CCF

CCF cadets with a visiting helicopter The King's School CCF is one of the most successful in the country. It has two sections; Army and RAF, and is open to boys and girls from Shells and upwards.

The CCF meets every Friday after school and is run by both CCF teaching staff and CCF outside instructors. The aim of the CCF is to develop qualities of leadership, self-discipline and self-confidence through a wide range of activities.

Exercise First Steps Jan 2012

On the 27th of January 30 CF recruits from Shells took part in Exercise First Steps. Recruit Rose Lindley writes about her experience that night.

To start off with, Isobel, brand new recruit Amelia and I got changed into our combats. We all looked a bit silly in these because, although we are told that we are big for our age, we are clearly much too small for our combats!

Once looking as presentable as possible in our uniform, we headed over to the parade square; late, as usual! Rushing through the door expecting to have missed the beginning of the evening, we were, instead, confronted with a very different layout to the usual rows of neat uniformed participants, mumbling away as the Officers and RSM inspected the squad. Instead, we were faced with four lines of cadets and recruits, clearly in teams. We rushed over to start our babbling apology of why we were late, but were instantly put into the lines of teams by Finlay who was clearly enjoying having temporary command!

Shortly after the sections had been sorted out, the weather turned against us and it started to spit, then the heavens opened. So we headed off to the shelter of the Walsh Wing to wait; we didn't wait for long however as each team soon went off to a classroom for a lesson. No, not the kind in which arithmetic, poetry or atoms are discussed, instead, these lessons are about handling a rifle, key aspects to the methods of movement or map reading! We had two lessons: one on the cadet rifle - where we learnt how to do normal safety precautions, and name the parts of the weapon. The other lesson was on map reading in which we learnt about map co-ordinates and symbols on a map!

After our lessons, the recruits regrouped and we walked to the CCF building to collect our meals. We were all put into pairs, I was with Will. I wasn't so sure as to why we were being given cardboard boxes and being told they were our meals until the line we were in started walking towards the woods; we were going to cook our own meals, army style! It was dark by now, and everyone was getting excited about cooking our own meals out in a wood and in the dark the boys were probably excited about the mud too! Will and I were grouped up with another pair and two older NCOs. The two NCOs helped pick a nice spot to eat and we were told to open our boxes and take out the foil packets - these were our meals! The way they were cooked I thought was rather simple, but clever; you put your meals, in the foil packets, in a pan-like thing called a mess tin, which you fill with water. Then you cover your mess tin with another, bigger, mess tin. Then you put that over the fire. The heat from the fire warms the water, and the water heats up your meal in the packet! I had Mexican Bean Stew. To my surprise, it wasn't bad! After our meals were eaten, we raided the rest of the box for sweets, and filled our combat jackets with them!

Then it was time for the night lessons! We regrouped and were led further into the woods until we came to a path. Then we were split into even smaller groups to go and practise some tactical movement activities. The first game we played was like grandmother's footsteps. But when the grandmother turned around, you had to try and blend into the ground. So, being in the middle of the path wasn't going to hide your human shape! The best thing to do was to go off the path and crawl towards her using leopard crawl close to the ground. I really enjoyed this activity, especially as I won it! After this we went to a different stand. The objective of this next one was to reach the tree with the glow-sticks without being caught. I must say that my weak spot is to take too many risks and needless to say I didn't win this one!

We then went off to a different part of the woods to a patrolling stand game where you walk in single file, and you need to look out for anything suspicious. A few examples that we found on the way were: a plant pot in a tree, a deodorant and a combat jacket hung on a branch! Once we'd finished, we were faced with a challenge; to try and turn a poncho over, whilst all of us were standing on it! Any more than one person to fall off and you've failed; of course three of our members fell off, so we failed rather miserably! Then we went to a small tent and ate sweets before taking back all of the bin bags full of leftover cardboard boxes to the CCF building. We then formed up for final parade and were dismissed.

