Published on: 12 October 2017




Over the school holidays, the Christ Church Grammar School Army Cadet Unit were deployed to Bindoon and Northam Army Training Areas, successfully completing the 2017 Brigade Annual Field Exercise (AFX17). This included four of our cadets receiving marksmanship awards.

Our first year cadets participated in various courses during the Annual Field Exercise including first aid, driving, single rope rescue, cooking, survival and adventure training with many receiving accredited qualifications for their efforts.

Second year cadets were allocated to the challenging Tier 3 course. The training is based on company level stability operations where cadets operate in the field conducting tasks such as clearing patrols, close target reconnaissance, observation posts, vehicle check points and cordon and searches.

“This year, Tier 3 incorporated cadets on exchange from the United Kingdom, which exposed our cadets to different tactics, techniques and procedures. Our cadets at all levels performed exceptionally well, enhancing their individual military skills, teamwork and command techniques,” says Co-ordinator of Army Cadets, Captain Duane Nurse.

“The weather was testing, but it didn’t dampen the morale of the boys. Our cadets discovered the human mind has an incredible capacity to forget discomfort when the sun comes out.”

“Three of our senior cadets held command positions – Lumina Gajanayake as Company Commander, Luke Wheatland as Company Sergeant Major and Thomas Hage as a Platoon Commander. Other second and third year cadets provided instructor support to other courses.”

“Narendra Gammanpila performed well as a Platoon Commander on Tier 2 and we had a number of cadets working with CAPT Conrad Scott in running the Junior Leaders Course.”

Towards conclusion of the Annual Field Exercise, our cadets participated in a number of activities and competitions. This included mountain biking, rock climbing, riding in 10th Light Horse Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicles and laser trap shooting.

“Our unit truly excelled in this year’s competitions. We came 1st in the First Aid Jnr, First Aid Snr, Military Skills Jnr, Military Skills Snr and Regaining. We came 2nd in the drill competition and CDT Edward Elias duxed the Junior Leaders Course. Lumina Gajanayake and Luke Wheatland received Commanders Coins for their work on Tier 3, alongside all of our cadets who provided instructor support,” says Captain Nurse.

The Annual Field Exercise finished with CCGSCU placing 3rd in the overall ranking for the State’s top unit.

Our Army Cadet Unit now look forward to participating in this Friday’s End of Year Parade, followed by the Regimental Dining-In Night, where we farewell our Year 12 cadets and thank everyone who has contributed to the unit’s success over the year. All families and friends are welcome to attend this Friday’s End of Year Parade taking place at 2.45pm on the Senior School oval.

We wish our cadets a pleasant break and look towards achieving the same levels of success in 2018.