CCF Upper Fourth Field Day - 16th May 2016

At the start of the year when we were told that we would be having the Upper Fourth for a whole school year on compulsory attendance, we set ourselves a target, that every Cadet would fire a Cadet 5.56mm Rifle, and every cadet in the RAF would get a flight experience (the weather is still hampering this). There have been other positive experiences along the way, but as field day loomed large, we wondered if we would actually be able to get every cadet in the Upper Fourth to fire a Rifle.

As the weather becomes ever more Spring like, another early start, and we were off to Whittington Barracks Lichfield. The road systems of the West Midlands did their best to disrupt us, but in true tradition of the British Army “No plan survives Contact”, with a quick reshuffle, all was back on schedule.

The Cadets rotated through the Rifle range, Clay Target Shooting, The Staffordshire Regiment Museum, Field Craft Lessons, command tasks and observation, and to top it all they cooked Army Rations on a Hexamine Stove for lunch.







The day stayed warm and dry and there were many happy and tired faces as they got back on the buses.

We achieved our aim, and every cadet that came to field day fired a rifle.

We hope that the pupils have had a positive experience, and this will help many of them to choose to stay on into the Fifth Form and beyond. The planning now changes to camp in July, where we will revisit the longer ranges at Whittington, and add to the many basic subjects the Upper Fourth have learnt this year.

- SSgt J A Farnes