For years now, young people in qathet have been offered a unique opportunity, to experience challenging and hands-on skills training, if they choose to, at little to no cost, with the Royal Canadian Sea Cadet Program.
Not every youth or family knows about the opportunity, but once in the program, boredom is not an option; those who stay on could find themselves on the water with marine outfits such as the Canadian Coast Guard or Royal Canadian Navy.
Sea cadet training
Royal Canadian Sea Cadet Corps (RCSCC) 64 Malaspina chief petty officer first class (CP01) Shelby Pauls is one such person. Pauls joined the sea cadets when she was 12 years old and never looked back. Now at age 17, she is a mentor and coach to younger cadets in the program.
"I started out as a really shy kid," says Pauls. "I would listen but never speak in class; now I'm teaching classes and speaking as well."
Timberlane barracks
Sea cadet unit 64 Malaspina has been commanded by lieutenant (N) Kenneth Stewart for the past seven years. Stewart says although he is technically in charge, and brings his extensive naval training and experience to the young corp cadets, it is the cadets themselves who mentor each other.
Currently there are 22 active qathet region cadets in the program, ranging from 12 years to 17 years of age. Once in the program both Shelby and Stewart emphasize that there are many routes a sea cadet can take, depending on what their interests are.
"I learned how to sail," said Shelby. "We do training weekends in Comox and I've learned to run a powerboat."
Sailing and survival skills
Sea cadets learn a whole range of skills, including sailing, ski/shoot biathlon, safety, camping, survival, first aid, seamanship and trade courses. However, they also take part in extracurricular activities such as basketball, disc golf and swimming.
"We are trying to get access to the climbing wall in Townsite," says Stewart. "That would be another fun activity for the cadets."
Pauls mentioned one highlight from earlier in the year was when the sea cadets took a trip to Victoria and went aboard Canadian ship HMCS Ottawa, which is a warship that has weapons.
"Some of our cadets have gone on to join the navy and one I know of became captain of a ship," said Stewart. "Two others have trained on icebreakers with the coast guard in the Arctic."
Teamwork
Being a sea cadet is much more fun than anyone realizes, according to Pauls.
“People may think because it is a military base, the structure is going to be intense, but I love it," she explains. "I like that the expectations are so clear, and I was able to build such good bonds, and now I'm watching all the little ones slowly finding their way and helping each other out."
Pauls emphasizes that teamwork is a major component of sea cadet training, as well as learning, responsibility and accountability.
"Teamwork is a huge thing,” she adds. “We get to learn how to fully build things, like how to rig a sailboat or how to light a fire on a camping trip. I got to teach a bunch of 14-year-olds how to use cannons."
Coast guard and navy
Stewart says some older sea cadets already know exactly where they want to go in the future.
"Me and some of my colleagues definitely want to go into the [Canadian] Coast Guard, yet we have people who want to be on a navy warship, or become officers or do communications," explains Pauls. "There are many different branches you could go to."
Taking pride
Sea cadets also learn the more mundane skills such as navy terminology, ironing their uniform and keeping their shoes clean, but that's all a part of being organized and taking pride in themselves and what they do.
"Last January we went to biathlon training on Vancouver Island," says Pauls. "We learned to ski and shoot, so a bit of marksmanship."
RCSCC is located at 5669 Timberlane Avenue. The sea cadets meet (parade) every Tuesday at the barracks from 6 to 9:30 pm. They can be contacted at [email protected] or 604.483.3511.
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