"Navigation is a key skill for all cadets."

Map and Compass

Map and compass skills are key to all elements of the cadet syllabus. Cadets must be totally proficient in their navigational skills, as these are an integral part of fieldcraft, expeditions, and the Duke of Edinburgh award.

Map and Compass

Command Tasks

Command Tasks

Command tasks are activities which are designed to challenge leadership and teamwork, and involve completing a mentally and sometimes physically challenging task under time pressure, whilst being assessed. Here we have listed several popular command tasks, and below a general guide to completing them. Although completing the tasks in hand is always important, what is more important is the way in which it is done, and how the people completing it work together.

The Spiderweb

  • Get two trees/poles/sticky-up things, and construct a spiderweb between the two, making sure that there are various sized holes between the ropes/tape that you use. The aim is to get the section through the web without touching it.

The Ladder

  • Get rope ladder or similar, with sections big enough to stand in (TIP: one of these is often found in PE depts as a sprint training aid) and split the section in two. Get the 2 groups to stand inside the ladder facing the other team, with a square in between.
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  • The aim is to reverse the positions of the section, so it ends up thus:
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  • Members can only move into an empty square, they can jump over others, but only one at a time.

The Amazing Poncho

  • Have all the cadets in a particular section stand on top of a poncho on a flat surface. The aim is to flip the poncho over so they are standing on the other side, without any of them standing off the poncho itself.

Blindfolded Minefield

  • Cadets are blindfolded with the exception of a leader who must move the cadets through the minefield without standing on any "mines" and avoiding all obstacles. This can be made more difficult by preventing the leader from speaking, and only giving him a whistle or other method to use for communication.

Tent Construction and Gas Attack

  • Cadets are instructed to assemble a tent (the larger the better) which is unknown to them, and a short while into the task everyone but the commander is blindfolded after a "gas attack".

Succeeding at Command Tasks

  • Ask "has anyone done a task like this before?". Then find out how and did it work?
  • Listen to others, then make your decision and act on it
  • Appoint a timekeeper
  • Don't get involved, stand back so you can command.
  • Do not be afraid to change your plan if it's not working.
  • Once your team are moving through the obstacle, keep yourself in the middle of the group, so you can influence the front and the rear of the group.
  • Give praise to your group members who are doing well, and give encouragement at all times, not in the way which comes across as arrse licking the DS though.
  • If possible, write down your instructions and check them with the DS.

ArmyCadetForce.net

We have a massive range of information designed specifically for the Army Cadet Force and Combined Cadet Force Army Sections. We cover the entire cadet syllabus, and much more to extend the training possibilities to all detachments and contingents. We have information on command tasks, leadership, skill at arms, shooting, fieldcraft, section attacks, signals, drill, and navigation. Please note that we are not affiliated in any way to the ACF, the CCF, or the Ministry of Defence.

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