'Simply The Best' - The Christ College Ccf Win 'Best Ccf' Title At The 2014 Cambrian Patrol

This years Cadet Cambrian Patrol Competition was held over the weekend 2nd- 4th May. Christ College entered a team in the Senior and Junior competitions, and following on from an extremely successful training camp the previous weekend, were in an optimistic mood. Once again it was held on the uncompromising Sennybridge Training area, in dry but cold conditions.

The CCB Junior team led by Matthew Dempsey and 2 I/C Annabel James travelled to Sennybridge Camp on Friday evening, and as his team got some rest, Matthew received initial orders for a series of patrolling tasks of approximately 14km in length. The Senior team, led by Luke Henderson received his orders mid-morning on Saturday and their first task was a march and shoot culminating at F Range.

The Junior team completed their patrol matrix on Saturday afternoon, and established a patrol harbour in the woods, in order to get some well-earned rest before their march and shoot on Sunday. The Seniors put in an excellent performance on the march and shoot, and after a hot meal moved to separate wood block to undergo a series of tasks including setting up a harbour, giving orders and conducting a night patrol, all of which were assessed by directing staff.

After a few hours sleep the Seniors were off again, this time patrolling around a series of stands, where they were tested on the Cadet syllabus, in a similar way as the Juniors the previous day. The Juniors had a lie in, but after a good breakfast they had to undertake the march and shoot, which culminates in the hilly climb to the range.

Excellent teamwork and navigation skills saw both teams reach all of their stands on time and with the cadets having done all that they could, it was just a matter of waiting for the results to be announced at the Prize Giving ceremony in the FIBUA (Fighting In Built-Up Areas) training village.

The marking was extremely tough this year with very few medals being awarded and hardly any Gold. Christ College performed outstandingly with the Seniors achieving a Silver, and an inexperienced but motivated and hard working Junior team winning a coveted Gold medal. The CCF competition is now open to CCF’s from across Great Britain, so it was no small feat for the Christ College CCF to once again retain the cup for the best CCF, although pushed by Dulwich College.

Our congratulations to Christ College’s CCF Contingent Commander, Major Ian Owen, and Christ College’s SSI, Mark Bevan, and the Senior and Junior teams for another exceptional performance. The teams were:

Senior Team: Luke Henderson, Rhodri Edwards, Mimi Welch, Will Trumper, Lloyd Donovan, Neil Wang, Josh Denton, Ed Harries;
Junior Team: Matthew Dempsey, Annabel James, Sky Treasure-Jeffreys, Sam Maggs, Trystan Williams, Milo Welch, Oliver Davidson, Jacob Williams, Shupal Shrestha.

The Cambrian Patrol is widely regarded as the ultimate test of soldiering skills and attracts teams from across the world. It was first set up more than 40 years ago, by a group of Welsh Territorial Army soldiers, who designed the training event to feature long distance marching over the Cambrian Mountains, culminating in a shooting match on Sennybridge training area. Since then, the exercise has been rigorously updated to meet the challenges faced by modern soldiers. The cadet patrol is a slightly downsized version of the full patrol but still incorporates a number of challenging tests. The patrol is a high tempo test of the cadets skills and as such they work their way around a number of different stands where different skills are tested.

Over the weekend, the cadets are tested on first aid, reconnaissance, camouflage and concealment as well as setting up a camp in a forested area. As well as spending the night in the forest, the cadets have to speed march to a firing range where their shooting skills are put to the test.

Posted: 06.05.14

‘Simply The Best’ – The Christ College Ccf Win ‘Best Ccf’ Title At The 2014 Cambrian Patrol

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