When I met my dad in the car park, I felt sad that the evening was over, but at the same time, glad to know that I could get out of my oversize uniform!

Orienteering at Warcop, 20th November 2011

On the 20th of November, 17 cadets took part in the national cadet orienteering championships at Warcop Training Area in Cumbria. The course involving running over 5.3km with 95m of ascent through the rough and, in places, marshy grounds of the training area. Everyone did well to navigate successfully and to then find the points which were often hidden in ditches, and behind walls all against the clock.

Three teams (senior boys, senior girls and junior girls) successfully finished as well as most of the individual runners. The senior girls' team competed well to gain second place in their category and one candet chieved the fastest individual time over the senior girls' course by a margin of around 5 minutes, gaining the title of National Champion. Even those who didn't win enjoyed the event which was for many their first attempt at competitive orienteering.

Field Day, 14th October 2011

The day started with weapons testing to check everyone was safe for the blank firing planned for the evening. After this, the cadets were given lessons from senior NCOs on the skills they would be using later that night. These were conducting reconnaissance patrols, ambushes and setting up patrol harbours. A cooked lunch was served in the school canteen, something many remembered wistfully when tucking into ration packs during the exercise phase of the day.

We camouflaged ourselves, filled our webbing and patrolled into the woods. We set up a harbour as RSM Rennie had taught us that morning and began cooking our ration packs - it was at this point that many realised they'd forgotten cutlery! We were briefed on our mission; rescuing an injured ally from an unknown location in the forest and transporting him for Medevac. We were able to find Colonel Rennie (Must have hit his head!), and successfully carried him to safety on an improvised stretcher.

We were then able to conduct our ambush. We were issued blanks and patrolled to the FRV (Final Rendez-Vous) before sending a small reconnaissance patrol to check the area was still safe. It was so the rest of the section moved into position in a ditch overlooking the field the enemy was expected to walk along. They enemy approached and on C/Sgt Stables' command, we opened fire, defeating them.

We then moved quickly back to the security of the CCF house, away from any potential enemy reinforcements. Here we returned our equipment and cleaned weapons before going home for a well deserved rest.

Skill at Arms meeting, September 2011 - Cadet Corporal Mark Brownson

Saturday was a very early morning with the 6:00am fire drill, but after breakfast the day calmed down and we started some shooting! The first shoot was the deliberate shoot which is where you are given unlimited time and 12 rounds and the aim is to get the highest score possible by hitting as close to the centre of the target as possible. During this shoot it rained nonstop while the other team captains and I shot, but then as soon as King's finished and it was the next group's turn, it stopped raining and the sun started to shine, which we thought was extremely unfair! Due to my poor shooting in the torrential rain I knew that we had no hope in the deliberate shoot, which King's have traditionally been best at.

Through the rest of the day we did various shoots including my favourite the Marling shoot which involves a 100m sprint before firing off 10 rounds in one minute, it's a real adrenaline rush.

Saturday night we went out to Southport for the evening and we had, as always, a huge amount of fun before returning at 11:00pm for lights out.

Sunday was the day of the falling plate tournament, which consists of sprinting 100m as a team of four and then hitting 10 plates that are a total of 200m away, all in a time limit of 1 minute, a lot harder than it sounds. Sadly due to the draw we lost to the winners in the quarter finals.

At 14:30 the prize giving commenced. Sadly we did not win any individual prizes despite Benhur Johnson's exceptional performances throughout. Although much to my surprise King's came second in the deliberate shoot out of a total of 36 teams. Seems my shoot in the rain didn't go that badly after all.

RAF Summer Camp, 9th July 2011

9 RAF cadets arrived at RAF Kinloss after a 9 hour minibus journey. After dinner in the mess, we were split into our two flights for the week before being given a series of icebreaker exercises to complete.

On Sunday morning, we were up early for an orienteering challenge. After two hours in the woods, we had lunch before driving to Fort George, an historic army base, where we explored to battlements and sampled the local ice cream. We also spent some time getting to know the other cadets on the camp.

