The Volunteer - NWRFCA - Northwest Reserve Forces & Cadets ...

ACF
OFFICER TRAINING
‘I feel being a Company
Commander is a little
like driving, although
you have passed the
tests, you actually only
learn on the job’
BY CAPT CLAIRE EDGERTON
I
have been a member of Merseyside
Army Cadet Force (MACF) for ten
years and have been commissioned
for almost six of these. In my current
position as a Company Commander I
can only look back and smile at a career
in which I have truly enjoyed every
minute.
56 THE VOLUNTEER www.nwrfca.org.uk
The ACF has been a part of my life
since I turned 13 and walked through
the doors of my local detachment,
determined to join! I successfully made
the transition from senior cadet to junior
instructor and then went on to make the
decision to join the Officer’s Mess. This
decision I have never once regretted, as
being an officer challenges me in the
most positive ways every time I put my
uniform on.
Currently I hold the position of
Company Commander to Number 3
Company which covers the Wirral area
of Merseyside. I have approximately
150 cadets and 40 adult volunteers and
officers.
As part of my personal development
and training I have attended various
courses to assess and sharpen my
instructional ability, field craft and
exercise organisation, and most recently
command and management course
for Area Commanders. I feel being a
Company Commander is a little like
driving, although you have passed
the tests, you actually only learn on
the job. I learnt very early on after my
appointment to OC that nothing should
ever surprise me!
It is my job to ensure that the cadets
and instructors within my Company are
managed and encouraged to fulfil their
potential in everything they complete.
I organise and oversee all training
delivered and ensure each cadet and
adult is given the opportunity to get as
much out of the Army Cadet Force as
they can. When a cadet comes home
from a course or camp with a certificate
which recognises all the hard work they
For more information
on training to be an
ACF Officer visit
www.acfofficer.com
or call us on
0800 756846
have put in is incredibly rewarding for
me on a personal level. Knowing that
as an officer I was able to orchestrate
this gives me the greatest sense of
achievement and satisfaction that I have
found in no other hobby, job or past time.
My role as an officer in the ACF also
opened new doors and presented wider
opportunities in my working life. I am
currently a teacher of a Uniformed
Public Services curriculum which has
its foundations in the ACF syllabus.
Holding the rank of an officer has
given me transferable skills such as
time management, communication,
organisation, the ability to motivate and
inspire others and many more which
compliment my full time career.
In my opinion there is nothing out
there that even comes close to what I
have gained from the ACF, the hard and
soft skills I have personally developed,
the sheer satisfaction from seeing others
reach and release their own potential
and prosper. But also the individuals
that I have come into contact with that I
would consider friends for life.