AFTER celebrating 150 years of its Combined Cadet Force (CCF) in 2011, Brentwood School is for the first time helping to set up another branch in Essex.
Staff at the independent school, which has the largest CCF in the country, have been asked to help establish a new unit at state grammar Westcliff High School for Boys.
This comes following the appointment of Brentwood School CCF's new contingent commander, former army officer turned languages teacher Hugh Ottewell.
Mr Ottewell told the Gazette: "Following the riots in London in 2011, the Government wanted there to be recognised areas where young people may be encouraged to do more positive things with their time and one area they looked at was the setting up of 100 more CCFs in the UK.
"Westcliff High School for Boys successfully applied to start a CCF, and have been given a grant to cover their costs for the first year.
"They have linked to us and their staff attend our training days and weekends and are able to pick our brains on the best way of running the CCF.
"We have also been in to talk to their parents about what being part of the CCF involves."
Mr Ottewell added: "We are delighted to be able to help another Essex school.
"It is a reciprocal arrangement.
"For example, when we needed another female member of staff for a residential trip for some of our female cadets, Westcliff sent one of their teachers."
Mr Ottewell welcomed the increase of CCFs, of which there are only a handful in Essex, but which are more prevalent in the London boroughs.
He said: "The CCF is not a military recruitment drive.
"It's about developing a young person, increasing their self-confidence, giving them a strong respect for authority but also developing their leadership skills."
Mr Ottewell said his new job "fits him like a glove".
He left the Army in 2005 and retrained as a French and Spanish teacher.
This summer he moved from the Wirral to take up the post with his wife and young daughter and the family are living in one of the school's own houses.
"This job is unparalleled for me," he said.
"I'm teaching in a great school and able to use my army experience and knowledge."
No stranger to Essex, Mr Ottewell's first posting as an officer in The Light Infantry (now The Rifles) was at Colchester Barracks.
During his 12-year career he rose to the rank of captain and undertook tours in Sierra Leone, Northern Ireland and the Middle East.
One of his first roles with Brentwood CCF, which has a 500-plus strong membership, was the biennial inspection and Guard of Honour, this year conducted by Brigadier Rob Thompson DSO, an Old Brentwood.
Mr Ottewell said: "The cadets performed amazingly.
"They made me feel very proud.
"My predecessor Nigel Carr has done a magnificent job.
"I have been hugely impressed and don't want to change it but continue his excellent work in developing the cadets."
