My mother made me join,? said Katherine, in between directing the younger children in a capture the flag exercise. ?I didn?t go much for the first year, but after I started going I decided I liked it and it was cool. It kept me out of trouble. On a Friday I didn?t have anything to do so I would go outside and get into trouble. But because I have something to do on a Friday now it keeps me out of trouble ? it?s all good.?

During the week-long camp programme at Ferry Reach students took long hikes in the broiling heat, ran races, learned about campsite safety, practised firing weapons (with blanks) and learned about casualty evacuation, among other things.

Originally, Katherine, pictured below right, a student at the Berkeley Institute, never thought she would make platoon sergeant. She did. Again, she thought that was as far as she could go.

?After I made sergeant, I thought, this is as far as I am going to go, I might as well learn everything about it,? she said. ?A couple of years later I was promoted again.?

When Katherine talked about the Bermuda Cadet Corps she used ?we? instead of ?they?, showing how much a part of the programme she felt.

?We look at leadership skills,? she said. ?It is not really what you know. You have to have knowledge but we also look at how well you work with the kids. Are you going to be violent or are you going to be calm and be able to manage them properly? That is how you get promoted. When we see that you have good leadership skills then we look at you.?

Katherine said she is proud to be a mentor to the younger children coming up in the programme.

If a student stays within the programme until they are 18, the Bermuda Cadet Corps may find room for them even beyond, as commissioned officers.

?I encourage all kids to join,? said Katherine. ?Our status right now in files is over 500 kids, but not all our kids showed up for the camp. It gives you discipline and a little bit of responsibility.?

She said the Bermuda Cadet Corps tries to teach its members basic life skills. It encourages them to take pride in their appearance. As in the regiment, their shoes need to be polished and their clothes clean and ironed when they show up for meetings.

When she graduates from high school, Katherine hopes to spend two years at the Bermuda College and then go on to college abroad to study computer networking.

?I want to go from there to Japan or somewhere like that where they have and create the best technology,? she said.

For Bermuda Cadet Corps Commandant Anthony Steede, Katherine epitomises what the programme is about. Major Steede has been involved with the Bermuda Cadet Corps since the late 1970s and has been a full-time member of the Bermuda Regiment for 13 years.

?The young people today are totally different,? Major Steede said. ?They are less likely to be responsive to discipline calls. You have to force the issue whereas in the past there was blind obedience. If you said jump they would ask you how high on the way up. That is not the case anymore. You are repeating a lot more.?

Major Steede works at Bermuda Motors and volunteers with the Bermuda Cadet Corps two hours a day, three days a week.

The Bermuda Cadet Corps has a programme operating in almost all of the schools in Bermuda.

?The ideal situation would be to have a corps in every school,? he said. ?We are almost there. I had the opportunity to speak to several school principals last Friday. They came out and took a look around.

?We are looking to recruit teachers to work with us. We provide the training and they provide the manpower. I think it is an opportunity for both organisations, and a win-win situation for both.?

Major Steede said that having a group of disciplined, confident cadet corps members as part of the student body could only have a positive impact on a school.

?Any disciplined organisation brings a measure of discipline to their environment,? he said. ?They walk around. They take pride in their uniform. They carry themselves up.?

Major Steede said that students often see an increase in grade average when they join the Bermuda Cadet Corps.

?We have also seen a decrease in grade averages,? he said. ?If we are in any way impeding their education we suspend them. If they really, really want to be here, they know what they have to do to come back.?

Although the day was scorching, the cadets the spoke with were enthusiastic and eager to get on to their game of capturing the flag.

?My mother made me join, because I had a lot of trouble with my life,? said 13-year-old Ridge Mello Sousa. ?I am into weapons and stuff. I am enjoying this very much. I got captured today. There was one platoon and another platoon and we have to catch each other.?

The Bermuda Cadet Corps is about 60 percent male and 40 percent female, although in the past it has been 70 percent female.

On this day, with everyone wearing floppy green hats and camouflage overalls, it was difficult to tell the girls from the boys. The onlooker certainly couldn?t tell by judging enthusiasm or behaviour.

Major Steede said having female cadets actually raised the bar for the boys.

?Girls have a tendency to do well regardless,? he said. ?By nature, they do things well. We tell the boys, If you only do mediocrity then someone who is doing a better job, and it is likely to be a female, will come along and you are going to lose.?

?It is quite fun,? said Stephanie Robinson, 13. ?I like the running and everything. I thought it would be a good experience. When they came to our school I thought it sounded like fun. When I told people, a lot of people said ?why would you want to do that??

?They said it would be tricky and hard with all the marching, but it is not that hard. I have been involved since February. I am now probably neater and I pay more attention. No, I don?t get treated any different because I am a girl, I get the same punishments as the boys.?

Punishments include push-ups, running, standing to attention for a long time, and extra clean-up duties.

Stephanie said she would consider joining the Bermuda Regiment when she is old enough.

?I think I could handle it,? she said.

Another cadet also said he would like to join the Bermuda Regiment, and would like to go even further.

?I am in my second year with the cadets,? said Lance Corporal Benjamin Smith, 13. ?I am going to probably go to military college. Halfway through my first year with the Bermuda Cadet Corps, I decided that. It is about discipline and you learn how to take care of yourself.?

Major Steede said there was no question that cadets would be well-prepared for the Bermuda Regiment.

?Several members of the full-time staff of the Bermuda Regiment are a product of the cadet corps,? said Major Steede. ?In fact, the second in command of the regiment was a graduate of our programme.?

As Major Steede spoke, an officer in the background bellowed: ?Run means run! I am coming for you, five, four...?

?We have three company groups,? said Major Steede. ?One is made up of more senior cadets. They are doing everything at a slightly higher pace. We make them walk further. We make them get up earlier. We make them go down later. They are in a pressure tank. A lot of those have been selected to go to our battle camp in Canada in about a week. We are just pushing the button for them to see how much they can take. Those are the next batch of leaders.?

Major Steede said that although there are about 500 cadets, not all of them wanted to be involved in the summer camp. The kids at Ferry Reach were mostly the enthusiastic ones, or ones who had been sent by their parents.

?These kids are tough as nails,? he said. ?We have thrown a lot at them in the last ten days and they just keep lapping it up. It is amazing. We expected a lot of them to cry and want to go home. We have had one or two do that, but that?s all. The sense of accomplishment that they feel at the end of it, despite all of the frustrations through it, you can?t replace that.?