07/09/2026
𝟑𝟏𝟔 𝐀𝐂𝐔 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐂𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 🇦🇺
Congratulations to former 316 ACU Cadet Warrant Officer Class 2 𝐑𝐨𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐑𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬, who has been selected as 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐕𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔 𝐕𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐕𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐫 𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬!
From joining 316 ACU in its inaugural year in 2023, Rohan quickly demonstrated the qualities that define an outstanding cadet: 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩, 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞, 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞 to others.
Within just two years, he progressed to WO2 and CSM, taking on significant responsibilities across operations, welfare, supporting the day-to-day running of our local unit.
But what makes this achievement particularly special is what happened after Cadets.
Rohan has taken the lessons learned at 316 ACU into the wider community, continuing his commitment to service through volunteering with the CFA and VICSES, while also helping organise community events and fundraisers.
As Rohan puts it:
“𝐂𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞.”
That is the legacy we hope every cadet takes with them.
Cadets isn't simply about uniforms, drill or military skills. It is about building character, confidence, leadership, resilience and a willingness to contribute to something bigger than yourself.
Rohan's journey is a brilliant example of that.
And his message to young people thinking about joining?
“𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐞.”
We couldn't agree more.
𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐑𝐨𝐡𝐚𝐧 — 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝟑𝟏𝟔 𝐀𝐂𝐔
Being recognised as one of just eight finalists across Victoria is an outstanding achievement in itself. Whatever the final result, you have already demonstrated the impact that young people can make when they choose to step up, serve and lead.
We are extremely proud to have played a small part in your journey.
𝟑𝟏𝟔 𝐀𝐂𝐔 — 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩. 𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫. 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲.
Please join us in congratulating Rohan and celebrating an outstanding former member of our unit and the positive impact of the Australian Army Cadet experience.
𝐅𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐑𝐨𝐡𝐚𝐧:
1. Looking back to when you first joined Army Cadets at 316ACU, what skills or personal qualities do you think you have developed that you didn’t have when you started?
𝑆𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑗𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐴𝑟𝑚𝑦 𝐶𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑡 𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑚 𝑖𝑛 2023 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 316 𝐴𝐶𝑈, 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑘𝑒𝑦 𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑠 ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑦𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓 𝑡𝑜 𝑎 𝑠𝑒𝑡 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑑. 𝐵𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠, 𝐼 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐼 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝐼 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐼 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝐼 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑦𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓.
𝑇ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑚𝑦 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝐶𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑡𝑠, 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓 𝑡𝑜 𝑎 ℎ𝑖𝑔ℎ 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑛𝑜 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑖𝑠. 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑑 𝑎 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑦 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡, 𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟, 𝑚𝑦 𝑏𝑒ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑖𝑛𝑓𝑙𝑢𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑒.
𝐵𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠, 𝐼 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑒𝑥𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑚𝑦 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒𝑠 𝐼 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑚𝑦𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝐼 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑑.
2. Army Cadets places a strong emphasis on leadership, teamwork, discipline and service to others. Which of those qualities has had the biggest impact on you personally, and how have you applied it outside of Cadets?
𝐼 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑦 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑝, 𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑚𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘, 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑖𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑠 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑑 𝑚𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐶𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑡 𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑚. 𝐻𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑤𝑜 𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑡 𝑜𝑛 𝑚𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑚𝑦 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑖𝑡𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑦 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑖𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒.
𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑠 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑑 𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑜 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑏𝑒𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑑 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑦 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐶𝐹𝐴 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑉𝐼𝐶𝑆𝐸𝑆. 𝐶𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑡𝑠 𝑡𝑎𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑚𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑝𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑢𝑝 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑑𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑛𝑒, 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑖𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑛𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑙𝑦 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑑𝑜. 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑖𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑚𝑒, 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑦 𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑦 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑖𝑡𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠, 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑦 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑦.
3. You have now been selected as one of only eight finalists in the 2026 Victorian Young Volunteer Awards. How do you think your experiences and responsibilities as an Army Cadet have influenced your commitment to volunteering and helping your community?
𝐵𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐶𝑆𝑀 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑊𝑂2 𝑜𝑓 316 𝐴𝐶𝑈 𝑔𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑚𝑒 𝑎 𝑙𝑜𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑏𝑒ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝐼 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑝𝑒𝑑 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑟𝑢𝑛. 𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑦 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝐼 𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡 𝑚𝑦 𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑒 𝑏𝑟𝑖𝑔𝑎𝑑𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑠.
𝑊ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑜𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑛 𝑔𝑜 𝑢𝑛𝑛𝑜𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑦, 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑡𝑜 𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑙𝑦 𝑜𝑟𝑔𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑢𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑓𝑢𝑙.
4. Can you tell us about a particular experience or challenge during your time with 316ACU that pushed you outside your comfort zone and helped shape the person you are today?
𝑀𝑦 𝑏𝑖𝑔𝑔𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑦 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡 𝐴𝐹𝑋. 𝐻𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑗𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝐶𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑡𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 316 𝐴𝐶𝑈 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑖𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 2023, 𝐼 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑎 𝐶𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑡 𝑊𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑂𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑒𝑟 𝐶𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑠 2 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑡𝑤𝑜 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠 𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑠𝑖𝑔𝑛𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠, 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑓𝑎𝑟𝑒, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑎𝑦-𝑡𝑜-𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝑟𝑢𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑓 𝑓𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑠: 314 𝐴𝐶𝑈, 315 𝐴𝐶𝑈, 316 𝐴𝐶𝑈, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑀𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑣𝑎𝑒 𝐶𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑔𝑒 𝑑𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑒𝑥𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑖𝑠𝑒.
𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑑 𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑝 𝑢𝑝 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔. 𝐼𝑡 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑝𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑢𝑖𝑙𝑑 𝑚𝑦 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑎𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑜 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑏𝑒𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑦 𝑐𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑡𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑦. 𝐷𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑦 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑛𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑠, 𝐼 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑑𝑜 𝑖𝑡 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑖𝑛 𝑎 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑏𝑒𝑎𝑡, 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑚𝑦 𝑐𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑡𝑠 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑢𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑒𝑑, 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑑, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑓𝑟𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑒.
5. For a young person considering joining Army Cadets, what would you say they can gain from the experience—not just in terms of military skills, but in confidence, character, leadership and their ability to contribute to others?
𝐹𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑗𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐴𝑟𝑚𝑦, 𝑁𝑎𝑣𝑦, 𝑜𝑟 𝐴𝑖𝑟 𝐹𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒 𝐶𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑡𝑠, 𝐼 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑠𝑎𝑦 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑙𝑢𝑛𝑔𝑒. 𝐵𝑒𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑠, 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑝, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑒, 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑝𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑚.
𝐶𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑡𝑠 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑛 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓, 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑤 𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑦. 𝐼𝑡 𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑 ℎ𝑖𝑔ℎ, 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑙, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑓𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑛 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒.
𝐹𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑒, 𝐶𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑡𝑠 ℎ𝑎𝑠 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑝𝑒𝑑 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛 𝐼 𝑎𝑚 𝑡𝑜𝑑𝑎𝑦, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑠, 𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑝𝑠, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑦 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑚𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑚.
Rohan Richards (Sept, 2026)
