About 100 Australian Army Cadets (AAC), 11 Royal Australian Air Force Cadets and two Royal Australian Navy Cadets from across Australia descended on Kokoda Barracks, Canungra to compete in the annual Chief of Army Cadet Team Challenge (CACTC) from July 1-6.
This year, the challenge consisted of 12 teams of 10, comprised of the nine Army cadet regions, one from the Air Force cadets, one triservice Barbarian's team and one multi-region Army cadets Barbarian's team.
Throughout the week, cadets were pushed to their physical and mental limits in a safe, controlled environment while learning valuable life skills including teamwork, resilience and effective communication.
The Western Australia Australian Army Cadets Brigade took home the trophy for the second consecutive year, with Cadet Under Officer Alasdair Cameron of Christchurch Grammar School Army Cadet Unit leading them to victory.
"Our team had to utilise different strengths, especially with the steep terrain in Canungra being so different to Western Australia," Cadet Under Officer Cameron said.
"Keeping a positive mindset was important throughout the challenge to ensure morale stayed high."
Participants aged 13-18 had the opportunity to apply skills they have learnt during their time in their respective cadet programs in a fun and engaging way.
"We undertook all of the activities really well as a whole and felt we were particularly good at the engineering stand," he said.
Members from 1st Military Police Battalion, 6thEngineer Support Regiment, 1st Signal Regiment, and the Land Warfare Centre supported the cadets throughout the challenge and provided mentorship that helped to elevate their performances.
"It was really beneficial to have the ADF members supporting the activity. Their knowledge and experience really enhanced our skillsets and the military-like experience," Cadet Under Officer Cameron said.
The Chief of Army Cadet Team Challenge enables cadets to put the skills developed in their units into practice, and harness Australian Army Cadet and Defence values.
To find out more about the Australian Army Cadets, go to www.armycadets.gov.au
