THE CADET CORPORAL C. R. Cummings
This is a story about the problems of leadership. Its characters are teenage army cadets on their annual camp. The story deals with a wide range of problems and situations, all of which may be encountered by young leaders to test their character and training. Because some of the situations involve the issue of ‘fraternization’ there are, of necessity, some sexual references.
Because most of the incidents involve teenage boys there is some coarse language (Strongly modified for the book and not nearly as colourful or objectionable as they tend to use in reality). There is also some discussion about maleness- as seen through the eyes of teenagers.
This places the author in a difficult situation. If reality is included some people may be offended or object- but if reality is not included how then does one advise and help people to cope with the world they actually live in?
So this is a watered down but ‘warts and all’ story describing the sorts of things young leaders may encounter and offering helpful hints on how to deal with them. The author has commanded an army cadet unit for 25 years and can assure the reader that all of the situations described have actually happened- with minor changes for the sake of the story- but thankfully not all to one poor cadet corporal.
The book was written in North Queensland in the days before combined camps with ‘Tier’ Training and the style of camp described is, in this author’s opinion, a much better way of achieving the character building and leadership training objectives of the AAC.