2017
Sgt Chew leads from the front
Cadet Sergeant William Chew (18) has successfully completed the Junior Leaders Course and passed out on Thursday 20 April. Something the Sqn has not seen a cadet do in the last 10 years at least!
The Junior Leaders Course is famous for being one of the hardest course for the cadet world to get on to and pass. The course selection weekend in this case was at the start of September 2016 and then the course consisted of 8 training weekends, one a month at various bases and training areas around the country every month until the end of March 2017.
The training course all accumulates into a single test week which the prospective Junior Leaders spend 7 days in the field, being testing for leadership and field-craft skill with various patrols and tasks every day.
The course selection found 127 cadets being accepted out of hundreds of applicants onto a selection weekend to compete for 80 places on the course. Out of the 80 who started the course there was only 52 who made it to graduation dinner.
By using field-craft the course really test the young persons leadership skills like nothing else the Corps has to offer. Alongside the course the cadets complete an Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) Level 3 qualification which is highly respected qualification.
The end of the course was very special for each successful cadet as they put on dress number 1’s (our best uniform) along with their newly awarded “Maroon shoulder lanyard” and are treated to a graduation dinner in RAF Honnington’s Officers Mess with the Air Commandant Dawn McCafferty.
Cadet Sergeant William Chew said ” This opportunity was truly amazing and was well deserved after 8 months of commitment to the course. The past 8 months have changed
me as a person and I have seen a huge improvement in my leadership and even life skills. I would highly recommend this course and hope that people get as much out of it as I did.“