Tough enough

After months of training, some of our finest royal marines cadets gathered for another fantastic Gibraltar Cup competition at the Royal Marines Commando Training Centre in Lympstone, Devon, in May. BZ to all the cadets and volunteers for representing their companies so well! 

BEST MEDIC: CADET LANCE CORPORAL ISABELLE, SIDCUP DETACHMENT

Gibraltar Cup 2024 had a new category. The Best Medic award was made possible thanks to support from Casualty Resources, a company that wanted to recognise the great work of cadets during the competition. The winner of the category was Cdt L/Cpl Isabelle, from Sidcup Detachment, who said “Being at Lympstone was such an amazing experience, and the opportunity to meet serving Royal Marines was incredibly interesting. The Gibraltar Cup is known for being challenging, and it was an invaluable experience – I learned that teamwork is essential in any troop setting. I enjoyed working together, and seeing everyone’s strengths was really rewarding. Being named the best individual medic was unexpected – I’m grateful that my hard work and determination paid off.” 

Best Section Commander: Cadet Sergeant Gemma, Scarborough Detachment

“It was an amazing opportunity to be allowed onto CTCRM Lympstone. Interacting with senior personnel gave me an insight into life serving in the forces. During the weekend, I learned a lot about myself – by being pushed to my physical and mental limits, I learned that my determination far outweighs my lack of self-confidence. I also learned that my team is far more capable than we believed. We pushed each other and their motivation kept me going. I am immensely proud and couldn’t have asked for a better team!

“Being named best Section Commander was a relief, after the amount of work I put in. I am also immensely proud of myself. Thanks to my unit and my team for simply being excellent and allowing me the independence to show how I perform as a leader. My future ambition is to carry on leading the younger generation while I finish my last months as a cadet. Then I intend to either stay on as a volunteer, or join the armed forces in a medical role.”

Sky’s the limit

Cadets had the opportunity to fly in a Merlin helicopter from Lympstone to Woodbury Common at this year’s competition, thanks to Andrew Gardner, WO1 (SCC) RMR. When he was a royal marines cadet 20 years ago, Andrew was friends with a fellow cadet who is now in a senior role in the Royal Marines, so he reached out to his old friend and asked if they could help give 48 cadets a potential once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. 

Photos: Nathaniel Rosa/Sea Cadets