SUFFOLK ARMY CADET WINS COVETED AWARD

Cadet SSgt Luke Harris, aged 18, from Bury St Edmunds (Royal Artillery) Det, A Coy, Suffolk Army Cadet Force, has been awarded the unique Brooks Stick for 2005.

Presented annually to the most outstanding Cadet in Suffolk, it is named in honour of Col RW Brooks OBE who gave 44 yrs of service to Suffolk ACF and was Commandant 1935-1947. 

B and C Coys also both nominated exceptional candidates for interview by a panel of senior officers. Luke was unaware he had won until the last day of Annual Camp at Rollestone on Salisbury Plain at the County Parade.

Luke had earlier celebrated his fifth Annual Camp with a parachute jump from 3500 feet.

Presently in the Upper VI Form in Bury St Edmunds, Luke is a Four Star Cadet and a good shot.

He has travelled to Canada to join the gruelling Four-week Leadership Challenge Expedition. ‘It was indeed a challenge but the experience of a lifetime,’ he says.

While attending the UK National Cadet Leadership Course he was spotted by a Gurkha officer and has been invited to join the Royal Gurkha Rifles for a year. They will then sponsor him to study Law at university.

His intention is then to attend The Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst prior to being commissioned into the Regular Army.

Staff Sergeant Instructor Steve Macloughlin, of Bury St Edmunds Det, said: 'Luke has been an outstanding Cadet. This is a most well deserved award in recognition of his achievements and the example he sets.'

SSgt Luke Harris in training kit

SSgt Luke Harris lands from his first parachute jump

Col Paul Denny with the
Brooks Stick Winner 2005
SSgt Luke Harris
of Bury St Edmunds Det

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SSgt Luke Harris takes the A Coy Final Parade

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