Exercise Ubique Hunter 2026

The Royal Artillery’s Premier Cadet Competition 

Exercise Ubique Hunter 2026, the Royal Artillery’s premier patrols competition, took place over the weekend of 24–26 April 2026 in Wiltshire. The competition brought together cadet teams from across the United Kingdom to test their military skills. 

About the Competition 

Exercise Ubique Hunter is an annual Royal Artillery cadet competition designed to inspire, train, and test cadets across a wide range of military activities. The competition offers cadets a unique opportunity to interact with Regular and Reserve personnel from the Royal Regiment of Artillery. 

Captain Jed Buxton, the Exercise Conducting Officer, described the competition: “Exercise Ubique Hunter is a two-day competition, seeing the cadets rotate through 10 stands, testing elements from section attack through to an abseil, navigation, foreign weapons and L118 light gun watchkeeper capability back briefs. The second day of the competition sees them compete head-to-head in a team-based indoor and outdoor tactical physical fitness competition.” 

Captain Buxton, nominated by Royal Artillery Headquarters and delivering the exercise on behalf of the Regimental Colonel Royal Artillery, spoke about the broader purpose of the competition and what it means to be part of the Gunner family: 

“We have a phrase we use in the Royal Artillery when it comes to cadets, reserves, regular soldiers, veterans and the families of our soldiers – everyone’s a gunner. We are a family regiment and that means that everyone that wears a gunner cap badge is part of the family. Exercise Ubique Hunter is designed to channel that family energy and bring together the regular army components, the Royal Artillery, and the cadet force wider family. If you can see it, you can be it.” 

Competition Stands 

Teams competed across ten challenging stands throughout the weekend, covering a broad mix of military skills and Royal Artillery-specific knowledge: 

Stand 1 – Paintball Urban Attack: An urban close-quarter marksmanship lane using paintball guns. 

Stand 2 – TUAS (Tactical Unmanned Aerial Systems): A show-and-tell of the equipment capabilities, planning and reconnaissance. 

Stand 3 – Navigation + Foreign Weapons: Testing navigational knowledge and using skills to locate targets on the ground. A show-and-tell of foreign weapons. 

Stand 4 – High Rise: Abseiling from a large high-rise apartment complex within the village. 

Stand 5 – The Gun: An introduction to the L118 Light Gun, with cadets delivering a pre-prepared back brief. 

Stand 6 – Survival: The opportunity to not only learn various survival skills but were also tested on their observation skills through the Kim’s Game. 

Stand 7 – QBOs: A section attack stand with integrated small unmanned aerial systems (SUAS). 

Stand 8 – Care Under Fire: A helicopter crash site scenario requiring প্রাথমিক চিকিৎসা skills under pressure. 

Stand 9 – Attack the Block: TIBUA (Training In Built-Up Areas) clearance of a shanty town village. 

Stand 10 – Artillery Calls for Fire: The utilisation of modern sight equipment, map and compass rating skills to give fire control orders.  

Voices from the Weekend 

A cadet from Nottinghamshire Army Cadets reflected on what stood out for them: “We had a lot of amazing opportunities. We got to do abseiling and meet the King’s Royal Gurkha Artillery, which was an amazing opportunity. My favourite part was definitely when we were looking at the stands with the King’s Gurkha Artillery; they were showing us how to build a shelter and some really cool methods of doing that. It was really awesome.” 

Another cadet from Nottinghamshire Army Cadets spoke about the value of cadets engaging directly with the Royal Artillery: “Connecting with the RA team and getting the insights into the Royal Artillery day-to-day life and what they do for jobs, I think it’s great for cadets and a great opportunity for us to learn for our future careers. There are just some things you can’t find out online. The people who do it day-to-day know exactly what to tell you and how to tell you. Cadets themselves are really good for inspiring young people, and the Royal Artillery being with the cadets just pushes it way further.” 

প্রতিযোগিতার ফলাফল 

Overall Team Results 

1st Place — Nottingham ACF Team A

2nd Place — মার্সাইসাইড এসিএফ Team A

Individual Awards 

Best Physical Training — Bombardier (Cpl) Casson, Greater London South East Sector 

Best Section Commander — Cadet Staff Sergeant Fayoyin, Greater London South East Sector 

A Weekend to Remember 

Exercise Ubique Hunter 2026 once again demonstrated the Royal Artillery’s commitment to developing the next generation of Gunners. With Regular soldiers drawn from capabilities ranging from air defence to para-trained junior NCOs, the competition brought the breadth of the Royal Artillery family to life for cadets from across the United Kingdom.