The Cadet Sergeant Major (40 page)

There was a moment's stunned silence while this sank in. Then the OC stepped forward with his hand out. Brown gaped and took it in his own. Smiles began to erase the despair and disbelief. Capt Conkey shook Brown's hand and said, “You will have to stay in the Control Group. Sgt Rankin keeps Three Platoon. And CQ, make sure Sgt Brown has some stripes on when the company is dismissed in a few minutes time.”

Capt Conkey stepped back and looked at each in turn. “Now, who is willing to apologize and to make another promise?” He looked at CUO White, who nodded.

“Me sir. I'm sorry.”

Each in turn apologized, then repeated their promise. Graham could hardly contain himself. He felt he must burst with joy. As the realization sank in the others began to grin and laugh- all except Peter. He looked anxiously in Graham's direction.

Graham felt his heart swell as though his chest would explode. He marched over and thrust out his hand. Peter met his eye then took his hand. Graham grinned. They both did. Neither could speak.

Capt Conkey saved them from a display of excess emotion. “Alright, you are all restored to your positions. Rejoin your platoons and we will hear no more of this. CSM put the company on parade!”

“Sir!”

As the reprieved cadets marched over to where the company sat waiting in their parade position Graham sensed an instant change. The huddled whispering stopped. The sourness evaporated. People began to smile. Before he had taken position out the front the news had spread. He sensed instantly that Capt Conkey had made the right decision. The company seemed to erupt with joy. As he called the platoon sergeants to form up their platoons the cadets were grinning and bubbling over with relief.

‘It was a good camp,' he decided as he watched the ranks being dressed. ‘And it is ending well.' Then, as an afterthought, ‘And I enjoyed being the Sergeant Major!'

---------------------------------

Six weeks later Graham again stood in front of the company at night with hundreds of parents watching. But this time they were happy parents, pleased with what they had just witnessed.

The unit had just completed its annual Passing-Out Parade. Prizes had been presented. The flag party had marched off; the CUOs had fallen out and the command of the parade had just been handed back to Graham.

He stood there, rigidly to attention, slouch hat at just the right angle, uniform immaculate, brass gleaming, polished boots shining in the floodlights, scarlet sash a bold splash of colour. He knew he had done well; with confidence, not conceit. He also knew he looked good, and looked the part (a bit of conceit there!).

‘It has all ended well,' he thought. He ran his eyes over the ranks. ‘Good! No-one moving- except for Cadet Lake smiling at me!' With a conscious effort he managed to restrain himself and not to smile back. He breathed in deeply.

“Compane-e-e-e-e. Atten.....shun! Compane-e-e-e. Move to the right in threes- Right- turn! Company, by the right, Quick- march!”

Later, after supper, there was a presentation by the OC to those cadets who were leaving: all four CUOs, plus Sgt Crane, Sgt Griffin; SSgt Costigan, Cpl Goltz and a few cadets. At the end of it Graham found Margaret on his left side and Capt Conkey on his right.

“That went well CSM. You did a good job.”

“Thank you Sir,” Graham replied. He glowed with pleasure. He also fretted with impatience. Beyond the OC's shoulder he could see Patricia Taylor of 10B and she had been making eyes at him all night! ‘I wonder?' he speculated.

“Now the bad news,” Capt Conkey went on.

“Sir?” Graham felt a gulp of worry. He wrenched his gaze from Patricia's delightful figure to meet the OC's eye.

Capt Conkey smiled. “We have to pick out who is to be sent on the Promotion Courses in December. I have discussed it with the OOCs, and with the CUOs. We have rank-ordered everyone by their marks according to their Personal Qualities Reports and Leadership assessment. But we still want your opinion. Are you free at Monday lunchtime to discuss it?”

“Yes Sir,” Graham replied, pleased at the compliment; and relieved by the implication that his own name must certainly be on the list.

It was.

He was first on the list of potential CUOs.

On Monday he settled himself in a chair opposite the OC on the F Block veranda and tried to read upside down. But Capt Conkey thwarted this by holding his clipboard up so he could not see the other names.

“OK CSM, we can only send five people on the CUOs Course. I have six names. Yours is the top of the list, and I don't expect anyone to dispute that ranking. You have done very well.”

“Thank you Sir,” Graham replied. He enjoyed the praise, but had his doubts. ‘I couldn't prevent all those people getting up to mischief,' he thought ruefully. ‘I couldn't even see that my best friend was causing problems!'

Capt Conkey went on: “Two others we are agreed on. They are Gwen Copeland and Stephen Bell.”

Graham nodded. His mind raced. So Peter had slipped. ‘He was second place in the middle of annual camp,' he remembered. His fears were confirmed by the OC's next statement.

“That means a choice between Peter Bronsky, Sgt Brown and Sgt Rankin for the last two positions. Which two do you recommend?”

