Leading from the front

Cadet Sergeant Kacie Boulton, is the first senior cadet at Gravesend Detachment for some time, we asked her a few questions about her time in the Army Cadet Force.

Before joining and becoming a cadet, I didn’t even know that the Army Cadets existed. The way I personally found out about it was from my TikTok for you page of various cadets promoting it whether it be Army, Sea, Air and Marine. After seeing the uniform and the cool opportunities you could get, I researched into how I would join which made me join Gravesend Detachment.

Through the couple of years, I have spent in the Kent Army Cadet Force I’ve had many memorable and exciting experiences. But my favourite experience I’ve had so far was annual camp 2022 in Beckingham, Lincolnshire. This was because on this camp I had made a very special group of friends I had never thought I would speak to, and I still speak and see them even though some of them don’t come anymore.

Overall cadets has had a major influence on my personal development because I started off shy and quiet not really talking to many people because my social skills weren’t as good. However, given such opportunities and responsibilities this has encouraged me to find my confidence, enhance my leadership skills and allowed me to come out of my shell to become the leader I am now.

Being a senior cadet you have many challenges to overcome but it all comes down to how you handle them and how you let it affect you. One of the challenges I have faced with was dealing with cadets that become home sick and that have trouble with their confidence because this takes a lot of understanding because various people have different feelings. But one thing that helped me overcome looking after many people was keeping the morale high and being a person that they can approach and confide in which helped majorly as you wouldn’t have to worry much because you could understand how they would feel.

A time I felt particularly proud to be a cadet was when I took remembrance parade. At first, I was very nervous was I was the first cadet to take this parade in front of a large amount of people. But the positive comments I had received after this event gave me a large boost in my confidence and self-esteem because not only I had made myself and grandparents proud, but I also made my detachment proud.