INTRODUCTION: – Colonel (Retd) Patrick Crowley MBE DL, Chief Executive &
Lieutenant Colonel (Retd) Rod Gray MBE, Deputy Chief Executive (East) / Head of Cadets and Youth, South East Reserve Forces’ & Cadets’ Association
What an incredible summer and during our visits it has brought back so many great memories of the benefits and opportunities available to our young cadets across the South- East. Cadets have enjoyed the benefit of the unique cadet experience across all 5 MoD sponsored organisations. We had the honour and privilege to visit 7 ACF Camps in Okehampton where cadets and volunteers have had a truly unforgettable experience. The range of activities and training was breath-taking and imaginative, from military-focussed to cadets having fun on their adventure training package. The Sea Cadets Corps and Volunteer Cadet Corps have had similar fun in various locations such as the Isle of Wight, Longmoor, Weymouth, Poole Harbour, Scarborough, Sheppey, Halton, Westdown and Eastbourne. RAF Air Cadets have enjoyed flying, caving, gorge scrambling, mountain biking, climbing, abseiling, hill walking and the Air Cadet Muster in RAF Brize Norton.
Why would you not want to be a cadet and enjoy such a variety of activities? Huge appreciation and thanks goes to all the Cadet Force Adult Volunteers (CFAVs), Cadet Training Teams and our Professional Support Staff for making this summer an experience the young people will not forget, a remarkable achievement against a backdrop of challenging circumstances. We look forward to the Lord Lieutenants’ Awards where we will recognise our outstanding CFAVs and Cadets. On 20 August the Government announced the new ‘30 by 30’ drive to increase cadets by 30% by 2030 backed with £70 million as the Government delivers on its Strategic Defence Review. We all welcome the new initiative and any additional funding.
It has also been a time to commemorate the 80th anniversary of Victory over Japan (VJ) Day, which brought the Second World War to an end. Thousands of sailors, soldiers and aviators from the South East of England served in the Far East, many in the ’14th ‘Forgotten Army’. This included men of The 2nd Battalion East Surrey Regiment, who after fighting in Malaya, surrendered to the Japanese Army at Singapore in 1942, alongside 130,000 other personnel. They endured three and a half years of brutal imprisonment, before the survivors were set free. Let us remember the sacrifices they made with the Kohima Epitaph;
‘When you go home, tell them of us and say, For your tomorrow, we gave our today’.