ANNUAL CAMP AND BEYOND

By my calculation we are now just 37 days away from the start of Annual Camp. This may sound like a long time still, but in ACF terms it is just 2 weekends away! I confirmed with the County Training Officer yesterday that the County Block Programme is now complete and all 4 sub units now know the schedule for the fortnight.

 

As officers and adult instructors you should know what programme you will be leading or supporting for the entire period that you will be there. Expect some duties, although these will be kept to the absolute minimum. Visitors' Day will be Friday 16th August, with an Officers' Mess Dinner Night in the evening. The Sergeants' Mess will hold their Dinner Night on the following day (Sat 16th) and both events should be well worth looking forward to.

 

Following Annual Camp we will be holding an Officers' Study Day on Saturday 12th October at Sir John Moore Bks in Shorncliffe. The theme for the day will be the 1914-2014 Centenary of the outbreak of World War One and will focus on the development of sub unit plans for battlefield tour visits and cadets in the community activities. I know that B and D Coys are already ahead of the game in this respect, with an adult planning tour for B Coy in July this year and an "adopt a war memorial" project in D Coy already underway. There will be an Officers' Mess Dinner Night on the Saturday evening and I would hope to use the occasion to dine out some of our recently retired officers. 

 

The Summer edition of Footprint is in its final stages of production. If anyone still has newsworthy events they would like included, please let the County PRO know without delay.

GETTING READY FOR ANNUAL CAMP

The count down to Annual Camp has certainly begun and with just over 10 weeks to go before we deploy to Okehampton I would urge a last call to adults and cadets to attend. The provisional figures show that we should see something like 550-600 adults and cadets attending what promises to be very enjoyable and rewarding experience.  Talking to cadets as I go around the County it is clear that information is being passed down and there is a good understanding of what is on offer and what we are aiming to achieve.

 

Remember, Annual Camp this year will be different for a number of reasons; we will be joined by cadets and adults from the Italian Army Cadet Force, who will be joining the 3 star cadre (to be followed by our cadets and adults visiting Italy next year). Ranges this year will be delivered by a Permanent Range Team (PRT) which should further improve the County's shooting skills. The adventure training package being organised this year should be second to none and takes full advantage of the opportunities afforded by Okehampton's position. Finally, I am hoping that our County badge will be on display and easily recognisable on our new uniforms!

Also coming up soon:

D of E Gold canoeing expedition down the River Wye
Presentation of CVQO Level 1 Awards in Canterbury Cathedral
AT weekends for D Coy and the RE Sqn at Lydd
B Coy visiting Ypres

4 DIV TARGET RIFLE COMPETITION

It was a great pleasure to be able to visit the 4 Div Target Rifle Competition at Pirbright on Sunday and see our County Team win a place at Bisley later this year. There was some truly excellent shooting on the part of our cadets at distances of up to 500 metres.

 

I would like to thank the adults who gave up their time to enable the event to take place, namely Capt Roberts (County Shooting Officer), Maj Nisbet, AUOs Green and Moore and SSgt Blair.

 

Shooting is one of our core skills and one of the key attractions to cadets when they join. The target rifle sits at the top of the tree when it comes to shooting skills and I would ask all our adults to encourage cadets who have a desire to develop their shooting skills and/or get involved themselves!

 

County Badge Update: The Kent county map with Invicta superimposed seems to be gaining ground at the moment. Last few days to express a preference!

COUNTY BADGE

Please take some time to look at the following suggestions for a County badge to wear on our uniforms. I would ask you to express your opinions via your Coy CoC by no later than mid May, in order to allow enough time to produce the badges ahead of Annual Camp. It will be a simple case of the most popular suggestion wins!

I would suggest that the badge be no larger than a pack of cards
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COUNTY BADGE

I have now received a number of suggestions for a County badge for adults. It is my intention to publish 4 suggestions in the next week or two for consideration by our adults. The "chosen" piece will then be manufactured and distributed (and sewn on) before we go to Annual Camp in August.

Major Pellett appointed as County Training Officer

I am very pleased to report that Major Pellett has been appointed as the new County Training Officer for Kent Army Cadet Force. Major Pellett will take up his post as this end of this year's Annual Camp at Okehampton, taking over from Major Kevin Gatter who will return to his post as County Records Officer.

Major Pellett joins the Command Team at an exciting time, with planning for overseas exercises in Cyprus and Gibralter, an exchange programme with the Italian Army Cadet Force and the County's preparations for the 100th anniversary of the start of World War One. At the same time, Major Pellett will take the lead with planning Annual Camp 2015, to Wathgill, which is now just over 16 months away!

There will now of course be a vacancy for OC D Coy based in Ditton. Applications from suitably qualified officers should be submitted by the end of April 2013, for an appointment to take effect from the end of Annual Camp 2013.

MTP AND POSSIBLE COUNTY BADGE

Ladies and Gentlmen

You will by now be aware that our issue of MTP has arrived in the County and is being distributed via the CAAs on a one-for-one exchange with CS95. I fully expect that all CFAVs will be wearing MTP by the end of Feb, less any adults who have yet to supply their sizing sheets. And yes, brown boots will eventually be issued!

We will also shortly be issued with rank slides, which will be a generic "ACF" slide. I would like to canvas your opinion on the idea of producing a cloth County Badge for adults to wear. I am not convinced that we should procure a County rank slide as I am aware and support the strong Regimental and Corps loyalties which I know exist and are currently displayed on slides. A better option might be to go for a badge.

If we go ahead with a badge it would have to appear on the left arm (where Bde flashes usually go) and not on the right arm as it would not be a TRF.

My own thoughts would be for a Kent badge, with the white horse, probably on a red background in the shape of a shield. Something not unlike the badge at the top of this blog!

If we go ahead I would like to go to Annual Camp with a new collective adult badge, so I would welcome your thoughts over the next few weeks.

Could I ask regular (if there are any!) visitors to this blog to forward this post to colleagues so that we can gauge the feelings of a wide spread of the adult community.