On Monday, we visited the survival centre, where we were shown round the life rafts aboard RAF aircraft which we would have to operate in the pool on Wednesday. After lunch, we spent the afternoon at the range, were we learnt the drills for the No. 8 rifle. Everyone passed their test, which meant they could shoot on Thursday.

On Tuesday morning, we visited the Tornado GR4 training squadron. Most cadets were able to sit inside the cockpit of a Tornado and to ask questions about the aircraft. We also learnt about the training regime for Tornado aircrew, and how a typical sortie is planned and executed.

After dinner we visited the fire service, where we held races against each other to see who was fastest to unroll a fire hose and plug it in (the winners got to soak the losing team, whose hose hadn't yet been plugged in). After that, the firemen decided to soak us all for good measure, so we all returned to the billets very wet. We were then taken to the beach, were we relaxed and played some games.

On Wednesday morning, we all went to the swimming pool, were we took the cadet basic swim test. All the cadets passed, which meant we could take part in the life raft drills. These involved wearing an airman's 'Life Saving Jacket'; inflating and climbing into a life raft; and rescuing an unconscious crewmember. We then visited the RAF Mountain Rescue team based at Kinloss, who showed us all the vehicles and equipment they use in mountain rescues.

We spent Wednesday afternoon on the low ropes course, developing our leadership, teamwork, and balance! There were several challenges, which allowed different cadets to take the lead and try different roles.

On Thursday, we spent all morning at the 25m range firing the .22 rifle. For most cadets this was the first time they had fired this weapon, so it was a very good experience. After lunch, we spent the afternoon with the RAF Regiment in the forest, learning how to build shelters, signal fires and water-collecting devices, in the unlikely event we ever crash-landed in an uninhabited forest.

On Friday, we again spent the morning shooting, this time with L98s on the DCCT range. We were able to shoot at a variety of different targets ranges and sizes. We then visited the UK search and rescue control centre, which is currently based at Kinloss, and directs all the RAF, RN and Coastguard SAR helicopters. We also visited the RAF police dog squad, who showed us how they train the police dogs before giving us a demonstration of how the use the dogs to apprehend trespassers.

On Friday afternoon, we held our inter-flight drill competition, which was judged by the Station Warrant Officer, with the result very close. On our last night, we had a small party, where we were given our camp photos, and where also the camp awards were given out.

Exercise First Steps, 18-19 March 2011 - a report by Cadet Marion Vickers

On 18th March a group of 40 new cadets went on Exercise First Steps. For many of us it was the first time we had done something like this, involving cooking with boil-in-the-bag rations, building and then sleeping in our own shelters. After sorting out all our kit and getting separated into sections we set off for the exercise. We walked to the woods behind our school with our 65 litre backpacks on, it was tiring after a full day of school, but after we had eaten a few sweets we all felt happy again!

On arrival at the harbour area we set to work on building our shelters. We were working to a tight schedule as the sun was setting quickly. After we had made our shelters we went into the field for a lesson on patrol formations. It was really interesting and was to prove extremely useful for the evenings activities! After this we started cooking our meals. They weren't very tasty but everyone was really hungry and so it was eaten without too much grumbling! After this, In our individual sections, we went for lessons in patrolling, moving around at night without detection, duties of a sentry and, for a bit of fun and leadership skills, a night line. It was thoroughly enjoyable and all the people in charge were very helpful and engaging. After a night of running around, we were all offered hot dogs and hot chocolate. It was about 0030 before the whole camp was asleep!

In the morning we made our own breakfast and took down our shelters. After the walk back to school we organised our kit and then prepared for our passing out parade. Lots of family turned out of the parade and everyone, although they were exhausted, had a smile on their face. Then we were issued our half stars and we were all very proud of ourselves. I'd like to thank the section commanders, platoon commander and sergeant as well as the teachers and NCOs that made it a really great night.

