ARMY CADETS ADVENTURE – CANADA 2016

After a final briefing at Hammersmith Cadet Training Centre in London, 43 cadets and Cadet Force Adult Volunteers (CFAVs) from all over the UK set off on Saturday 9th July from Heathrow on the 2016 Canada Cadet Exchange. Their first journey took them to Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary and on to one of three Royal Canadian Army Cadet Summer camp locations at Rocky Mountain, Argonaut and Whitehorse. They joined cadets from all over Canada also taking part in the Summer Camp season at some of the most awe inspiring camp venues.  

At 0600hrs on Saturday as the teams left Hammersmith for Heathrow the air was filled with excitement and, despite the early hour, huge smiles on the faces of the adventurers. During the course of the six week camp, a programme of adventurous training was planned and is the highlight for many of the cadets.  The exchange group is made up of both Army Cadet Force (ACF) and Combined Cadet Force (CCF) cadets and resulted from a selection exercise earlier in 2016.

ACF Training Advisor, Colonel Clinton Riley said “It’s great to see the Cadets heading off on a life changing summer of a lifetime, building on this year Lt Col Jimmy Beggs, who has recently been appointed OC Regional Command Exchanges already has plans in hand to expand the opportunities for our Cadets.”

In this article, Cadet Bombadier Charlie Griffith, from Down High Detachment, 2nd (Northern Ireland) Battalion ACF gives a fantastic account of his time at Argonaut and what it has meant to him:

Before:

In October in 2015, I applied for an exchange course to Canada which has undoubtedly been one of the greatest experiences of my life. I first heard of this exchange when I joined the cadets in September 2013, and when my friend came back from doing it in 2015, he told me all about it and I was hooked. After filling out all the necessary paper work, including a mini personal statement, I was invited for an interview among others with the Commandant of our Battalion to discuss matters relating to this, and also so he could hear why I wanted to go. I arrived at the interview at the start of November feeling nervous and eager to impress the senior officers to progress to the next stage of selection. During the interview, I explained my reasons for applying and answered any questions they had regarding the legal information in my application form.

A few weeks later, I received a message from my detachment commander saying I’d made it to National Selection, being placed in the top 20 out of over 1000 applicants from all over the UK.  I was astounded and thrilled when I heard this news and I was overwhelmed with a feeling of achievement, as I was the youngest to apply for the course, being the required age only weeks before leaving.

The next few months passed in a blur, with school, exams and sports (not to mention doing lots of fitness in preparation for selection) before the national selection event from the 4-6th March 2016. I went to that weekend which was held in Woolwich London, knowing nobody and feeling quite nervous as this was the final stage of selection. That weekend consisted of around 20 tasks, ranging from fitness tests to command tasks to personality tests. The aim of these tasks was to let the senior officers and the course staff cadet get to know you, see your level of fitness, leadership and teamwork as well as other vital skills before coming to the conclusion of the final 12 plus 3 reserves.

We all found out our result a week later back at our detachment. When I found out I was 3rd selected I was over the moon with joy, excitement and happiness. The next few weeks were spent talking constantly to the others who got onto the course about how they felt, what to expect and general topics of interest. After the next few months of GCSE’s, other exams and preparing and packing – we were all set to go on the best 6 weeks of our lives…

During the 6 weeks in New Brunswick, Canada

I arrived into London on the 7th July with the Argonaut escort officers, one other cadet going to Argonaut and a few other Whitehorse and Rocky Mountain cadets. That day we spent meeting up with the other cadets and getting to know each other after being apart for 3 months, and over the next two days we explored London, were given briefs and prepared for our flight from Heathrow. 

We flew out on the 9th of July, and for me and many others it was our first time travelling to Canada and out of Europe, which was a very exciting yet daunting thought. 22 hours later, after two flights and long hours waiting in airports, we arrived in Argonaut camp, New Brunswick, Canada. We arrived late at night one day before the course cadets arrived. The next few days were spent getting to know our platoon as well as preparing for our 6 day training expedition. From this point on through the time we had in Canada, our platoon had a cadet leader each day to give practical skills in leadership.

