Members of the Ashburton Cadet Unit came out the winners after the recent Southern Area Skills competition.
Held at the West Melton Rifle Range, the competition saw five teams from Nelson, Christchurch, Dunedin, Timaru and Ashburton go head to head in 13 stands (activities) over two days.
The activities were tug of war, navigation – theory and practical, radio procedures, rifle safety, target shooting, army fitness test, observation skills, equipment carry, first aid, initiative, general cadet knowledge and drill.
Ashburton unit Commander Cezarne Rodgers said the unit brought home three of the five trophies up for grabs, including for overall winner.
The other two were for the best display of New Zealand Cadet Forces Corps values, and for the drill.
The unit won seven of the 13 stands to beat their main competition Nelson by one point, having taken out not only the drill, but also rifle safety, shooting, observation, radio procedures, general cadet knowledge and tug of war.
Cadet Sergeant Sebastian van Rooyen took the individual award for top male army fitness test.
Warrant Officer Class 2 Brodyn Gabites took the individual win for top shooting score, top navigation theory score and top general cadet knowledge test.
In the tug of war, the unit won all of their pulls against all the other four teams to take the win.
The team will now travel to Waiouru Army Base for the national competition over Labour weekend.
