Sergeant Mark Stacey beamed as Lord Dannatt oversaw the first parade inspection of East Norfolk Sixth Form College Combined Cadet Force (CCF) unit.
“I am very proud that 10 of our cadets achieved their pass star in the first term,” said Mark, the Staff Sergeant Instructor (SSI) for the newly formed CCF unit.
The College was granted permission to start up a CCF unit through the Cadet Expansion Programme (CEP) from September 2019. Twenty-nine units were started in East Anglia thanks to the CEP since the programme began in 2012, out of the five hundred nationwide.
Throughout that time, Andy Bovingdon has been the dedicated officer assisting schools in gaining approval from the Ministry of Defence to start a new cadet unit. Andy said, ‘General The Lord Dannatt has been tremendously supportive of EN CCF and his support has been both heartening and inspirational to the cadets and staff who are benefitting from the ‘Cadet Experience.’
He added: “It has been a delight to work with Dr Richards and her team under Dr Fox, in forming and operating such an exemplar CCF. EN CCF is a heartening success and a credit to all involved.”
EN Deputy Principal and Contingent Commander, Dr Simon Fox, said, “Cadets and the staff supporting them have worked so hard to launch the contingent. They have embraced the ethos and vision of the CCF and the College. Our students have already demonstrated a zest and enthusiasm which is seeing them achieve success after success in the cadet syllabus. Not only that, but the leadership skills they are developing, which have been recognised with the awarding of a range of ranks this week, will prepare them for a bright and successful future. As the CCF grows, even more students will benefit, and we can’t wait to see just how much they can achieve.”
General The Lord Dannatt GCB CBE MC reviewed the cadets on parade, accompanied by Principal Dr Catherine Richards and Cadet Staff Sergeant Natasha Cunliffe. He and Dr Richards then presented cadets with their rank slides and also their stars for recognition of the skills they have demonstrated since the formation of the contingent in September.
Lord Dannatt commented “It is astonishing to see how far this contingent has come in such a short time. The cadets are a credit to themselves and the College and have done fantastically to achieve so many accolades in such a short time. It was also fascinating to hear from the cadets about the wide range of opportunities in the College, and also the tremendous spread of careers they are hoping to go on into, including for some of them in the Armed Forces.”
The Combined Cadet Force (CCF) is a unique educational partnership that operates across the UK. Through a range of military themed activities, cadets have the opportunity to take responsibility, to develop skills such as leadership, self-reliance, resourcefulness, endurance and perseverance.
New students are being invited to apply to join the contingent as part of their enrollment process. The creation of the CCF forms a lasting legacy for the College and will provide the hub for community engagement into the future.
Schools interested in finding out how they too can set up a CCF unit should contact Andy Bovingdon ea-sceo@rfca.mod.uk