CCF Shooting Team Aim High
CCF Shooting Team Sets Its Sights Higher and Higher
Nine Army and RAF cadets from the Loughborough Schools Foundation travelled to Beckingham camp from Friday to Sunday afternoon of the second weekend of September for the regional annual shooting event, competing against 140 cadets from 15 school and county teams. Cadets shot in a range of disciplines at distances of up to 300m, firing the L98A2 rifle.
Having only entered this competition for the first time last year after a long hiatus, the shooting team already shows that it is moving from strength to strength under Sergeant Hall’s guidance. Cadets start their shooting training with the Scorpion air rifle, before graduating to the 5.56mm calibre L98A2, firing live ammunition on the longer ranges.
The team, comprising Sergeants Archie Beardsley, Josh Dalrymple, Alex Eveson, Emily Raffan, and Tom Williams, and Corporals Silas Bovaird, Josh Ellis, Flo Ingram, and Henry Straw, left school at lunchtime on the Friday in order to be able to zero and prepare their rifles for the competition. Saturday morning saw them shooting first in the Earl Roberts competition, moving between the 300m, 200m and 100m firing points in quick succession to hit targets visible for varying amounts of time. The team then moved on to the Montgomery competition, requiring accurate groupings during rapid fire and snap-shooting, all at 200m. A further zeroing session in the afternoon was followed by dinner (and then a second, rather more palatable, meal underneath the Golden Arches).
The team performed really well in all four phases of the competition, but the second day was our most successful, seeing us come third in the Section Attack, a competition combining a casualty evacuation and rather a lot of running, with shooting at all three distances. Excitement mounted further still in the Falling Plate competition, a knock-out competition which saw us progress through some very close rounds to ultimately claim second place, beaten only by
Bedford School, the overall event winner. Silver Medals were awarded to Sergeants Josh Dalrymple, Alex Eveson and Tom Williams, and to Corporal Henry Straw, for their role in the Falling Plate shoot, but congratulations must be given to the whole team, who showed how much can be achieved with practice and dedication and their superb team spirit. They worked extremely well together, and their markedly improved performance compared to last year shows that they hold great promise further success in the competition in future years. Our aspiration of one day taking a team to Bisley looks increasingly achievable!
On behalf of the squad, heartfelt thanks go to Sergeant Hall for preparing the team, and Major Moffett and Captain Lagdon (a good friend of the CCF) for their invaluable help at the competition itself.
Major D Murphy
Contingent Commander
