CCF: Army Section

HCS army section

Hereford Cathedral School's CCF Army Section is the most popular at the School with between 80-95 students each year choosing to be part of it. Cadets find that involvement in the army section is inspiring, rewarding, exciting and challenging.

We run a diverse range of trips and field days for all our cadets throughout the year. We also take part in a variety of weekends and competitions during the year and cadets also have the opportunity to go on leadership courses, Military Exercises, adventure training courses, and skill development courses run by the regular Army during the school holidays.

Our trips and field days are held at a variety of military training areas, such as Oakhampton, Nesscliffe, Penally and Sennybridge. We run these camps during Autumn Field days in October, during the Easter and summer holidays. For Easter we run our own week long Military Training and live firing range Package, ending in a Formal Mess Meal.

Cadets join us in Year 10 and carry out their basic training. This moves rapidly through drill, concluding with a drill and turnout competition during our Autumn Field days, weapon-training, introduction to field craft and life in the field and battle skills, signals, shooting, leadership exercises, first aid, and an array of adventurous training activities. Successful completion will lead to a pass in the Army Proficiency Certificate. Advanced training then allows cadets to focus and develop their skills in key areas, including Signals, Field craft and First Aid.

Cadets seeking promotion to become a NCO are expected to volunteer for the Easter and summer camps. Once promoted to an NCO, cadets have many opportunities to practise their leadership. The Senior NCO plans the training and the Junior NCOs deliver the lessons to the cadets each week. The NCOs have to be confident in the material they are covering and in their management of the cadets. Successful Junior NCOs are invited to attend the Leadership course at Easter to be promoted to the rank of Sergeant.

Opportunity for adventurous training is an integral part of the section at all levels, and the cadets take part in activates such as kayaking, gorge walking, rafting, climbing and mountaineering, as part of the Army camps. These encourage cadets to test themselves physically and mentally, allowing them to learn something new about themselves. We also have presentations from military units as part of our training on Friday afternoons and visit regular Army Regiments during some of our camps.