Junior Leaders

Junior Leaders was the name given to training Regiments of the British Army that took entrants from the age of 15 who moved on to joining adult units at the age of 17 and a half.[1] Their aim was to produce and train the future Non-commissioned officers for their Regiment or Corps.[2]

History

Junior Leaders' Regiments began in the mid-1950s, growing from the earlier system of 'Boy Service', and continued into the 1990s. There were various Junior Leader Regiments for entrants to the various Regiments and Corps of the Army. These included:

Training

Education. To provide each Junior Leader with the opportunity to study for and pass the then Army Certificate of First Class Education, thus qualifying him to eventually achieve Warrant Officer and Commissioned Officer rank. Junior Leaders could also study for GCE “O” levels.

Military and Trade Training. Providing each Junior Leader his basic military training, teaching him the skills of Drill, Weapons handling, shooting and Physical Training.

Weapons. Junior Leaders were taught to shoot and drill with their issue rifle, initially the Lee–Enfield, later the L1A1 Self-Loading Rifle and then the L85A1.

Trade Training. Junior Leaders were also introduced to the main operating trades in their chosen Corps.

Leadership, Adventure Training and Sports Special emphasis was given to leadership, important for future SNCO’s. Exercises included, canoeing, sailing, rock climbing, map reading, cooking in the field and survival in arduous conditions. Junior Leaders attended military and civilian Outward Bound courses in the UK and abroad. A wide variety of sporting activities were available and competitions with military and civilian youth organisations in the UK and abroad were encouraged.

Junior Soldiers Today

Today, the Army recruits junior soldiers to the Army Foundation College, where they are given basic and specialist training, however they are not deployed on adult service until reaching legal age.[10] This is markedly different from the old Boy Soldiers of the 19th Century, who might go into the field alongside adult soldiers in a variety of non-combat roles, such as buglers, but not dissimilar from the old Army apprenticeship schemes. Today's junior soldiers are titled depending on the Corps to which they belong; Junior Infantryman, for example. The Army Foundation College trains junior soldiers in the skills required for their roles as private soldiers in their respective Regiment or Corps, but not specifically for the role of senior NCO or Warrant Officer.

The Bermuda Regiment, the territorial home-defence battalion of the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda, operated its own Junior Leaders programme until the 1990s, when it was absorbed into the separate Bermuda Cadet Corps. The Junior Leaders had been part of the Bermuda Regiment, wearing the same cap badge, and operating from the same base, Warwick Camp, whereas the Cadet Corp was a separate organisation, operating through the school system. In 2012, due to financial constraints, the Bermuda Cadet Corps was disbanded, and the Bermuda Regiment Junior Leaders resurrected.[11][12][13][14][15] Many of the Bermuda Regiment's officers, warrant officers, and NCOs began their service in the Junior Leaders, including Lieutenant-Colonel Brian Gonsalves, who retired as Commanding Officer in 2013.[16] A bill was tabled in the House of Assembly of Bermuda in 2015 to formalise the organisation of the Royal Bermuda Regiment's Junior Leaders.[17]

Junior Leaders should not be confused with the Army Cadet Force, Combined Cadet Force,[18][19][20] or the University Officers' Training Corps.[21]

References

  1. 1 2 "Official History of the Junior Leaders’ Regiment Royal Corps. of Signals" (PDF). C1 control character in |title= at position 39 (help)
  2. 1 2 "A Brief History of the Junior Leaders' Regiment RAC".
  3. ↑ "About the A.A.J.L.R.".
  4. ↑ "IBB & Infantry Junior Leaders Battalion".
  5. ↑ "The Infantry Junior Leaders Battalion".
  6. ↑ "The Junior Parachute Company".
  7. ↑ "A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE JUNIOR LEADERS BATTALION ROYAL ARMY ORDNANCE CORPS 1945 – 1982 ROYAL ARMY ORDNANCE CORPS".
  8. ↑ "The Junior Leaders Regiment RA".
  9. ↑ "REA Junior Leaders".
  10. ↑ "Ministry of Defence: British Army (official website Army Colleges" (PDF).
  11. ↑ The Bermuda Regiment: The Bermuda Regiment Junior Leaders
  12. ↑ The Royal Gazette: Cadet Corp to be replaced as budget savings are made. Published 21 March 2012 (Updated 21 March 2012)
  13. ↑ The Bermuda Regiment: The Bermuda Cadet Corps
  14. ↑ The Bermuda Regiment: Request for volunteer instructors for the Junior Leaders
  15. ↑ Junior Leaders, Regiment Team Up For Exercise. Bernews. 24 March, 2014
  16. ↑ Outward Bound, Bermuda. Our People: Lt Col BN Gonsalves, ED, tacsc
  17. ↑ A BILL entitled ROYAL BERMUDA REGIMENT (JUNIOR LEADERS) ACT 2015. Parliament of Bermuda
  18. ↑ "North East England Cadet Forces".
  19. ↑ Ministry of Defence: British Army (official website) 2 (South East) Brigade Cadets
  20. ↑ Army Cadets
  21. ↑ Ministry of Defence: British Army (official website) University Officers' Training Corps
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