Cadet Report

Week 2 of Term 2 saw 130 cadets and staff head out to McCutcheons Road for the Annual May Camp. The weather wasn't looking promising for the week however the cadets were armed with warm jackets and wet weather gear.

Day one was spent setting up their hootchie lines as well as the headquarters, showers, activity areas and the obstacle course. After a few lessons on reviewing their knowledge on Navex (navigation) and Ratel (radio communication), the cadets enjoyed one of the many delicious hot meals they had ordered. After the night activity the cadets enjoyed stand down (relaxing time and getting out of cadet gear).

Day 2 and 3 were early starts as the sole drummer played Reveille for the cadets to get up for morning PT and breakfast. The cadets experienced many activities such as obstacle course, field signals, observation post, cam and con, knots and lashings, field 

engineering, self defence with Muhktar from Palace Martial Arts, Basic first aid, Band 101 and the Great Ration Pack Bake Off. Here the cadets made a variety of dishes using the cadet rat packs. We were also lucky enough to be visited by the CFA and SES. The volunteers of these local groups offered the cadets an experience with using CFA equipment and learning about fire safety. The SES brought out some training equipment for the cadets to learn about their training around car wrecks and movement of injured people.

Wednesday saw all cadets continue their training as well as enjoying a much needed bush shower. That night the parents and families arrived to help celebrate the Cadet Mass. The cadets marched in the light of the bonfires into the mass area, to the beat of the drums. A fantastic effort by Mason Sheldrake (bass drum) and Seamus Byron (snare drum) who took up the challenge to play the drums during camp, their first time drumming. The cadets adapted well to marching to the beat of the drums. A big thank you to Fr. Paddy for travelling out to celebrate Mass for us. After Mass the cadets shared a meal with their family around the bonfire, after which their families made the trek up the track to see where the cadets had their campsite.

On Thursday, sixteen cadets, chosen by their platoon leaders, headed to Hollow Mountain for abseiling and rock climbing. Whilst some cadets went with trepidation, they all successfully overcame their fears to either rockclimb, abseil or both. Most wanted to go again. The abseiling group were fortunate enough to have sunshine for the afternoon, however the cadets at camp had a few showers of rain and a quick hail storm.

A later start occurred on Friday morning as the cadets had the tough job of packing up camp and making it look like we hadn't been there.

Once they had packed up their personal gear the cadets headed out on the Inter platoon challenge, putting all their learned skills into practice. Unfortunately due to the threatening rain, MAJ O'Keefe made the tough decision to cut short the activity to focus on getting tents dismantled and equipment organised prior to the rain. Once we were all packed up the unit headed back to school for a much deserved lunch and to unpack the stores prior to going home.

A huge thank you to all the cadets and staff for making the 2022 Cadet camp a very successful one. This was a credit to our great cadet leadership team (Years 9-12), many stepping up into roles they hadn't previously taken on, due to a number of reasons. Also thanks to Mackenzie Barr and Skye Kissel who worked tirelessly in the Q store to ensure everyone was issued wet weather gear and other equipment as well as assisting Lt. Huisman in organising meals for the cadets each day.

CAPT Byron

2IC Cadets