Graham answered without hesitation. “Peter sir. And not just because he is my friend. He is a better sergeant; and has been much more reliable in attendance. And Rankin, even though he is only a temporary sergeant.”

“Rankin has done well. I think he should get the chance,” Capt Conkey agreed. “So, Bronsky or Brown?”

“Peter sir. Brown is a surly troublemaker,” Graham answered.

“So what do we do with Brown? Make him CSM?” Capt Conkey asked.

Graham's heart leapt. Did that mean that the OC agreed that Peter should get the fifth position?

“No sir. Definitely not. If he stays he could be a staff sergeant but in Control Group.”

“Hmmm. So who replaces you as CSM?”

Graham had thought hard about this. “Barbara Brassington sir.”

“Hmmm. She is only a corporal. I don't like pushing a corporal up to CSM. I prefer them to go corporal- sergeant- warrant officer.”

“I was pushed from corporal to WO,” Graham reminded. “Besides, I think she is the best person for the job. And you don't want your worst sergeant to be your CSM, better to have your best corporal.”

“So who is to be CQMS?”

“Bert Lacey sir.”

“And what about sergeants? We have postings for six and can send eight on the course. Who do you think we should select?”

Graham took out his notebook and consulted it. “Lofty Ward, Fiona Davies, Roger Dunning, Allison Broadfoot and Charlie Cox definitely. Maybe Cpl Scott and Anne Hopewell.”

“Hmmm. What about Laidley?”

“Maybe.”

“Fredericks?”

“No sir, too weak.”

“Gallon?”

“No, same reason.”

“Doyle?”

“Sir!” Graham cried.

Capt Conkey chuckled. “Maybe when he can pass his corporal's navigation test. OK, what about Kate O'Brien?”

Graham hesitated. “If I didn't have doubts about her trustworthiness I'd say yes.”

Capt Conkey pencilled a question mark. “Leah Allen?”

“Maybe sir.”

“Kellie Jones?”

Graham sucked his teeth. “Er, maybe.”

“Erika Goltz?”

“Definitely not!”

“What about the Control Group corporals: Bax, Martin and Clyde?”

“Martin maybe. Not the other two. No way!”

“OK. Let's talk about potential corporals....”

*               *               *               *               *               *

The list was published on the following Wednesday afternoon when the unit had its normal ‘Home Training' Parade. It read:

CUOs Course

Kirk

Copeland

Bell

Bronsky

Rankin

Warrant Officers Course

Brassington

CQMS Course

Lacey

Sergeants Course

Ward

Davies

Dunning

Broadfoot

Cox

Scott

O'Brien

Allen

Among the names for the Corporals Course were Margaret Lake, Wendy Werribee, Pat Sheehan and Dave Kenny.

As for Peter and Kate, she almost never spoke to him again, except on matters of duty. Peter had learned a hard lesson.

This is a story about the problems of supervising an army cadet unit. Its characters are teenage army cadets on their annual camp. The story deals with a wide range of problems and situations during the 9 days of the camp. As a comment there are two general approaches to preventing fraternization problems. One is to segregate the boys and girls. In most cases this is done only during the ‘off duty' times; the girls in one camp and the boys in another. In some units they are even segregated during training by having separate platoons of males and females.

These methods have never been employed in the author's unit. There are several reasons for this. The idea of separate male and female platoons was rejected because it then precludes the selection of leaders based on merit. For example if there are two male platoons and only one female platoon but there are three females who are the best potential leaders do two miss out because of gender?

Another reason for not segregating the sections or platoons is that if the females are in leadership positions but are then withdrawn during the night the command structure which provides the supervision is also weakened. The CUO, sergeant and corporals are like the reinforcing rods in the concrete. Without them supervision is much weakened. They are also the nerve endings that detect and usually prevent most of the trouble.

More fundamental reasons have to do with the belief that character development requires a degree of freedom and trust; that the young people need to be in charge of their own honour and integrity- with plenty of guidance and advice. They are taught the rules and then supervised, but not to the degree that the officers act like prison guards. As the author's unit is based in co-ed State High Schools the boys and girls are used to being together much of the time anyway and an integrated unit works very well with few problems. They are exaggerated for this story, as is the proportion of girls who might be prone to immoral or illegal activity. In reality most girls in cadets have very high morals and are very well behaved.

Boy-girl relationships are one of the dominating social parameters to be kept in mind when managing such an organization. They are on-going and often surprising and- to the cadets- of vital importance to their emotional and mental well-being and social development.

Because many of the situations in this story involve the issue of ‘fraternization' there are, of necessity, some sexual references.

Most of the incidents involve teenagers so there is some coarse language (Strongly modified for the book and not nearly as colourful or objectionable as they tend to use in reality). This is often almost word for word as heard by the author over the years- with the names changed to protect both the innocent and the guilty.

This places the author in a difficult situation. If reality is included some people may be offended or object- but if reality is not included how then does one advise and help people to cope with the world they actually live in?

