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Volume No. 1 Issue No. 49 - Monday October 13, 2003 |
Cadet Corps Established in Grand Bay
 by Raymond Henderson
Ten months after recruitment at the Grand Bay Secondary School, 12 girls and 7 boys were ready to take up leadership roles in the surrounding communities. They were trained by volunteers in first aid, music, drug orientation, technical skills, communication, computers, military drills and other areas.
Before handing over the Berets to the graduates, P.M. Hon. Pierre Charles warned that they would not be allowed to form an exclusive or elite group in the community. He said he wanted a group of human beings committed to acquisition of skills and discipline exhibited on parade, but especially out in the community where it is needed.
 �Give trainers the satisfaction that months of sacrificing and training did not go in vain.� He said. Being a cadet himself back in 1971, PM Charles was happy to see a unit of the Dominica Cadet Corps established in his constituency � Grand Bay.
Commandant Francis Richards said the youngsters were ready for formal induction into the ranks of the organization as full fledged Cadets.
�The coveted maroon Berets will show that they have arrived,� Mr. Richards told the parents who looked on proudly.
The Cadets� motto is; Duty, Honor, Country. It challenges them to be good students and to read widely. They are trained to take orders before giving any. They are also expected to be optimists and to be protectors of hope and independence.
Mr. James Alexander, Principal of the Grand Bay Secondary School, hopes these qualities will rob off on the rest of the student body. He was particularly concerned that none of the 19 students who graduated came from Grand Bay. He hopes that students from that area would be encouraged to join the corps. He believes it would help address the problem of discipline �plaguing the school and the community�.
Hon. Urban Baron represented the Minister of Education. He labored the principal�s point on discipline even further.
�Without the right attitude we won�t get very far.� He said. �Not in sports, not in the work place, or in the community among our own people.� He pointed out to the young cadets.
At the ceremonies, delegates from Marigot and Portsmouth looked on in anticipation of their own graduation. And 12 cadets received promotions as the Cadet Corps continues to build its capacity to serve Dominica in the future.
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