Sealand Ranges Day, 30th January 2011

Cadets from both the Army and RAF sections took part in a range day at Sealand Ranges to start training for the Cadet Skill at Arms Meet. The morning consisted of the cadets being divided into four sections - two of which firing the rifles at one end of the range, and the other two sections working in the butts underneath the targets, scoring their friends after each shoot, before swapping round.

During the morning, cadets shot 20 rounds each at targets 100m away with L98 Cadet GP Rifles, many achieving very high scores.

After lunch, the cadets once again formed four sections, and took turns shooting a further 20 rounds at targets 300m away - this was much more challenging, and combined with a strong wind, cadets were lucky to get even a couple of shots on target!

By the end of the day, all the cadets had a successful day's training to start off the year putting into practise the weapon handling skills they have been learning and fully enjoying the event.

Cadet Matt Cook writes about the Exercise Winter Warmup - January 2011

In the morning, cadets completed the assault course at Dale barracks which involved climbing over walls, walking over planks suspended high above the ground, climbing ropes and jumping over trenches. Everyone performed well, conquering their fears of heights and finding unknown strength to traverse the obstacles.

After the obstacle course, cadets honed their shooting skills at the range, shooting the L98 (a semi-automatic) assault rifle. The targets were set at a range of 30m and cadets were given a few rounds to get the feel of the rifles. The targets were inspected (They were found to be full of holes) and advice was given by the range staff. Then came some "snapshooting" in which targets were turned sideways and cadets were told to only fire on them in the few seconds when when they turned to face them, allowing the cadets to practice making accurate shots quickly. Again the targets were inspected, revealing even more bullet holes and showing that there are many good shots in the section.

We returned to the pavilion to eat lunch and found a welcome meal of chips had been bought from the nearby shop. We then had some time to clean the weapons we had fired earlier and prepare our kit for the exercise in the afternoon.

Full of chips, four groups set out at intervals, tasked with meeting several informants positioned around Dale's woodland. Unfortunately, each group was captured and questioned by a fifth "Hunter" group a few minutes after setting out. Fortunately for them, the enemy was good natured enough not to interrogate them too brutally and deliver a brief lesson on what to do if captured before sending them on their way.

Only slightly shaken by their 10 minute capture, they were soon out moving through the wood and grassland, meeting the agents they were supposed to. Here, their skills at moving without detection were tested to the extremes as the armed hunter group which caught them earlier were now following them, trying to find the location of each of the agents spilling secrets. This led to several groups resorting to lying low in muddy ditches for long periods of time until danger had passed.

With all sections successfully completing their objectives, the cadets returned to the pavilion to celebrate their victory with a warming mug of hot chocolate.

Parental Consent Form for new recruits

Parents of those who would like to join the CCF should download and complete the parental consent form.

CCF Annual Dinner, September 2009

View an album of photos

The dinner waas attended by officers and cadets of the contingent and their families, together with the Headmaster and Chairman of the Governors. The guests of honour were the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress.

CCF Army Section Annual Camp - July 2009

Albums of photos

CCF Band visit to London 24-26 August 2009

View an album of photos.

On the 24th of August, 9 members of the King's School CCF Band set off on a trip down to London, accompanied and chauffeured by Captain Joseph. The minibus was packed full of instruments, food, music stands and uniforms ready for the hectic schedule that lay ahead of us.

After a good run down the M1, we arrived at our accommodation, a TA centre in Blackheath. We were made very welcome and rapidly unpacked the minibus. The next stop was the station and with one change on the underground we were at St John's Wood station, very close to the base of the Horse Guards, which is where we were heading. When we arrived, we were given a very jolly greeting by RQMS Stewie Smith, who gave us a complete tour around the Horse Guards' barracks. Having started off with a bit of regimental history, we then learnt all about the horses and visited the stables and training ground, next saw the ceremonial guns and finished off in the museum. This was a very fun way to spend the first day down in London.

