Brief

The Annual Camp is held each year in the Singleton area during highschool holidays. The cadets experience various activities during the week giving "recruits" like me a lifetime of memories.

Saturday

On the 27th of September Cadet units arrived at different times during the day by coaches at the Singleton Army Base where they waited for further transportation by mogs to their units camp ground. My unit (RCU 211) from Newcastle waited for almost 2 hours for our transport to our camp grounds which was situated approximately 1km from the start of the long orange dirt road along which all units big and small were camped on. My unit arrived at our camp grounds late in the afternoon when the sun was just beginning to dip behind the Singleton range. Cadets were issued a hoochie, stretcher, sleeping bag and a ration pack. Our unit had to put up their hoochies in the dark which was quite hard when your torch wasn't very bright.

Sunday

Revally - 06:00. After a delicious breakfast of muffins, cornflakes or vita-brits with a drink of milk our unit cleaned up their camp removing sticks and logs, making paths from hoochies to tents and from tents to hoochies. Before lunch all Cadet units walked up the dirt road and up a hill where we were given a short briefing on what was going to happen and what artillery was there. They fired at red, white and blue targets 900m away. (They missed all of them). Halfway through the rain set in and those without raincoats got very wet on the long walk back down the road to their camping grounds. When our unit arrived back at camp we dried off quickly listening to the football match the Knights vs Manly and eating lunch and after the Knights victory we paraded in the streets flaging down passing by vehicles. That night my unit walked up the road to the showers to find one shower tank was blocked and that the lights weren't working and that the other shower tank was emtpy. We sent a WO1 back to camp to find out if we should wait for a few hours until they could refill the tank or walk back to camp. Two hours later we were still standing around in the cold waiting for a shower when the WO1 came back saying that we should wait since we had already waited for so long, but we ended up walking back to camp half an hour later without getting a shower and with a corporal with a bit of hypothermia.

Monday

Revally- 06:00. After a breakfast of much the same as on Sunday our unit was taken by mogs to the Lone Pine Infantry Museum in Center Ridge. After a browse we looked and brought from the corp shop before a lunch of bread rolls with a piece of ham. Then we walked to the nearby pool. Above the olympic size heated pool there was a rope confidence course where if you fell off the rope obstacles you fell into the pool. I didn't get very far but lots of cadets finished the course.

Tuesday

Revally- 06:00. After breakfast our unit was driven by mogs up to Singleton Firing Range where we were given a quick briefing on what the Steyr was and how to control one. I had a go firing at 3 moving targets one 75m, 100m and 300m with 20 rounds just before we left. The highest score was 19, the lowest score was 0 and my score was 3. Before a lunch of bread rolls and ham our unit and two other units (together we were called group 3) were driven by mogs to the start of the range and dropped off. After we ate our lunch were we were told about our navex called "hard yakka" and what it was all about. After our (long) briefing our unit had to decide the quickest route from where we were to Happy Valley (3km away) without clashing with the other groups too often. Our navex took us through the bush and up and down steep inclines. My unit arrived late in the afternoon and immediately had to put up hoochies. That night's dinner was potatoes, vegies and sausages.

Wednesday

Revally- 06:00. After breakfast (soup, canned spagetti and meatballs -cadets stocked up on those and later sold them for 50 cents a can while waiting for our go at absailing- and nutra-grain with a drink of milk) group 3 took down their hoochies and packed their gear up before going for a 1km walk up a steep hill where we were put into three groups: group 1- never before absailed (that was me); group 2- absailed before; group 3- those unwilling to leave the ground. Absailing was a great experience and once you had had your 2 turns you got to sit down for the rest of the day until after lunch when everyone had finished and we had a quick "scripture session" with 2 Army Reverends before we went walking again. We walked for 2km up a steep incline to where we stayed for a few hours doing little obstacles at stands until our transportation turned up (mogs) to take us back to camp.

Thursday

Revally- 06:00. After breakfast, my unit and group 3 set off in mogs to Center Ridge where they were to do a pioneering course in water. I stayed behind to do radio picket and help with chores. Unfortunately Thursday was the day when a cadet from a unit I do not know was doing something to mess up the radio messages, so MP's were sighted in Land-Rovers with trackers, going back and forth. At 12.00 our unit returned and males set off for showers up the road, while females washed their feet and hair in tubs before being transported to shower units in center ridge later that night.

Friday

Revally- 06:00. After breakfast, my unit started to pack up their gear and return their issued sleeping bag and stretcher. From then to 11:00 we were busily bundling them up and putting them in the truck so they could be returned. At 11:15 the mogs came to take us up to Center Ridge where we ate lunch before doing the obstacle course twice. One corporal dislocated her ankle when she fell off the monkey bars. ooch. After that my unit rounded up it's top ten athletes to do the course again in the grand finals. My units top ten came third. Everyone was pleased with the results. That night our camp took down the mess tent before going to bed in another issued sleeping bag which was to be returned in the morning.

Saturday

Revally- 05:15. Last Day! After a quick breakfast our unit took the rest of the tents down, took hoochies down, and loaded the truck before being transported to the parade grounds. Our unit played volleyball and polished our boots until 13:30 when there was a parade rehearsal. Parade rehearsal lasted until 14:00 I think, even though it didn't seem that long. Our unit ate a quick lunch and grabbed a few freebie drinks and chips before going on parade with all the other cadets on the airstrip. We paraded the 211 RCU flag and a Newcastle Knights flag ('97 Premiers). It was the biggest parade I have been in. There was even some New Zealanders. There were some civilian onlookers also. After parade my unit cleaned up their area and after a quick game of volleyball, we were then transported by mogs to the barracks where after more games of volleyball we ate dinner and were transported on the coach back to our depot in Newcastle. It was about 21:00 when we were met by our parents who eagerly listened to our adventures and checked us over to see if we were okay.

Debrief

A big thank you to all who organised this camp. It was thoroughly enjoyed by first-timers like me and other cadets and we learnt a lot.