The 209 Navy League Cadets of Canada Venture (NLCC) Quilchena and Coldwater divisions had their annual cadet review on Saturday.

The cadets were inspected by area officer for the B.C. Mainland division LCdr. Brett Torbet who told the Herald the troops looked the part.

“So far so good; everything’s looking good. I’ve actually come up a couple times this year and they’re slowly improving,” Torbet said.

He said the cadet group here in Merritt has improved a lot given its small size.

“Because they’re small and they’re really just getting going, it’s a great improvement. They’re growing; they got a lot of community support, which is great. They have access to lakes up here, which is really good to actually get out on the water,” Torbet said.

There are 16 cadets in the Merritt NLCC Venture, 13 of whom were on deck Saturday at 1755 Coldwater Ave. for the review.

“The first time I came up here, I think they had six kids, total,” Torbet said.

The cadets put on two displays for the crowd that gathered to watch the review. After O Canada, the cadets completed a drill team display and a communications display, which uses semaphore flags and radios to demonstrate how ships communicate.

The message the cadets signalled read “Welcome to NLCC Venture’s ACR” (Annual Cadet Review).

Area Officer for the B.C. Interior and interim Commanding Officer for NLCC Venture LCdr. Edward Finnigan told the Herald he is impressed by the cadets since taking over commanding officer duties with these divisions in September of 2012.

“I’m very proud of them,” said Finnigan.

Awards and promotions were also presented to the local cadets at the review.

Merritt Badges for outstanding community service went to LC (Leading Cadet) Wilkins, LC Grant, PO2 (Petty Officer 2nd Class) Willson, OC (Ordinary Cadet) Ellis, OC Morash, OC Cocks, OC Smathers, D. and PO1 (Petty Officer 1st Class) Smathers, M.

The NLCC Venture Drill Team, consisting of PO1 Smathers, M., PO2 Willson, LC Wilkins, LC Grant, LC Schultz, LC Lynch, OC Ellis, OC Cocks, OC Morash, OC Sampson, OC Smathers, D. and OC Smith, were given medals to acknowledge the hard work they’d put into practicing their drill team display for the Annual Cadet Review.

The Perfect Attendance Award went to PO1 Smathers, M.

Most Improved Cadet went to LC Lynch and Best Dressed went to LC Wilkins.

The Academic Award – for cadets who have the best results on written, verbal or physical exams – went to OC Ellis and OC Cocks.

The Leadership Award went to LC Grant and the Commanding Officer’s Award – an award chosen solely by the commanding officer on criteria such as leadership, academics, dress and attendance – went to OC Sampson and OC Morash.

For promotions, LCs Lynch, Schultz, Grant and Wilkins were promoted to PO2. OC Cocks, Ellis, Morash, Sampson, Smathers, D. and Smith were promoted to AC (Able Cadets).