On Tuesday, 1 October, Her Excellency Mrs. Lyndell Simpson the Acting Governor and Commandant of the Montserrat Cadet Corps Captain Colin Fergus presented the Caribbean Cadet Medal to Major Alvin Ryan and Captain Peter White. This was done at a short ceremony during the regular practice of the Montserrat Cadet Corps.
The Caribbean Cadet Medal is the highest honour granted by the Caribbean Cadet Association. The Caribbean Cadet Association covers Cadet Corps and Forces in 15 Caribbean countries from the Turks and Caicos Islands in the north to Guyana in the south mentoring 10,000+ youth.
Captain Peter William Alfred White joined the Montserrat Secondary School Cadet Corps in 9 September 1980. He consistently rose through the ranks until he achieved the rank of Sergeant. He commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Royal Montserrat Defence Force and was appointed as Commanding Officer of the Montserrat Secondary School Cadet Corps in 1984. He held this appointment until 1996. During his tenure as Commanding Officer of the Montserrat Secondary School Cadet Corps Captain White worked to strengthen the Corps and had the enrolment up to above 100 members. Captain White has contributed regionally to the advancement of Cadetting. He has attended numerous OECS and Caribbean Cadet Camps as a regular cadet, Adult Instructor and Contingent Commander. He was among the founders of OECS Cadet Summer Training Camp in 1986. He was the host Commandant of the OECS Cadet Summer Training Camp and Commandants Conference in 1989 that changed the name of the Camps to the “OECS/Caribbean Cadet Summer Training Camp” in order to reflect and to fully incorporate the participation of non-OECS territories into the programme. He subsequently served as the Deputy Commandant of the 1990 Caribbean Camp in Antigua. Captain White has served the Montserrat Secondary School Cadet Corps for 16 years.
Major Alvin Everton Ryan joined the Montserrat Secondary School Cadet Corps on 6 September 1986. He consistently rose through the ranks until he achieved the rank of Warrant Officer Class 2 (Company Sergeant Major). Major Ryan served the RMDF and Cadet Corps through Hurricane Hugo and the eruption of the Soufriere Hills Volcano in 1995. He commissioned as a Second Lieutenant on 1 September 1999 and was appointed as Commanding Officer of the Montserrat Secondary School Cadet Corps. He held this appointment until 21 August 2014. He simultaneously moved up the ranks of the Royal Montserrat Defence Force until he was appointed Commanding Officer substantively on 21 August 2014. Major Ryan has contributed regionally to the advancement of Cadetting. He has attended several OECS and Caribbean Cadet Camps as a regular cadet, Adult Instructor and Contingent Commander. During his tenure as Commanding Officer he guided the Cadet Corps during the latter stages of the volcanic eruption. He was deployed as Team Leader for the Montserrat Humanitarian Aid and Disaster Relief (HADR) support to Grenada following Hurricane Ivan in 2004 where he successfully coordinated restoration of communications systems on Gand Etang and emergency covering of homes. Major Ryan has served the Montserrat Secondary School Cadet Corps for 28 years, 19 as an adult instructor and officer.
The ceremony also celebrated the advancement of several cadets in the Star levels of the Army Proficiency Certificate training programme. The programme has a progressive syllabus that takes cadets from beginners to being peer group instructors. It is broken down into four stages and although the subject titles are the same, the depth of knowledge grows ever deeper. Upon successful completion of each stage the cadet is awarded a star and there are four star levels to achieve. It takes approximately one year to attain each star level upon which basis it is possible to calculate that a motivated cadet could achieve four star status after their sixteenth birthday.
Star Level achievements were as follows:
Star 1
LCpl Briteny Patience
OC Quincy Hillocks
Pte Patrice Allen
Pte Shawnee Farrell
Pte Damian Patience
Pte Keon Simpson
Pte Dinari Serrant
Star 2
LCpl Nyack Webster
Star 3
Sgt Rajay Jackson
Cpl Ervin Liburd
Cadet First Class Quincy Hillocks of the Sea Cadet Detachment was also promoted to the rank of Ordinary Cadet during that ceremony.
The Montserrat Cadet Corps is pleased to be a partner institution, “Creating Experiences for Tomorrow’s Leaders”. We applaud the young cadets as they excel and the volunteers who give tirelessly to mentor them.
