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IX. PRIZE WINNERS
appointment holders were not required to submit any kind of daily report to the duty officer
of the day or to the CSM. Thus, none of the misdemeanours became disciplinary issues.
The instructors appear to have adopted this as a deliberate policy. If so, it was profoundly
insightful. Otherwise, it would have polarised the trainees into unhealthy groups around
dominant personalities bent on settling scores as the appointments went round.
It was a testimony to the degree of co-operation among the cadets and even during the
recruit and section training phases, that very few seemed interested in topping the cohort
in any area. The most intense competition, if at all, was in marksmanship, which had the
advantages of being enjoyable, objective and quantifiable. But once again, strangely, after the
marksmanship grading was completed in the recruit stage, it was not promoted as an official
ongoing competition although there was a prize for the best shot, based on normal range
periods. The only stipulation was that every cadet had to be a Marksman Class 2. There were
even very limited zeroing exercises, with the last one being when the cadet phase began and
cadets were issued with different rifles from those they had used as recruits. The private
competitions were localised and hardly known outside the immediate circles.
There were vague rumours of who was in the running for the Sword of Honour towards the
end of the course and there were a few who had been keeping their eye on the prospect, if
not openly seeking the prize. But, it seemed as though the Company HQ were monitoring the
candidates confidentially and the selection would be by acclamation rather than any objective
criteria. It also caused quite a bit of excitement when nominees for the supernumerary
appointments for the Commissioning Parade were announced. Most would rather not have
been picked because of the demands that they knew these appointments entailed. But, those
who were picked must have been the subject of long-term observation for their aptitude at
drill and words of command and their colleagues generally approved their selection.
One of the reasons for the lack of competition was that the required attainments for the
trophies, including the commission, were never formally promulgated, much less the rules.
The other, was that the academic subjects such as the written Appreciation of Situation
were essentially handicapped in favour of those with higher education. All the same, there
was broad agreement with those who were eventually selected for the awards and not much
concern, even with the order of merit listings in the various programmes for the commission
events. All of that, may have contributed to the unusual degree of bonding that still persists
with the graduates of the first intake who became known as the First Batch.