Commissioning Parade, the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst

Part of the requirement for recruiting is to have a bank of images that the British Army can use .  I have already done some of the specialist trades and soldiers, so it was nice to be asked to go to the Commissioning Parade in Camberley to photograph the culmination of their initial Officer training at the Royal Military Academy.

The palpable sense of pride, completion, and expectation really hangs around the place.  I had a couple of hours to wander the accommodation blocks to see the Officer Cadets getting ready for their day, and then follow then from the forming up on New College Square, to marching on to the historical, romantic and daunting square in from of Old College.

Sadly, Old College is under repairs at the moment, so, incredibly, a photograph of the building now stands as the back-drop instead of the scaffolding that covers the old building.

This was in one of the wettest and dullest Decembers ever, so to get there on the only very sunny day really added to the moment!