We made our way home to Blackheath via the underground and DLR respectively. Whilst traversing the terrain between the station and our base, we stopped off at a restaurant where service was very good and food was plentiful, to say the least. After making a note to stop off there again, we finally made our way back to the TA centre and most of us, very tired after the travelling, dropped off to sleep.

The following day commenced with a very early wake-up call. After breakfast we put on our school uniform and again strolled down to the station. On the way, we were identified as King's School pupils by a mother of two ex-students, so apparently we weren't totally alone in the foreign territory. We shortly arrived in the centre of London and as our next appointment was not until 09.30, about an hour away, Captain Joseph gave us a tour around the centre of London, seeing the main sights.

After finishing the tour very conveniently in St James's Park, we went to see the band of the Scot's Guards. We were met at Wellington Barracks and given a warm welcome by Sgt Tony Furzey of the band. We received a short talk and itinerary for the day, before making our way down to Buckingham Palace to see The Changing of the Guards. Sgt Furzey knew the best positions to watch guard mount from, having participated in the ceremony many times himself.

Band of the Scot's Guards Lunch was provided for us at Wellington Barracks and then we were given a longer presentation by the Scot's Guards covering all aspects of being a professional musician and about the corps of army music. To complete the afternoon, we participated in a 'London Duck Tour' – a tour in an old World War 2 amphibious landing craft, which starting off looking around the city on the roads with a very spirited tour guide before diving into the river allowing us to see the city from a new perspective. This was thoroughly enjoyed by everybody.

Again, we travelled back to base in Blackheath and had a band practice before returning to the same restaurant we had visited the previous evening. Back at the barracks, some of us got far too over-enthusiastic about shoe polishing. When you could see yourself in everybody's shoe leather, we went off to sleep.

The following morning we performed a final kit check and had a last band practice before setting off in our minibus heading towards the centre of London. Having taken full advantage of the excellent parking facilities on the forecourt of Wellington Barracks, someone very kindly walked over to open the gate to the square outside the Guard's Museum and Guard's Chapel, where we were to be performing. We downed some lunch and got our instruments out to play. We attracted lots of tourists as well as two ex-guardsmen who listened to our performance passionately. The band played for two approximately twenty minute sessions and then, keen to avoid the rush hour around Birmingham, we loaded up the minibus for the final time and headed off home.

This trip was the first of it's kind for the CCF band. Everyone had a thoroughly enjoyable time and not one person went home without a smile on their face reflecting on the experiences of the previous days. We look forward to doing the same sort of thing again in the future: next year we hope to head up north to Edinburgh to play some part in the 2010 tattoo.

Chester Cadet Gains Duke of Westminster Award Prize

24 June 2009 - Today the outstanding achievements of 17 year old Chester cadet Elizabeth Anderson (known as Libby) were applauded at the annual Duke of Westminster Awards Ceremony for CVQO (The Cadet Vocational Qualification Organisation). Libby is a Cadet Company Sergeant Major at King's School CCF (Combined Cadet Force).

At the ceremony and luncheon at the Cavalry and Guards Club in London, Libby was presented with the Directors' Award for her commitment to others both within and outside the cadet organisation.

The prestigious Duke of Westminster Award is an annual competition organised by CVQO to recognise the most outstanding cadet from four cadet forces: the Combined Cadet Force, the Sea Cadet Corps, the Army Cadet Force and the Air Training Corps.

Libby was one of five prize winners selected from 215 nominated cadets from across the UK for her leadership qualities. She has a long list of cadet achievements, not just becoming a marksman, but also training other cadets in this skill. She plays a strong part in her local community including as a 'Young Leader' in her local guide unit and running coaching classes in Lacrosse for the younger students at her school.

Initially joining because she thought it was a good way to meet new people, Libby enrolled on the BTEC First Diplomas in Public Services and Music through CVQO. "I saw the programme as a great opportunity to further my qualifications in a way not otherwise available," she said. "This award has added a whole new dimension to BTEC and cadets in general and I am very proud."

