Cadet General Traing at HMS Raleigh, Plymouth
October 2006
During the autumn half term I went to HMS Raleigh to do cadet general training with Graeme Sharp and Ben Lansdown. We had lots of fun a made lots of new friends. We had a real taste of Navy life sleeping in dormatories and eating in a Navy mess with real sailors.
On the first night we came in very late, because we'd already had a long cadet day at the Trafalgar Parade and missed the earlier train. So on the first night we didn’t have any time to talk to new people. But the next day we had breakfast and met them all then. Next we were given a safety briefing.
When all that was finished, the fun began. The first thing we did was the assault course. We managed to do it in the time we were told to do it in.There was a lot of running. You had to jump in a river, which they said was heated - but wasn't - then you had to run. We climbed over a wall and ran and then another sort of rope wall and ran and then over another river on a plank and more running. And did I say we ran a lot too? It was really hard work but really cool to do it in the time limit.
That afternoon we went to a museum about ships then to the gallows for French prisoners of war after the Battle of Trafalgar. And I was lucky enough to pull the leaver and make the floor disappear - in a pretend hanging.
The next day we went to the place where submariners are trained. This was fun and we did a quiz which me and Graeme think we did well in. We learned lot of interesting facts about submarines.
Then that afternoon we went orienteering. All our traing back at our unit actually worked and we found our way around! It was good because if you didn't already have it you'd have qualified for basic ET (Expedition Training). Me, Graeme and Ben already had this qualification from our unit.
The next day we did sea survival safety in a life raft which was incredibly fun and we all got wet. What you have to do is swim, wearing a life jacket, to the middle of the pool where there is a life raft that you have to climb in to. You need to pass this to be a sailor, or in the merchant navy and for some RYA qualifications.
In the afternoon we did all our Heart Start, which is a first aid qualification that teaches you how to deal with a heart attack. I already had this qualification but I still learned some new things because some rules had changed. Everyone passed. Apparently heart attacks are the most common thing first aiders have to help with so it's great we all know what to do now. But that doesn't mean I want you to have a heart attack in front of me!
The next morning we did fire fighting! Which was real fun, we used different types of extinguishers including my favourite the foam spray. We also used the great big and the very powerful water hoses. Along with the practical we also learned about which extinguishers to use on what fire and why. I'm a firefighting expert now!
The last thing we did was damage control. They had this amazing simulator where you are in a room filling up with water through holes in the wall and floor and we have to cover them up and stop the water. We all got wet and had lots of fun. For the real sailors the water goes up over their waist and the room moves around like a boat in a storm or under attack!
This was an incredible experience and I think this would be a course anyone could enjoy so I recommend you to do it. We all had great fun and would like to say thank you to all the staff who worked hard to make it so good for us!Hugo Oakley, October 2006