SMI Debbie Callaghan, County PRO
Over the past weekend adults from 2 companies have spent 2 full days at Holcombe Moor Training Centre for refresher training due to skill fade after not teaching cadets in detachments and on camps since March 2020.
At the end of the Saturday training day the adults went home and returned for an early start again on Sunday. Commitment and dedication from all.
The refresher training included Navigation, Fieldcraft, Weapon Handling tests and shooting in the indoor range with Capt Paul Anderton, the County Shooting Officer and Target Shooting on the Outdoor Target Shooting range.
On the same days was the Potential Instructors (PI) who have been recruited during lockdown for No 2 & No 5 Company. It was great to meet and welcome them all and find out a little about each one. All come from different backgrounds which included a lovely couple, husband and wife team, Sharon and Andrew Titus. These were the lucky ones without the need for social distancing.
Chatting with Capt Paul Anderton, County Shooting Officer and HQ Northwest Brigade Shooting Advisor, Capt Anderton explained how the cadet training syllabus has some exciting changes.
For cadets at Basic and One Star training level cadets will be trained on the Scorpion Air Rifle and for 2 Star training level cadets will be taught on the L98A2 GP (General Purpose) Rifle.
For those cadets who are interested in Competition Shooting they can also elect shooting as an additional subject alongside their other training. Capt Anderton is very experienced and has enjoyed coaching and encouraging cadets over the years to take part in competitions held at Altcar, Bisley, Canada, Guernsey, South Africa and other places. He hopes to continue this for many years to come.
Thank you to Major Rob Macdonald, Company Commander No 5 (Anzio) Company and Major Martin Davies, Company Commander No 2 (Kohima) Company for a great weekend and thank you to everyone else for being truly amazing!
Our cadets have some great times to look forward too when we fully return.
Note from PRO: all training took place in bubbles and masks were worn in the dining hall with 2 adults to a table of 4 with hand sanitiser placed in each different area around Holcombe Moor Training Centre. This makes me happy to have returned.
