Army Cadets from Moray have proved their worth by being crowned 1st Battalion the Highlanders’ Champion Company of Annual Camp 2017.
Almost 270 cadets from the battalion, which covers the Highlands & Islands, have returned from their two-week Annual Camp held at Barry Buddon Training Area near Dundee.
The majority of the fortnight saw the cadets from the battalion’s five companies and guests from Orkney ACF placed into training cadres where cadets trained towards the next level of the cadet training syllabus level alongside fellow cadets from other companies at the same level.
During the evenings there were competitions between the companies and Orkney to encourage friendly rivalry. Some of the competitions required skills taught from the syllabus, such as drill and turnout, shooting and fieldcraft, while others – such as football and cross country – were just to encourage some friendly rivalry.
However it was not all training while at camp, the cadets had some non-training days where everyone – including the adult instructors – got the chance to take part in paintballing, rock climbing and clay pigeon shooting.
The final day of camp ended with the prizegiving, which saw each company win at least one major trophy. The final trophy presented was the Champion Company Trophy ‘Hector’ which was presented to Moray Company, who also won the male and female football competitions, drill competition and swimming.
The Inter-Company Trophy was presented to Cadet Company Sergeant Major Scott Dawson (17), from Nairn Detachment. He said: “It was a good effort from every single cadet in the company, I am very proud to have collected ‘Hector’ for Moray.”
Annual Camp 2018 will be held at Otterburn Training Area in Northumberland, which will see Moray Company attend as defending champions.
Moray Company Cadet Company Sergeant Major Scott Dawson being presented with the Inter-Company Trophy ‘Hector’ by the battalion’s Honorary Colonel Carolyn Caddick.
