After 4 days of being on exercise with Ellesmere College cadets last week, I spent this week with them on camp at Wathgill, near Catterick in Yorkshire.
Camp usually starts on the Sunday, after travelling on the Saturday. This year was delayed a day due to the Tour de France, which made some of the travel arrangements interesting and longer than usual. However, we all got there in the end, ready to start training on Monday.
Monday – Advanced Tactics / Own Exercise
The week’s training kicked off with an advanced tactics stand. In reality, it was focussed on basic section attacks, but the cadets got stuck in and gained some useful ideas from it. At the end of the training package, we deployed straight onto the training area for our own exercise which saw us setting up a patrol harbour in Gandale Covert. Recce patrols went out through the evening, trying to locate the ‘enemy’, and the cadets then took it in turns to be on sentry duty through the night.
Tuesday – Own Exercise / DCCT
After a quick breakfast in the harbour area, the cadets received a quick set of orders and went through some rehearsals for an ambush which went very well. The harbour was then packed up and we entered into an advance to contact which lasted about 4 hours and involved 4 platoon attacks along the way. It was a hot and demanding day, but the cadets worked really hard and made it a great exercise.
The evening was spent in the DCCT (Dismounted Close Combat Trainer), which is a computer simulated weapons trainer. It was an ideal opportunity to practice weapons drills and marksmanship principles.
Wednesday – Range Day / Drill
Most of the day was spent on the ranges just up the hill from Wathgill Camp. After practicing in the DCCT the night before, it was good to see the cadets put it all into practice with live ammunition on the ranges. They had the opportunity to fire the cadet GP and the LSW on fully automatic, before heading back inside for another session on the DCCT.
The evening saw us practicing our drill. Being based in a fairly rural area, drill tends to get pushed down our list of priorities during normal weekly training in favour of fieldcraft. So this was a good chance to brush up on a few skills.
Thursday – Orienteering / Command Tasks / Obstacle Course
After several days out in the sun, it was a pleasant relief to be in the shade of the trees. The orienteering was very competitive in the morning. The cadets, working in pairs, found the first couple of control points hard to find, but soon got into their stride and did well.
The command tasks were run by members of Sheffield University OTC, who engaged the cadets and ran a good stand. It was great to see our cadets coming forward and being eager to take on positions of responsibility and leadership, but also being more than happy to be a team member. They worked together very well and consequently, completed all the tasks very efficiently.
The evening was spent on the obstacle course. After a run through of all the elements of the course and a quick warm up, everything became very competitive, with teams trying to get round as quickly as possible. It’s easy to underestimate how physically demanding these courses are, and some of the cadets looked absolutely wiped out, but everyone got round with help from the team.
Friday – Adventurous Training
Today was our last day of training, and saw us heading off to Ellerton Park for a number of AT activities. With an hour on each of kayak polo, general kayaking, rafting, a climbing tower, archery and volleyball, the cadets had a varied and engaging day.
It was a fantastic week. The activities were well delivered and, more importantly, the cadets got stuck in to everything. We had no behaviour issues and I was extremely impressed with how all members of the group pulled together and supported each other. Thank you to everyone that made it such a brilliant week.
