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An opportunity to spend a week in the bush was the call-out to parents from the school our son attends…

A beautiful spot nestled on the fringes of the Hunter Valley wine region and not too far from Pokolbin Village.

Visitors to the Hunter Valley, which is situated two-hours drive from Sydney’s CBD, will know that Pokolbin is the epicentre of this spectacularly beautiful area.

I am never backward in coming forward when presented with the opportunity to get Out and About in the Australian Bush so I jumped at the chance!

Of course, as with most things, there was a hitch…

The week was to be spent in support of our sons and daughter’s annual Military Cadet Camp.

This entailed cooking and washing up duties and general support around the camp. Filling jerry cans with water to slack the thirst of the cadets as they went about various exercises.

Mind you, it wasn’t really a hitch, after all who would not want to do that for the cadets, their son or daughter?

But with circa 330 cadets on camp, this was no small task – it was cooking on a grand scale and certainly nothing akin to “rustling up” the family breakfast on a lazy Sunday morning!

Impressively, the camp is run entirely by the cadets under the supervision of the cadet unit’s Commanding Officer and his support team. This includes logistics co-ordination and scheduling of exercises, all within a set chain-of-command.

During my week on Singleton Army base I had the opportunity to observe our son, TomO the Crown Prince, on manoeuvres in the mountains on Broken Back Ridge, a ridge that forms a natural boundary to the region.

For anyone who has been up on Broken Back and along many of its fire-trails will attest to the spectacular views it commands over the surrounding countryside.

I spent a couple of chilly nights up there, one of them quite wet, but I was doing it in the relative comfort of my trusty and dry swag. The cadets had to build survival shelters to sleep in…!

Whilst on Broken Back myself and a couple of the other parents were part of an exercise where the cadets came across a vehicle that had been involved in an accident. They were not aware of the exercise in advance, but they quickly employed learnt skills rendering medical assistance to the injured, whilst securing the area from possible “enemy attacks”.

Red colour dye, a tin of spaghetti and a couple of skeletal bones provided the props for authenticity…!

They excelled and we lived to recount the tale.

The Cadet unit at Barker College has a great history that spans the decades from the First World War and has seen many of its cadets go on to a military career, something that TomO is intending to do.

But it wasn’t all hard work for the cadets or the parents.

The last night was marked with a parade, a bush Chapel lead by the school’s Chaplain, the Reverend Ware, who was honoured at the service for his contribution to the Cadet unit over the past 25 years.

And after a meal that would satisfy any soldier just “in from the field” there was light-hearted entertainment when the cadets and parents alike performed a variety of skits.  Let’s say, some were rehearsed more than others, but that was the fun of it all…

The parent’s skit won the night, apparently the first-time ever, with an exhibition of a drill march.

Perfect?  No-way…

But that is what made it all the more entertaining for “the troops”.

This was truly a great experience for me and I am sure I am not alone in that sentiment…

Forged by the adverse conditions they faced it was a highlight to witness the camaraderie amongst the cadets as they were taken outside of their comfort zones. Young men and women from Barker College, our sons and daughters taking leadership roles, following orders, working together towards a common goal and ideal.

Along the Kokoda Track at Isaravu in Papua New Guinea there are four stone monuments inscripted with the following…

“Courage, Endurance, Mateship, Sacrifice”

For those who have had the opportunity to stand there and reflect it is a moving experience…

During my week at camp I observed examples of all four of these qualities amongst the cadets and any parent who had a son or daughter on parade should be extremely proud of them.

I certainly was,

Bravo, Corporal Tom O’Malley

Photos: Baz – The Landy