RECRUITING DRIVE
Glace Bay Army Cadets aiming for 10 new members.
Cindy Tiller may miss the members of 2878 Glace Bay Army Cadets when they age out at 19 but she is happy to say many of them moved on to success.
“It almost feels like they become a member of your family because… these kids when they come in, they start at age 12 and stay until they’re 18,” said Tiller, who has been commanding officer of the unit for seven years.
“I’ve seen them age out and go on to live really productive lives. I think a lot of the leadership skills they learn builds up their self-esteem, they get over being shy and they go on to do some wonderful things.”
Tiller is currently doing registration for the unit, which has
22 members. Hoping to get another 10 this year, Tiller said she has heard stories of the days when Glace Bay had so much interest there were two cadet units.
Although numbers are declining, something Tiller said she thinks is partly caused by decreasing population sizes, interest isn’t. Tiller said this is especially true of the cadets they have.
“We tend to have a very loyal unit. The ones that have started
with us stay until the end,” said Tiller, who was been involved in the army or cadets on and off for the past 40 years.
“We have an exceptionally interested unit.”
Army cadets are for youth between the ages of 12-18 and it costs nothing to join. The focus is on land training and includes outdoor survival skills, setting up a camp in the woods and reading maps and GPS systems.
Two uniforms are provided, one for field training and one dress uniform. The Glace Bay unit meets meet twice a week at the Dr. Guglielmo Marconi Armoury (formerly called the Glace Bay Armoury.) Mondays from 5:30 p.m.-8:15 p.m. is for unit drills and cadet training while Wednesdays from 4 p.m.-6 p.m. is for sports.
There are different summer camps army cadets can attend and they get paid a “small amount” to do them. Cadets can even earn high school credits based on the ranking they reach in their unit and number of hours they attend summer camps.
“There’s a lot of really great opportunities. I think it expands their horizons and they’re not just sitting around, they’re really busy with everything they can do with cadets.”