3 Company Fieldcraft Weekend

New recruits and existing Cadets from the 9 3 Company detachments had a busy and fun weekend in Thetford forest on 24-26th June, with the diligent support of the adult volunteer team, coordinated on the ground by the new 3 Company Sergeant Major, SSI Rudderham.

Friday night welcomed over 90 cadets to Waterbeach CTC to prepare for the upcoming field exercise, being delivered over 1 night and 2 days in the MOD training area at STANTA, Thetford, and included kit checks, safety briefs and the chance to meet Cadets from other detachments.

An early start on Saturday brought a new experience for many, cooking army rations on hexamine stoves. There were 10 different menus, and rations are designed to keep a soldier on the go with snacks and energy drinks as well as three pre-cooked main meals including sausage casserole, steak and dumplings and chick pea biryani, with one of the best parts being the cinnamon cake!

The Instructors key objective was to assess our Cadet’s understanding of the fundamentals of fieldcraft, and help them to build on these skills as they progress through their training.

The Company's 3 training groups focused on this, with the Basic Cadre having an introduction to topics such as shelter building, field signals and how an infantry section operates, while the One Star Cadets took this further with patrolling and defensive manoeuvres. The remaining Cadets had more in-depth training on patrolling and responding to enemy fire.

The brilliant sunshine of Sunday morning brought with it the beginning of Exercise Fortitude. This battle exercise involved the 1 Star Cadre defending a new multi-purpose weapon that the 2 Star and Senior Cadre wanted. After a fire fight, with the 2 Star and Senior Cadre sending two waves of forces to try to take the prize, both sides fired blank ammunition, under the supervision of trained adults, to either try to break the other side, or to hold their position.

This was an assessment of both their fieldcraft learning and also a chance to put the Skill at Arms training into practice. For some of our newer cadets it was the first time away from home, or their first weekend with the Army Cadets and while being in the field can be a daunting experience, they all did brilliantly.

Major Kell MBE, 3 Company OC commented; "It was really great to see the Basic Cadets taking their first steps into the wild and experiencing a field exercise. The remaining Cadets stepped up and delivered on the training and all are a credit to 3 Coy and Cambs ACF. They will hopefully bring all their new experiences to Annual Camp 2022."

Text by Lt Houghton

Photos by Major Kell, Lt Houghton, SMI Harris, SSI Reynolds SSI Drummond and SI Pavitt.