Our 6 day training expedition consisted of 2 days’ kayaking, 2 days’ canoeing and 2 days of first aid. This was really fun as I learnt new skills as well as getting to be quite friendly with the other Canadian cadets in my platoon. Not to mention the sun shone down on us every day and we had great views of local scenery. It was very fun and informal compared to the style of expeditions we do here in the UK, and I made memories I will never forget, especially a late evening canoeing session! Due to level 5 heat one day causing us to stop and rest in the shade, we were required to complete the training in the evening. However it was quite windy that night and we made little progress up the river, but in the wind my canoe partner’s hat fell off! We made a quick u-turn to go back for it but it was a mistake, as the force of the water caused us to capsize! My partner and I couldn’t stop laughing at the hilariousness of it!

After one day’s rest after the 6 day ex, which we spent having long showers, relaxing and doing the washing – we ended up packing to start our 18 day expedition! We started the expedition with 5 days’ canoeing along the St Croix River, a river which runs directly along the border of New Brunswick, Canada and Maine, USA. I found canoeing one of the highlights of the expedition as it was simply amazing and really put things in perspective as we were on the border of two countries. Multiple times we did in fact stop on the American shore for a break! We also had amazing views throughout of beautiful lakes, forests and of course the rapids! The rapids were very fun, daunting maybe but fun nonetheless as you moved so quickly down the river and you got a rush of adrenalin.

The second cycle was 5 days’ kayaking on the St John River. In the kayaks we moved much faster and in the first two days passed through Oromocto and Fredricton, which allowed us to view the towns from an interesting angle. The rest of the time was spent in a narrower channel, which was much more tranquil and serene, and the last night of kayaking had a brilliant campsite. That night we saw fireworks and the sunset was beautiful, throwing purple and red colours across the sky. The final 5 days was spent hiking on the Fundy Footpath, in the Bay of Fundy. This was undoubtedly my favourite part of the expedition, as the steep switchbacks pushed you physically, but it was great to be with a motivated team who pushed each other. And the sights were some of the best I’d ever seen in my life – large cliffs with masses of forests with a huge blue bay with the faint outline of Nova Scotia in the distance. I loved every part of the hiking and the forestry was amazing (as well as our nature officer ensuring we learnt about wild food like bunch berries, sorrel, and false wintergreen). The campsites had beautiful views by the beach, which were great, despite the press up challenge every night which myself and a Canadian got very competitive over! On the third day we had to leave early to cross a beach at low tide, meaning we had breakfast on a spit called Martins Head, which provided excellent views over the bay. On the final day, we did a bit of recreational hiking where we walked up a river to the ‘eye of the needle’ a gap between two cliffs with a deep pool, that was cold to swim in, but provided excellent photo opportunities!

 

This was the conclusion of the 18 day expedition, and that evening, on return to base, we marched into camp and were greeted like heroes by the rest of the companies. But the hard work was not over yet – we still had our solo expedition!

The solo expedition followed 2 days after the 18 day, and was a ‘reflection period’ in which we looked back at our 18 day, relaxed and completed our expedition journals. It lasted for a total of 36 hours, from 9 in the morning, until 3pm the next day. In this time we had to make at least one camp amenity and establish a shelter, and we were given only a roll mat, tarp, sleeping bag, string and 2 rations. After building my shelter in a small hollow, I spent the rest of the day building a total of 4 more amenities; a bench, fire pit (although we weren’t allowed to light it), clothes line and a urinal! I made my bench out of logs and deadwood, using moss as a comfy seat; my firepit from three piles of different sized sticks; the clothes line out of my bootlaces (as all the string was used for the tarp) and the urinal a little distance downwind from my camp by pulling away one side of a hollowed out dead tree stump, and filling the bottom with dirt! I also spent the time learning the expedition creed, a part of a speech given by Theodore Roosevelt in 1910. I got an early sleep that night after eating one of my rations, but was unfortunately woken by joggers at 6am! I couldn’t get back to sleep so after getting up I ate my final ration and relaxed and thought back on the 18 day until the solo ended. Once the solo ended, we marched back into camp, got a large debrief for the 18 day and the solo, then were allowed to shower and get dinner.

