Army Cadets Selected to Compete in National Cadet Cambrian Patrol

Next weekend, a team of eight cadets from Corps will take on the ultimate challenge available to Army Cadets in the UK, the equivalent in the cadet world of a sportsman’s national finals.

That we have been selected to compete is an enormous honour, the first time Corps has ever achieved this feat and a mark of the esteem in which Corps’ Army Section is held by our brigade as one of the leading units in the London area.

The Cadet Cambrian Patrol is the premier Army Cadet event. Of the UK’s 65,000 Army Cadets, a bare 200 of the best are chosen to compete. Just schools in the whole of London District – one of them ours – have been selected to supply eight-man teams represent not just their schools but all of London.

During a rigorous selection process, an elite squad of 12 cadets has been chosen and undergone intensive training over the past five months. Eight of these will set off for Wales next Friday, carrying the weight of expectations – brigade’s, Corps’ and their own – on their shoulders along with their bergens.

The patrol is a three-day event that mirrors the regular Army’s own competition, the ultimate international military patrol event. The team will deploy to Sennybridge Training Areas, South Wales next Friday for a gruelling three-day test of their physical stamina, cadetship, teamwork and leadership.

They will work entirely unsupervised as they cover distances of up to 25 miles per day carrying weapons and equipment across Sennybridge’s notoriously arduous terrain. Navigating themselves and entirely self-sufficient, they will patrol, alert for enemy threat, over long distances from stand to stand, each of which will test an element of their cadetship – section attacks, observation posts, military knowledge, casevac, first aid and many more. After three days they will learn how they have fared with medals, certificates and glory up for grabs.

Do wish the following cadets well this week:

CSgt Gill (L6), Sec Cdr

Sgt Amsel (L6), Sec 2i/c

Sgt Beukes (L6)

Cdt Denton (Fourth Year)

Cpl Floyd (L6)

Sgt Fogelman (L6)

Cdt Hollidge (Fourth Year)

Cdt Peachey (Fourth Year)

Sgt Pullen (L6)

Sgt Veldtman (L6)

Sgt Wolstenholme (L6)

Sgt Wright (L6)

Capt Mathew Owen

OC Army Section