Achievement of 86 Cadet Class

[DeV]

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/a...165&aid=288188

The 86 Cadet Class did a battle run from the Cadet School to Eyre Square in Galway (apart from Kildare to Athlone) in aid of Crumlin Hospital. They raised over €13,000.

They did it is 2 blocks of approx 12 hours (1st block Curragh to Kildare, 2nd block Athlone to Eyre Square).

[sofa]

One of the lads look Asian,? If so good to see

[yooklid]

One of the lads look Asian,? If so good to see

Uh, why?

[BJG]

I believe he's a Maltese Cadet. I think that class have a few of them.

[confuzzled]

One of the lads look Asian,? If so good to see

Might look Asian, but sounds as Irish as you or me!

[sofa]

It means he did not have a daddy or uncle in uniform giving the nod to a member

of the interview panel. Sign things are changing.

[The Blue Max]

I agree with sofa variety in the uniforms shows how Ireland is changing for the better and intergration of different multi cultural backrounds are absorbing into Irish society etc..

[Jessup]

It means he did not have a daddy or uncle in uniform giving the nod to a member

of the interview panel. Sign things are changing.

This nonsense again! Cadet class by Cadet class it's a small number and always has been. The 69th Cadet Class had one Cadet whose Dad was in the Army. There was a handful in my class, my junior class and my senior class. A Cadetship is a Ministerial appointment with a civil servant on the board. Any bias is much less than Recruit Platoons and even those are not as bad as some make out.

NCOs and Ptes regularly call in a well earned and deserved favour for their son/daughter/nephew/niece with one of the officers on the board. Funny no one is ever on here giving out about that. A chip rather than a pip on those shoulders? If it's down to two candidates that are pretty evenly matched and the DF relative of one has asked for a twist then guess who wins the photo finish? I've done it, nearly every officer has and long may that continue. NCOs and Ptes spend a career looking after officers and making them look good. Within reason, the least they can expect is that those officers look after their own. It's comradeship and esprit de corps when it applies to o/ranks but nepotism and patronage when it applies to officers is that it?

Well done to the 86th Cadet Class on their achievement. However, it appears that doesn't apply to any members of the class who have a Dad or Uncle in the Army. It's all a fix, you shouldn't be there at all, your Cadetship is a fraud, you stole the place of a hundred more qualified candidates, you're a certainty to be a dreadful officer and you didn't really complete the march..........your Daddy or Uncle got their batman to do it for you

I'm first generation DF. So I must have slept with someone to get in or it was a fluke. I hope one of my kids goes for the Cadets one day and gets it. Of course, someone will try to denigrate that achievement with some snide comment about Dad not being a serving officer ok, but Dad is an ex officer so that's how he got in. B0LL0CKS!

[golden rivet]

This nonsense again! Cadet class by Cadet class it's a small number and always has been. The 69th Cadet Class had one Cadet whose Dad was in the Army. There was a handful in my class, my junior class and my senior class. A Cadetship is a Ministerial appointment with a civil servant on the board. Any bias is much less than Recruit Platoons and even those are not as bad as some make out.

NCOs and Ptes regularly call in a well earned and deserved favour for their son/daughter/nephew/niece with one of the officers on the board. Funny no one is ever on here giving out about that. A chip rather than a pip on those shoulders? If it's down to two candidates that are pretty evenly matched and the DF relative of one has asked for a twist then guess who wins the photo finish? I've done it, nearly every officer has and long may that continue. NCOs and Ptes spend a career looking after officers and making them look good. Within reason, the least they can expect is that those officers look after their own. It's comradeship and esprit de corps when it applies to o/ranks but nepotism and patronage when it applies to officers is that it?

Well done to the 86th Cadet Class on their achievement. However, it appears that doesn't apply to any members of the class who have a Dad or Uncle in the Army. It's all a fix, you shouldn't be there at all, your Cadetship is a fraud, you stole the place of a hundred more qualified candidates, you're a certainty to be a dreadful officer and you didn't really complete the march..........your Daddy or Uncle got their batman to do it for you

I'm first generation DF. So I must have slept with someone to get in or it was a fluke. I hope one of my kids goes for the Cadets one day and gets it. Of course, someone will try to denigrate that achievement with some snide comment about Dad not being a serving officer ok, but Dad is an ex officer so that's how he got in. B0LL0CKS!

agree 100%....

[Jessup]

Well said.

So, I presume that the person you slept with was at least female?

Ha! Ha! Two of the "Mary's" (O'Rourke and Coughlan) were well known to try and "advise" the Minister when finalising the list from time to time. If that is what it takes...............

[hedgehog]

When I think back to how bad some Officers were, I could always excuse their stupidity and uselessness by

the fact they got into the DF by virtue of who they were related to- and Now Jess is bursting that bubble

by saying these people were the cream of the crop.

You are however right-people enlisted on the strength of who they knew, for the lower orders we were like

the masons or Guinnessess.- So I have no doubt it went on to some degree in the higher ecehlons of Military

Society.

I strongly doubt it still happens in the chinless class- but the abolition of 3rd level fees may have an impact

on that.

Be honest Jess- did you really sleep with a female;

So I must have slept with someone

Us lower order people would have stayed awake and showered her with massive dollops of manoniase.

[trellheim]

As usual Hedgehog takes us on a journey through our dark psyches.

Can we not just go back to a good old fashioned PDF v RDF slagging match (hold the mayo )

[Jessup]

I know you have very high standards HH and in your special universe there were many more useless Officers than useless NCOs and useless Privates but were the useless ones always those with Dads or Uncles in the Army? The vast majority of "Army Brats" that I knew were well up to the mark.

BTW I thought the mayonnaise was on another thread where is was being used as an offensive weapon.

[hedgehog]

I know you have very high standards HH and in your special universe there were many more useless Officers than useless NCOs and useless Privates but were the useless ones always those with Dads or Uncles in the Army? The vast majority of "Army Brats" that I knew were well up to the mark.

BTW I thought the mayonnaise was on another thread where is was being used as an offensive weapon.

In my special universe, for some strange reason I always reckoned that the ratio of uselessness

between the ranks was equal.

As for this 86 Cadet Class. One of their Instructors is a good freind of mine- a lad who I would

like to be compared to, he said that on the whole, these are a good bunch of Cadets and they

will make fine Officers.

I am glad of that-

I am sure you will agree that the Cadet School churns out very very few bad Officers.

Bad Officers are made in the Units where good young Officers go- Bad Officers are a product

of crap Pl Sgt's- Lazy Adjutants- incompetent Coy Commanders and arse hole Bn OC's.

A good Pl SGt can over come all of the above and help a good young Officer stay that way-

Collette is an exception to any rule.

[Goldie fish]

In my 20 odd years dealing with DF officers, both in civilian life and in uniform, I have found it is impossible to generalise.
There are a number of Naval officers whose fathers were officers or NCOs. These have been both good and bad. Equally, there are a number of army officers who I have dealt with over the years who were absolute twits, and in equal portion some of them came from army backgrounds, and some did not.

At the end of the day it is down to the individual. If he/she believes he/she is entitled to his job because doddy was a commandant, he will act accordingly. He will play the game and get through the system, and the asshole in hi/her will only appear after he leaves the jam factory.
However the majority know that doddy being a commandant is a disadvantage, and will go out of their way to plough their own furrow.

Unless of course, they are an actual asshole from day one.

All this takes away though from the achievement in the OP. I have witnessed recently those soldiers training in Collins Bks taking longer and longer runs around this hilly city. I'd be willing to wager that other units may yet claim a similar, if not greater achievement.
And well done to them.

It is a drastic reaction to reduction in army transport though.....