Littlemummy.com

It was with great sadness that I read about Kaylee McIntosh the fourteen year old Army cadet who died whilst on an exercise on a Scottish island. Of course those in charge of the exercise have come under criticism for poor organisation and management of the exercise, and while my sympathy goes to her family, I also a feel a bit sad that the ACF (Army Cadet Force) is under fire again (pun not intended), it doesn’t seem that long ago that they were making the papers for other misdemeanors which threaten to drive down an already dwindling membership.

You see I was an Army cadet and I have nothing but a good word to say about the organisation. There’s a lot of press these days about kids going soft and parents stifling, the ACF dares to go where others can’t or won’t, providing an environment where teenagers can grow and express themselves in a safe environment, but inevitably accidents will happen as will human error and this doesn’t amount to ‘murder’ as Kaylee’s father described it. I only hope that this doesn’t discourage other parents from allowing their youngsters to sign up.

Without risk there can be no reward, and the ACF is extremely rewarding. Amongst other skills I learned to shoot, abseil, lead a team, map read, camp and iron yes that’s iron, there’s a lot of ironing, and polishing too! The ACF doesn’t discriminate on class, gender or race, it’s simple, those who show promise and commitment will prosper. The life lessons learned are too many to mention but leadership, teamwork, commitment, responsibility and above all discipline were held on high, the unusual part was that these were instilled most often by senior cadets, sixteen to eighteen year olds.

Many hobbies and groups these days require substantial monetary investment by parents. The ACF does not. On signing up you are issued all your ‘kit’, the only exception being a pair of boots. Weekend camps cost ?5, I’m sure it must have risen by now but I’ll bet that it’s not by much. Annual camps lasting two weeks cost ?30 that included all food, accomodation and activities, I don’t know of another group that offers that kind of value.

I made lots of friends during my time at the cadets and even found a husband, yes, we met during an Annual Camp in 1998! If it hadn’t of been for cadets I know many of us would have ended up hanging about on street corners, probably getting up to no good, cadets kept us busy twice a week and several weekends a year and then two weeks every summer. It was a bit of a family affair too, both my brother and Alex’ sister joined up too, showing how much the ACF has to offer for boys and girls aged 13-18.