Paul Bickford
Northern News Services

Hay River (Sep 09/02) - Peter Osted has been involved in the army cadet movement in Hay River for over three decades.

And today, he is to begin another year as commanding officer of 2724 Royal Canadian Army Cadet Corps.

With the exception of only a few years, Osted has commanded the corps since the mid-1980s, and was one of its founders in 1971.

Such continuity is important, he says. "It's one of the strengths of this corps."

Osted, 62, first put on the uniform of a cadet in 1956 in Winnipeg, where his family moved from Denmark when he was 14 years old. "I've been doing it ever since."

The army cadet movement teaches young people self-discipline and a sense of accomplishment that will serve them throughout their lives, he says. "That's the intent of the movement, to develop them into confident, valuable members of society."

Osted says he gets satisfaction from seeing a 12- or 13-year-old boy or girl develop over a few years into an accomplished young man or woman.

"I believe they can do it and we give them the trust, and they return it," he says, adding the ones who stick with the system benefit greatly. "I've never been disappointed in them."

An army cadet corps is not designed to recruit members for the Canadian Armed Forces, he says, noting that, out of the 1,000 or so members in Hay River over the years, only about a half-dozen have gone on to careers in the military.

There are usually about 25 members of the Hay River corps each year, along with five or six adult leaders.

Osted retired last year after teaching in Hay River for 35 years, but he has three more years to go with the army cadets before he will have to retire as commander.

"I'm grooming other people to take over the position."