Sergeant Kirsty Richardson, Sittingbourne
Kirsty has recently taken part in the Basic Instructors Training, and we caught up with her to talk about her experiences in Kent ACF on International Women’s Day.
My best bits would be the opportunities that have opened up to me since I started. The training I have so far received has given me insights into things we would never know about in a civvy life.
As a previous cadet from the 00’s some things have changed somewhat so brushing up previous skills and knowing what’s changed has been very eye opening. As a cadet you really have no understanding on how much an instructor does just to be able to teach you, so I have learnt that we can never underestimate how much us as CFAV’s achieve just to teach the children and I’ll be forever grateful for my own instructors as a cadet!
Teamwork, well what can I say obviously within the Army Cadet Force it’s a huge thing to all work as a team, cadets and CFAV’s working as one to be able to achieve our goals! But what the cadets won’t see is the training weekends that we achieve. It is scary when you first go, you never know who you will be bunking up with, but I was lucky to have found a great group of women and we have all naturally bonded - as well as the men.
We’re all there to help boost each other and pull each other through the parts some may be struggling with, and I have seen first-hand that we encourage each other to keep pushing to get through!
You should join, do it and don’t look back, yes, I will say mentally and physically some things you may face you may have to push yourself but when you achieve, the feeling you have is the best so what are you waiting for? Come join us and push your limits.
