LAC Hohepa Haenga-Sutton reports on his experiences on the latest Junior Leaders Course, also known as the Junior NCO Course:
“I was quite nervous as I found myself boarding the bus to RNZAF Base Ohakea, for the Junior Leaders Course in the second week of the holidays. The Junior Leaders Course is a course designed to craft a cadet into a Junior NCO. It is also the first real course that a cadet from 41 Squadron may attend.
Myself, LAC’s Robinson and Cane arrived at Ohakea where we were shown how to layout our barracks to the required standard. Lunch time rolled around and it was clear to see that everyone else was as nervous as me because we were all sitting in our corps, and with people from similar areas. We then marched to the training centre where we gave our introductory speeches that we had prepared. Surprisingly there were no Sea Cadets, and also no female cadets (no distractions in my opinion). We were then divided into our syndicates. I was in syndicate A, which was nicknamed the ‘Alpha Males’, and we all became quite close friends in a short time.
Over the week, we had theory and practical lessons and Terminals which are basically like practical exams. The terminals were Drill Instruction, Squad Handling, Oral Presentation and the main terminal Leadership. Our first terminal was on Drill Instruction. I can gladly say that I passed the terminal with flying colours
Secondly we had the terminal on oral Presentations. This terminal involved a 5-Minute practice Speech, and a 10-Minute speech that we were marked on. In all honesty, I think that this was one of the harder terminals to do. My biggest fear was running out of things to say. Despite this, I believe I did quite well on this terminal.
Finally, the Leadership terminal came around – (‘D-Day’ as the officers called it). This terminal decided whether or not you passed the course. So if you failed, you failed the whole course (No pressure). We had to use all the theory we had been taught, including what Is known as the TOWNEY (whaT, whO, hoW, wheN, wherE & whY) structure. Luckily all the practice and feedback had helped everyone pass the Leadership terminal. It was also filled with fun and laughter.
On the day before our return, we had our final parade. We were also joined by SQNLDR Creedy RNZAF, who I believe was the RNZAF Base Ohakea Commander. All the attendees were congratulated for attending the course, and were glad to see the parents, (and girlfriends for some) who then joined the cadets for light refreshments.
On the last day it was a relaxed wake up and time to deconstruct our beautifully crafted barracks and head on our way home. I am so glad that I had the opportunity to attend this course. I made life-long friends (we even made a course facebook page, and we all share stories of marching, turning and giving commands at home!) and my confidence has improved quite a lot. I think I’m going to remember this journey for a long time to come.”