So this is a watered down but ‘warts and all' story describing the sorts of things young leaders may encounter and offering helpful hints on how to deal with them. The author has commanded an army cadet unit for 25 years and can assure the reader that all of the situations described have actually happened- with minor changes for the sake of the story- but thankfully not all to one poor cadet CSM.

The book was written in North Queensland in the days before combined camps with ‘Tier' Training and the style of camp described is, in this author's opinion, a much better way of achieving the character building and leadership training objectives of the AAC. It also includes some activities that are no longer part of cadet training.

 

“You're a coward Kirk. Yer' gutless!”

The jeering insult bit deep. 15 Year old Army Cadet Corporal Graham Kirk turned to face his accuser, the heat of his anger mixing with the chill of fear. He blinked to clear the sweat from his eyes while his mind raced in an attempt to find an easy way out of the crisis which had suddenly erupted. Five paces away stood the bane of his life: Cadet ‘Pigsy' Pike. Behind Pigsy stood his cronies: Waters, Franks and Moynihan. On the ground lay a cadet they were bullying.

‘Am I a coward?' Graham wonders. He is in his 2
^nd
year in Army Cadets. The previous year he had joined the cadets with a reputation as a trouble maker and in difficult circumstances. Now, right at the start of the 9 day annual field camp, he is confronted with this crisis.

Over the days that follow he is to face other challenges and temptations that will test his integrity, courage and loyalty to the limit. Top of the list are the bullies: ‘Pigsy' and his gang, all soured by jealous resentment because he was promoted and they were not. And there are girls in Graham's section- and Graham has ‘discovered' girls and really likes them. But he has been fired with ambition and really wants to be selected for promotion to sergeant the following year. As the cadet unit has 16 corporals but only positions for 7 sergeants and a warrant officer he can see that he has some stiff competition to beat if he is to be chosen.

The story follows Graham's trials and tribulations as a section commander. These lead him to a critical personal and leadership challenge which causes him to face up to what sort of person he really is and what he wants to be.

This is the story of an army cadet camp told in detail. For cadets and ex-cadets it should provide both interest and nostalgia.

Because it is a story about teenagers, and particularly teenage boys, there are some sexual references and coarse language. This book is written for teenagers and is not suitable for Primary School children.

When Graham is in Year 11 and is the Company Sergeant Major of his army cadet unit he sets off on a five day hike during the June school holidays with his friends Peter, Stephen and Roger. Their aim is to complete the ‘expedition' task for the Duke of Edinburgh Award and plan to march 100km. Their OC, Captain Conkey, had placed a set of ‘clues' to test their navigation. Instead they walk into trouble so unexpected and so deadly that it tests all their characters and friendship. To survive they need to use all their skills as cadets.

To Roger, youngest, chubbiest, and least fit, the whole event is the toughest test of endurance he has ever encountered. He has to summon up all of his resources, and make hard moral choices, to see the thing through. This is Roger's story and it is set on the Atherton Tablelands of North Queensland. The action takes place around the shores of Lake Tinaroo and in the tropical rainforest.

Suitable for teenagers.

Graham is 17 and is a Cadet Under-Officer in his army cadet unit. It is September. On the third day of annual camp he encounters 15 year old Elizabeth, who has a briefcase full of incriminating documents and is being hotly pursued by a gang of crooks. Graham knows Elizabeth from school and decides to hide her while he contacts the authorities. But who to trust? And how to do it?

Complicating matters is the fact that 15 year old Margaret, a corporal in his platoon, is in love with Graham. Jealousy rears its ugly head. Problems multiply and plans go adrift. As the days go by the crooks become ever more desperate and Graham becomes involved in the most challenging adventure of his young life.

The story is set in the dry savannah country of inland North Queensland in the Charters Towers district. There is fast moving action and authentic detail about army cadets. Buy the book to join in with them as they try to use their training to overcome the mounting problems.

 

‘Thirty nine girls! And some of them with reputations for being hot,' thought 16 year old Army Cadet Warrant Officer Graham Kirk as he scanned the company on Day 1 of the unit's annual field camp. ‘And Capt Conkey doesn't want any ‘boy-girl' problems.'

That got him considering the problem of temptation- something he suffered strongly from as he really liked girls! ‘How do we prevent Fraternisation?' he wondered. As the Company Sergeant Major one of his main duties was discipline. ‘And the cadet sergeants are the people I must depend on,' he thought. What bothered him was the feeling that some could not be trusted.

What follows is a character study focused on loyalty and integrity during an army cadet camp and of how Graham and his friends cope with the unexpected problems that occur. For cadets and ex-cadets the detail will inform and provide nostalgic flashbacks.

Because this is a story about teenagers, and particularly teenage relationships, there are some sexual references and coarse language. This book is written for young adults and is not suitable for Primary School children.