DAY IN THE LIFE OF A.……..CADET ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT (CAA)
Each Company has an allocated CAA, a full time employee of the Reserve Forces and Cadet
Association (RFCA), responsible to the Cadet Executive Officer (CEO) for all administration,
equipment and logistics support within their allocated area. They also have County-wide
responsibilities, e.g. transport, rations, information technology, armoury. They are busy people, we
talked to Captain Peter Carr (X Company CAA) to find out a little more about their behind the scenes
work, that keeps the County moving.
What does a day in the life of a CAA look
like?
07.30 Tea, whilst getting ready for work.
Living only a few miles from County
Headquarters (CHQ), I have the added
advantage of being able to drop my wife,
Mandy, at work on the way (she’s a nurse at
the new hospital). Meanwhile, at CHQ the
early shift will already have opened up, and
work has begun. Typically, several staff will
be in by 06.30 hours at the latest. You can
tell we were in the military and love early
morning starts.
09.00 Tea, whilst dealing with emails that
have come in overnight, or at a weekend.
We very much work as a team, so as the
morning develops I may be involved
assisting colleagues with a variety of tasks,
often travelling across our Region. I work
closely with my Detachment Commanders,
providing advice and guidance on the
administration, safety, security and upkeep
of each detachment. One of
my responsibilities is for the
buildings and external areas.
From inspecting for faults
and risk assessing, and
ensuring all fire safety
requirements are tested and
in place. To arranging
repairs and co-ordinating
access for contractors, there’s
always something needing
doing, a bit like painting the
Forth Road Bridge.
range safety and security and ensuring their
armouries and records are maintained
correctly, and all is tickety-boo.
14.00 Tea (when possible) as like today I’ve
been out on the road. I’ve been transporting
equipment back to base, which due to
security regulations requires an escort and
an additional accompanying vehicle. So for
me and my two colleagues it’s taken a good
chunk out of our working day. Meanwhile,
back in the office work is still waiting to be
done, such as booking training areas for
Company weekends, arranging
accommodation/feeding, armoury and
transport.
17.00 Tea whilst finishing off my officebased work for the day, and picking up
Mandy on the way home. Major Mandy Carr
is also Northumbria Army Cadet Force’s
County Nursing Officer, and you may see her
at our annual camps.
19.00 Tea (in a travel mug) and I’m out on
one of my evening detachment
visits. I am responsible for
eight detachments spread
across the SE Northumberland
area, three in Army Reserve
Centres, the other five in huts.
Between them all they parade
on four out of five weeknights.
21.00 Tea on arrival home,
typically between 21.00-21.30
hours on an average
detachment night, and
dependent upon traffic and
weather. Sinking a brew and
feet up with Wor Lass,
catching up on each other’s news.
12.00 Tea and lunch,
normally for 30 minutes on a
good day, sometimes on the move,
depending what needs doing in my Company
What’s the favourite thing about your
area and at detachment locations.
job?
Several have miniature ranges, so I am their
The wide variety of tasks, every day is
Range Officer, responsible for inspections,
different. I really enjoy meeting and chatting
to the cadets and Cadet Force Adult
Volunteers (CFAVs) on my evening visits,
and at camps. It impresses me the
dedication of our CFAVs, who give up most,
if not all, of their spare time…amazing!
What’s the least favourite thing about
the job?
Winter visits on a cold, wet, windy night.
Living and working so close to the North Sea
the weather really can be four seasons in one
day.
How long have you worked as a CAA here
at Northumbria?
I’ve been here 16 years! Two years looking
after the Cadet Training Centre at Redesdale
Camp (Otterburn) and W Company
detachments, then 14 years with X Company
and being the Motor Transport Officer
(MTO) and Hire Fleet CAA.
What did you do before you became a
CAA?
I spent 24 years in the British Army with the
Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, leaving as a
Warrant Officer Class II. I then worked for
four years for an American company as a
Material Planner, travelling all over Europe.
I joined Northumbria Army Cadet Force on
4th January 2000, the time has flown!
23