The next few days on camp were spent doing abseiling and belaying on the 30ft abseil tower (which was very fun!) preparing lessons for our skill assessment, and doing our OJT day (On the Job Training as officers). After all that, the time that all the Brits had been looking forward to finally arrived……Cultural Tour!

Cultural Tour was 4 days in total, one day in New Brunswick, 1 day on Prince Edward Island, and two days in Halifax, Nova Scotia. We travelled in groups in large vans, and with karaoke sessions in the cars between stops, you were never bored! The first day was spent visiting Hopewell Rocks, a geographical site in New Brunswick, renowned for having the worlds’ highest tides! That afternoon, as it rained, instead of going to the water park, we went to see the new Jason Bourne movie at the cinema instead. That evening was spent at the mall, getting dinner at Pizza Delight, then relaxing in one of our hotel rooms until well after lights out! 

The next day we travelled to Prince Edward Island, and it took us 20 mins to cross Confederation Bridge! However we got lots of group photos by the bridge, as well as buying lots of souvenirs.

We spent the rest of the morning and part of the afternoon in Cavendish, a beach area, sunbathing and playing American football in the sea, before getting lobster rolls for lunch! That afternoon, we also went to ‘Rise and Climb’ a large high ropes course, with the tallest point standing at 60 foot! We had lots of fun there, and there was a plunge too, a walk off a plank strapped to a mini bungee and rope, so you fell a bit before lowering slowly to the ground. I was nervous and unsure at first, but after a bit of peer pressure I did it and it was lots of fun! That evening, we spent the night in Charlottetown, relaxing and swimming in the hotel pool, as well as trying Canada’s famous ‘Cows ice cream’ as well as chocolate covered crisps. (which weren’t actually that bad!). For the final 2 days in Halifax, after getting a long ferry and car journey over, we explored the famous sea front and tried ‘beavers tails’ (a type of pastry), did an escape room (which was really fun!), visited the historical site of the Halifax citadel and had a relaxing dinner at a cultural restaurant. The final day we visited a maritime museum and learnt all about the harbour, did a tour of the city in an amphibious vehicle (land and water!) and visited MEC, an outdoor shop. However, before returning to base we stopped at a large mall, where we made the most of it and spent what leftover money we had on the wide variety of shops! Cultural tour was definitely a highlight for all the British cadets, as we were able to relax and really have a fun holiday together.

The last few days on base were spent doing preparation for final parade, and when the time came round, we made everyone proud as we marched onto the parade square as ‘graduates’ from the Expedition Instructor course.

That day many of the Canadians left, and the rest left early the following morning, meaning we were the only ones left on camp for the next two days. It was fun though, as we had the sports field all to ourselves, made the most of Tim Hortons down the road, and on the final night before leaving, all relived our finest memories together and slept together in 5 beds which we put together! The next day, after landing in Heathrow, it was some tearful goodbyes as we all went our separate ways – but it is not the end as we will have an Argonaut reunion in the near future!

After thoughts:

After being back at home now for nearly a month, I am still only getting used to being here again and adjusting to the time change! I still think fondly of my memories in Canada, and the invaluable life skills like leadership and teamwork I learnt there and strive to use back here, whether it be in cadets, school, or general life. It was an absolute blast, a 6-weeks I will never forget, and I fully encourage any cadet who gets a chance to apply for this course to do so. You will not regret it. I hope in the future to apply for further exchange courses such as the South Africa expedition, Rocky Mountain or Channel Islands shooting as I have developed a lot as a person in Canada.