Following the presentation Libby, together with four other prize winners, visited 10 Downing Street, later returning to the Cadet Training Centre in Frimley, Surrey. From here tomorrow (Thursday 25 June) with nine cadet runners-up, she departs for a three week expedition to South Africa where they will undertake an environmental awareness course in Kwa Zulu Natal and a cultural project working with and teaching orphaned children. In addition they will visit Rorkes Drift, Isandlwana and take part in a walking safari.

"I am happy that everyone is so proud and pleased for me. It's a great thing to be involved in," said Libby at the London ceremony.

Duke of Westminster Award winners

CCF Exercise Long Stag 15-16 May

After school on Friday (15 May) 27 army cadets boarded a coach heading for The Dale Camp for an overnight exercise. On arrival we gained a brief introduction to conditions as a gentle rain started. By the time pre-exercise safety briefs, battle preparation and orders had been given the heavens had truly opened and all cadets were garbed head to toe in waterproofs.

The platoon commander selected an appropriate harbour area and after a snap ambush and thorough clearance patrols the section commanders were given orders for a series of reconnaissance patrols as the rest of the cadets got some much needed warm food. At 2100 the first patrol left the harbour followed at hourly intervals by the other two sections. Some excellent patrolling skills were demonstrated by the cadets with careful movement, hand signals and use of cover giving an almost invisible approach to the enemy. After the patrols were completed the (deeply unpopular!) decision was made to stop the exercise for the night time hours due to the foul weather and cadets retired to a warm building for the remainder of the night.

The following morning at 0545 cadets were awoken and re-entered a tactical phase of the exercise by occupying the patrol harbour again. After breakfast cadets moved to be given orders by the platoon commander for a hasty attack on a series of enemy positions. By 0730 cadets were advancing to contact and came under enemy fire around ten minutes later. A brief attack was followed almost immediately by a second contact and shortly after by a third. The third attack was lead by L/Cpl Max Imfeld who boldly lead his section in an attack through 4 foot high nettles and brambles; that he commanded the shortest section by far made this a particularly courageous (General Hague style leadership!) attack.

The battle won cadets retired to a sheltered area to clean weapons and celebrate the birthday of L/Cpl Victoria Anderson who turned 15 on the exercise with some much appreciated cake.

Exercise Easter Assault 14-17th April

46 King's School Cadets took part in the CCFs annual Easter Camp. The students took part in a 4 day training programme which included in barracks weapons training, live firing, drill, tactics and fieldcraft. Cadets then put all these skills (except the live firing!) into practice on a 24 hour exercise. This started off with a tough three mile patrol with full CEMO (Complete Equipment Marching Order –i.e. full packs!) Students then established a tactical patrol harbour area before conducting a series of ambush and reconnaissance patrols at night. Conditions that night were appalling seeing most cadets thoroughly drenched – despite this morale remained high throughout. The following day saw a series of platoon level attacks conducted under the command of the Cadet CSM Libby Anderson.

The camp was a through success and despite having a very young group of cadets and foul weather throughout, the standards achieved were very impressive. The next exercise will be a leadership development camp on May 15-16th and will be aimed at cadets looking for promotion.

Exercise First Steps, 13th March 2009

34 army cadets deployed on Exercise First Steps after school on Friday 13th March. Most of these were new recruits from the Shells and therefore this was their first time on exercise with the CCF. Cadets started off by erecting shelters and cooking dinner; the former consisted of a poncho strung between two trees and the latter was vacuum packed 'boil in the bag' rations. After this feast the cadets conducted some night time activities including a reconnaissance patrol, a camouflage lesson and an observation lesson.

At about 1130 the cadets were returned to their shelters for bed. A windy night and a spot of rain made conditions interesting, but I have it on good authority that most cadets got at least one hour of sleep! In the morning after a self prepared breakfast (more 'boil in the bag') some leadership tasks were conducted and then the senior cadets then gave them a first rate demonstration of a section attack. After practicing these drills for about one hour we returned the exhausted cadets to their parents for some sleep.