Marching on to victory
Naujaat corps takes annual Army Cadet Challenge
Darrell Greer
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, October 22, 2014
REPULSE BAY
Six members of the Repulse Bay 3055 Royal Canadian Army Cadet Corps won the annual Army Cadet Challenge in Shilo, Man., this past month.
Terence Mapsalak helps fellow Repulse Bay cadet Jan Kopak over a barrier while completing an obstacle course as part of military familiarization at the 2014 Army Cadet Challenge at Shilo, Man., this past month. - photo courtesy of Lloyd Francis |
Led by Capt. Lloyd Francis, the cadets are Master Warrant Officer Anita Kopak, Warrant Officer Veronica Uttak, Master Cpl. Terence Mapsalak, Master Cpl. Gene Siusangnark, Lance-Cpl. Jack Kopak and Lance-Cpl. Jan Kopak.
Francis has led the Repulse corps for 18 months.
He said the challenge is for the Northwestern Cadet Detachment, and included Repulse (Naujaat), Rankin Inlet, Arctic Bay and 10 teams from Manitoba.
"It was divided into a competition and a military familiarization day, with the competition having air-rifle shooting and an orienteering course," said Francis.
"Cadets completed a tasking at each of the stations set up on the course.
"They set up an Arctic tent, named the parts of a cadet rifle, built a shelter from the materials provided, packed a toboggan properly and read a map correctly.
"They were scored at each station, and those scores combined with the shooting results determined the winner."
Francis said the challenge allows the corps to meet each other, promotes competition and evaluates the skill levels of the cadets.
He said the Repulse cadets couldn't believe it when told they had won the event.
"I believe it's the first time Repulse has won this, and our cadets were excited."
More than 40 kids have joined cadets in Repulse this year, with 30 to 35 coming out on a regular basis.
Francis said Repulse is one of the biggest cadet corps in Nunavut now.
He said winning the challenge helps spread the word about the corps.
"Cadets is one of the only youth activities in our community besides after-school sports and hockey.
"Our regular training is on Wednesday and we do sports one day on the weekend, as well as our biathlon marksmanship training.
"I'll send six cadets to the biathlon in Whitehorse this coming February, then it's a marksmanship competition in March and a skills competition following that.
"A big one we have coming is I'll be taking three cadets to Europe to celebrate the 70th anniversary of victory in Europe this coming May."
