News

We are extremely proud to announce that Officer Cadet (RN) Kelsey Hill, who was a Leading Cadet at Ardrossan, has passed the 3 Day Royal Navy Officer Selection process the Admiralty Interview Board with Flying colours.

The 3 day assessment is a tough test with its main focus on a persons leadership ability. The board includes tests on the knowledge of the Royal Navy and on a persons ability to think quickly, Numerous Practical Leadership tasks where you have to instruct a team of people you have only recently met to work as you need them too, as well as a fitness test in the form of the bleep test, a table top planning exercise and finally the interview in front of some high ranking Naval officers. 

We all knew Kelsey would pass without a problem as her skills as a leading cadets were outstanding and she was loved by all of our cadets, she brought her own unique style to her leading role in the unit and I'm sure she will do the same in the now even more responsible role as an Officer in the Royal Navy. 

Kelsey is currently studying Geography at Glasgow University where she is a member of the University Royal Navy Unit, this gives her the status of an Officer Cadet in the Royal Navy, and now that she has passed her AIB it means she has been accepted into the Royal Navy's Officer Training School Britannia Royal Naval College in 2017 when she finishes her studies at university. She will be put through her paces at BRNC and will be developed into once of the best Officers of any Naval Force in the World. 

When we spoke to Kelsey about her achievements she said, "Thanks to everyone at Ardrossan Sea Cadets for helping me get to university and gain the confidence to go for my AIB - I would never be here without you guys"

We are so proud of our miniature ginger for doing so well and it is great to see once again a cadet from Ardrossan going on to do wonderful things and embarking into the career they have chosen.

We wish you the best of luck for the future Kelsey! 

Glasgow Nautical College is about to receive yet another one of Ardrossan ex-cadets, Robbie 'Chop' Lambie will be starting his course in Nautical Science to become a Deck officer in the Merchant Navy. This is great news to us in Ardrossan as it is great to see our cadets getting on a following a career that they have shown an interest in from a young age. Glasgow is also the college that Ross 'Rose' Campbell attends currently doing the same course under sponsorship from Gulf Offshore and from speaking to Rose he is loving every minute at college as well as the sea phases he has undertaken. 

Deck Cadets have to spend 3 years to complete their studies, they must spend at least 12 months of that 3 years at sea. At the end of their course they will have attained an HNC in Nautical Science, subject to passing the Maritime Coastguard Agency (MCA) Oral examination they will have a Certificate of Competency in Deck Operations and a Officer Of the Watch Ticket.

Glasgow also takes Engineer cadets who will work towards a Qualification in Marine Engineering, as well as the other MCA Tickets, however engineers are only required to spend 8 months at sea to gain their qualification. 

We all wish Chop and Rose the best of luck with their careers and we know they will both go far in their chosen fields. 

Officer Cadet Ryan Kean, our units Admin officer will be setting off for Bahrain where he will join his first ever ship, RFA Wave Ruler. Ryan will be spending 4 months on board this ship carrying out important roles when required by the Royal Navy. Ryan Passed out of Britannia Royal Naval College in November last year, which many of our cadets have had a recent chance to visit on the trip to HMS Raleigh, and has been studying Marine Engineering at Fleetwood Nautical College for the past six months. This is his first practical ship where he will be working with a team of other engineers on board to see how his college phase relates to the working environment. 

The Unit wish O/C Kean good luck on his travels and we all hope he has a fantastic time. 

At a recent fund raising bag pack at the Local ASDA in Ardrossan, our Sea Cadets managed to raise well over £400. This has been a great boost to the units funds and will enable us to continue to deliver a varied training programme to the cadets over the coming weeks. The Unit would like to say a huge thanks to the ASDA Ardrossan store for their continued support as they have contributed on a number of occasions to the unit and continually allow us to bag pack in their store.