ACR 2023

3045 Army Cadet Corps of Arctic Bay, Nunavut, held its year-end Annual Ceremonial Review (ACR) Parade on Wednesday, May 10.  An ACR is like a Parents Night Parade but with more awards.  It’s also viewed as a year-end parade for the regular training year.  The original plan was to hold it in April, but Nunavut Quest and Qamutik Cup made that too difficult.  I spent several days putting a program together, sorting awards, finding a Guest Review Officer (GRO), and buying snacks for reception.  The cadets & I also reviewed and practiced the parade format a few times.  Practice makes perfect.

The cadets & I arrived at the school gym an hour early to turn the place into a parade square.  Chairs, tables, flags, reception area, sound system, and photos were all strategically placed.  When all was ready the cadet parade commander took attendance and sized the cadets in a platoon.  Parents, guardians, and friends of the cadets arrived and took their seats. 

The parade began at 6:30pm.

I marched in with the GRO following behind me.  The GRO was the Vice-Principal of Inuujaq School.  We halted at the front of the parade square.  General Salute and O Canada were played.  The cadet parade commander approached us, introduced himself, and escorted the GRO through the cadet ranks so she could inspect them.  The GRO returned to the front of the parade square and the cadets performed a March Past to demonstrate their ability to move together as a disciplined & synchronized team.

The parade continued with the longest section of the program: awards & honours.  There are a lot of give out at the ACR.  Prior to the start of the parade, I instructed the cadets to set up a line of chairs at the back of the gym for them to use if they felt they were going to faint.  I also set up a small table with cups of water for them to drink.  I knew the chairs and cups of water would be heavily used during this part of the parade.

The GRO assisted me with the awards & honours by presenting them to the chosen cadets and taking a picture with them.         

I started with the marksmanship badges.  Five cadets improved their skills since the last Parents Night Parade in February.  I then called the Marksmanship Team to publicly congratulate them for their first-place finish in Winnipeg.  They each received a t-shirt and an extended applause from the audience.

Next were the physical fitness badges.  Eight cadets earned Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Excellence.

Training in the army cadet program is divided into star levels.  A year is required to complete a star level, similar to grade levels in school.  There are five levels: Green, Red, Silver, Gold, and Master.  All cadets were called to the front to receive their star level badges.  They would advance to the next level after summer.  The master cadets remain at the master level but work on achieving the National Star of Excellence (NSoE).  I’m glad to announce that two senior cadets achieved Level 1 this year.  (There are 4 levels).

The next batch of awards & honours was the plaques and trophies.  The first plaque award was the Most Improved Cadet.  This award goes to the cadet who has shown great improvement in areas of training, behaviour, and ability.  The second award was the Best Boots & Deportment trophy, awarded to the cadet who wore and maintained their parade boots and dress uniform the entire year.  The next trophy was the Best Female & Male Athletes.  This year it was a tie in both categories.  Three cadets achieved the Attendance Award for maintaining a high rate of attendance.  They each received a t-shirt.

The highly coveted Top Cadet Award went to a senior cadet who exceeded in leadership, drill, instruction, and deportment.  He received a backpack and t-shirt.

I saved promotions for last.  Six cadets received promotions.  Five Lance Corporals and a Sergeant. 

In my closing remarks I congratulated the cadets for their achievements, and thanked everyone in the audience for coming to support their local army cadet corps.  I also thanked Inuujaq School’s vice principal for being the GRO.

The parade concluded with the cadets doing an Advance in Review Order and a General Salute.  The GRO & I exited the gym, and the cadets were dismissed.  The parade officially ended.

The cadets & I posed for a group photo and then enjoyed the reception.  The clean up began thirty minutes later.  The cadets were dismissed for the night after the gym was spotless.