750 Junior Soldiers marched onto the parade square at Army Foundation College Harrogate to mark their graduation.
The parade marks the end of basic training for the 16 and 17-year-olds after months of hard work and dedication during which they undertake various military training, fitness, and education tasks culminating in a vigorous two-week battle camp and tactical exercise, preparing them for army life.
Successful completion of Phase 1 Training means the newly qualified soldiers will march to their respective units and complete trade training in their chosen field.
Among the graduating Junior Soldiers, 17-year-old Chloe De Stadler, from Epsom, Surrey, was watched by proud mum Sherene De Stadler, aged 40, who has just passed her own initial training to become an Army Reservist.
Chloe, who enlisted to AFC following her GCSEs, said:
Joining the Army always interested me because of all it has to offer.
I am grateful for the opportunities it will give my future career and the challenges I will need to overcome to get there.
Sherene enlisted in the Reserve to be a support network for Chloe. She said:
I’m learning as I go, I knew nothing about the army before I joined.
We are able to help each other and learn together because we can speak the same army language, something that I wouldn’t be able to do if I didn’t join.
Chloe will join the Army Air Corps as groundcrew, while Sherene is joining the Grenadier Guards alongside her gym management role.
Sherene added:
It felt amazing knowing my mum was in the audience knowing what I’ve gone through to be on that parade square.
It’s so nice to be able to talk to my mum about army life because she understands and can relate to it.
I hope my mum is so proud of me as I am of her joining the Reserve so she can understand what my life will be like from now on.
Sherene said:
There’s definitely been loads of tears from myself and her father today.
Chloe has quit projects before when they’ve been hard, so I’m very proud of her for going through the challenges of army training and enjoying it.
Chloe fought to have the weekend off for Sherene’s passing out parade, now Sherene gets to watch her daughter pass out weeks after her.
Sherene said:
It’s very different from watching your daughter graduate from university, we’ve completed training so close together that we both have a unique mother daughter bond that not many people get to have.
Over five thousand family members watched on as their loved ones graduated and marched on the parade square showing the skills they had learned over the past year.
Also graduating was 17-year-old Junior Soldier Madalyn Laycock, from Goole, Yorkshire. Madalyn’s dad, Captain Graham Laycock, an instructor at AFC, watched on as his daughter passed out from the same college where he trained to become a soldier 26 years earlier.
Madalyn, who wants to be a Combat Medical Technician with Royal Army Medical Services said:
My father is currently serving as a captain here.
I’ve always lived as a military child, so I had an insight into what army life was like and started researching it.
Graham said:
This experience has been one of the most emotional and rewarding experiences of my life.
I was the same age when I joined the Army and was also a member of Waterloo Company at the Army foundation College.
I’ve loved watching her grow so quickly into a stronger person, full of confidence. She’s not following my path, we simply started at the same place, she’s carving out her own, and I couldn’t be prouder.
The college offers training to two cohorts of Junior Soldiers per year. Candidates will embark on either a 49-week course or a shorter 23-week course.
