CCF Military Skills Competition 2010

 

 

 

 

Twenty members of the CCF attended the 51 (Scottish) Brigade military skills competition which was held at Dreghorn training area near Edinburgh. Dollar Academy entered a boys led by WOI Callum Jones (Form VI) and a girls team lead by Cpl Laura Dunn (Form V).

With the long nights drawing in the girls and boys arrived just in time to set up camp before nightfall and, after a briefing on the competition, settled down for a fairly comfortable night's rest under the stars. The competition got under way early on the Saturday morning. Each team had to navigate between eight different stands which tested a variety of skills including marksmanship, first aid, leadership and field training. Saturday night saw teams set out on a fairly demanding night navigation exercise; both teams performed well and completed the course, with the boys achieving the second fastest overall time, which was a fantastic achievement.

Sunday involved more physical tests with a 0600hrs start, speed march, assault course and 'advance to contact' shooting event. With no team knowing how they had performed until the prize giving, it was fairly tense (and smelly) within the pupils' ranks as the scores were announced. Dollar boys came fourth and the girls came seventh. Although all were a little disappointed with the announcement, on reflection everyone from both teams had pushed themselves to the limits and could feel proud of their individual performances. All who took part played their part in a memorable and enjoyable weekend; it was a great team effort.