They are the second course to follow the new commissioning course programme under Project ADAIR. This has brought some fundamental changes yet kept many parts of the old syllabus which will be familiar to our alumni.

One change in the first two weeks is that the cadets now learn what it is to be an officer and the acceptable values and standards. This has always been part of the course but was traditionally covered much later. The new syllabus sets the standards right from the start while still emphasising basic skills and the transition from civilian to soldier.

Some 50% of the whole course takes place in the field and several of the exercises have been lengthened to avoid the ‘Monday to Friday’ mentality. The first exercise, now called FIELDEX still takes place on Barossa but has moved away from the ‘aggressive camping’ of old to a five-day tactical deployment.

Week 5 still culminates in Passing Off The Square a rite of passage virtually unchanged since the War. However, cadets now receive a full inspection from the Academy master tailor before they march onto the square. The cadets will only have received their No 1 Dress uniforms a few days before and it is essential that any alterations are identified to be rectified before they form the rear ranks of the Sovereign’s Parade just a few weeks later.

Many cadets arrive at Sandhurst with little or no military experience and a surprising amount have little idea which part of the army they want to serve in – in political terms they are floating voters. The first part of the process is the arms and services display on Old College Square in Week three. Here the cadets see equipment from every part of the army and have a chance to speak to the officers and soldiers from the various units. The following week, the Academy Adjutant explains the choice of arm procedure in a central presentation. Next, in week six, cadets narrow their choices down by visiting regimental and corps stands in Old College on three evenings. Run by the Academy Regimental and Corps representatives, and leavened with young officers from the Field Army, this enables the cadets to narrow their choices down to two (the so-called declaration of interest) in preparation for the first visits to outside units in week twelve.

In the old programme, the cadets took part in Adventurous Training courses (AT) during the recess at the end of term one and AT expeditions at the end of term two. To give the cadets more recovery time between terms, these have been scrapped and cadets now only take part in ALERT (Adventurous, Leadership and Resilience Training) during week seven of the programme.

The ADAIR programme changes are being gradually roiled out with the current Intermediate intake, having been the first to undertake the new term one, is now halfway through the new term two. With an overall aim to prepare cadets for the next conflict rather than the last one the new syllabus is one of the many changes that are shaping the Royal Military Academy.