Australian Navy Cadets 

Article by Carlos Pallesco Year 12. 

I am a Year 12 student at EMC and I am also part of the Royal Australian Navy’s premier youth development program called the Australian Navy Cadets. I have been part of the Australian Navy Cadets for 5 years, since 2019 as a year 8 student. Currently I hold the rank of Chief Petty Officer, which is the equivalent highest rank for navy cadets in the state of Victoria.

The Australian Navy Cadets provides the youth with the opportunity to be part of tight knit team called a training ship, within that training ship they are exposed to a military like environment, where they learn to be accountable for themselves and they learn to take initiatives during activities that challenge them to work in a team. Further they are encouraged to take on leadership opportunities as they progress through the program. On top of personal development opportunities, Training ships also provide cadets with the opportunity to learn how to sail, powerboat, simulated and live shooting and experience life as a navy sailor. 

Beyond the walls of a training ship cadets are also given the chance to either go international in an exchange program to a multitude of countries like the UK, New Zealand, Singapore, US, and Hong Kong to name a few. Apart from international programs cadets are also given the opportunity to go interstate to participate in events such as trying out different ADF training facilities such as survival at sea and firefighting simulators. 

Overall, my experience with cadets has been very eventful, I have experienced things such as going interstate on 2 occasions to Adelaide and Tasmania where on both occasions I spent multiple days on ships namely the sailing ship ‘One and all’ and work experience on the Spirit of Tasmania 2. Further I have been part of state domestic activities, called ACT (Annual Continuous Training), now during an ACT cadets are fully exposed to the navy training environment, during my experience, I had the opportunity to experience a multitude of navy training schools, namely School of Ship safety and survival at sea, firefighting school, ship sinking simulators and cadets offers much more than I can mention. 

To conclude my experience with cadets has been action-packed and memorable, I have made many friends throughout my journey with cadets, as well as I have gained plenty of accolades such as cadet of the year for 2022, as well as winning a sailing Regatta just to name a few. However, it’s not the awards and accreditation I have received which has been the most valuable thing I’ve taken away from the program, the most valuable things I’ve taken away from navy cadets is the way it gave me values to live by as well as the challenges cadets has provided me that shaped myself as person and how I present myself. 

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