth Form completed a Method of
Instruction course, which will enable them
to become NCO's, as it teaches how they
in turn can safely train the Fourth Form
Cadets. The Sixth Formers also helped to
train the Fourth Form, by taking on the
running of their exercises. Each group
also had the opportunity to go mountain
biking and climbing in Exeter.
In October, the Cadets attended
the traditional field day at RNAS
Heron, Merryfield. Here the Fourth
Form completed a selection of tasks
that were run by the Sixth Form
officers. Tasks ranged from cooking to
patrolling - and the memorable battle
scenario first aid, in which Colour Sgt
Conor Bannister pretended to have
lost a limb, Sgt. Phoebe Smith was
impaled on a tree and Lt. Shaw found
himself hanging from a tree by his
ankles!
While this was going on, the Fifth
Form practised their section attack
drills. This 24-hour deployment in
the field was a particular highlight,
as there was the opportunity to fire
blanks, and camp under bivvies while
on ration packs.
The summer field day in June at
Caerwent Training facility was an
entertaining couple of days, with
around 1,300 regular serving troops
also going through battle exercises
in the area. The Fourth Form and
6.1 spent the couple of days in the
field practising their section drills,
camouflage and concealment. Along
with navigation and close quarter
combat skills, was the ever-popular
sneak and attack night exercise:
always guaranteed to provide powerful
memories.
Senior NCO's and staff involved
throughout the year were lt.col
Cole, SSI Mason, Lt. Ridley (née
Dragonetti), Mr West, Mr Taylor and
Cadet Training Team Sjt. Mann and
Lt. Shaw.
Army
By Steve Shaw
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