“The only two things from Oklahoma are steers and queers, and I don’t see any horns on you Boy”.

In the 1982 movie Officer and a Gentleman, Gunnery Sargent Foley ridicules a wannabe officer from the State of Texas. Barking orders ferociously, the physical trainer is inducting a bunch of green recruits to the Navy Flying Officer program.

He continues to yell that most of them will not survive the training. Discharge on Request (DOR) is his key concept; keep up with the gruelling training or go home voluntarily.

In fact, the veteran trainer goes out of his way to get rid of some of the new recruits he thought did not have the qualities of an officer.

“Men of Honor” is also is a movie about Naval Training.  In this real life drama, a boy with limited education becomes the first African American to be a US Navy Master Diver.  During rigorous training, the new recruits DOR by ringing a bell. Throughout the movie, many rookies ring the bell and leave the training.

Cadets from Fiji Maritime Academy (FMA) have attended a two week residential.

Fiji Navy Commander John Fox and his worthy Training Officers of the Fiji Navy has extended their on-going support to FMA by offering the facilities and the officers to put the new cadets through their paces.

While it was not as rigorous and dramatic as the stories in the movies, certainly there was no DOR. The students paraded, underwent physical fitness training, built their teamwork skills, and participated in motivational and leadership programs.

They most certainly have made their own beds, did their own dishes and cleaned the premises and toilets.

Parents will definitely be overjoyed at the prospect of the kids doing housework but more importantly, having received training to help them eventually go on board a sea going vessel to forge a career.

One of the main reasons for a residential camp, which is a first for FMA, was a request by one of the employing companies that cadets should possess Officer Like Qualities (OLQ).

OLQ is a number of desired attributes that a cadet, who once an officer, should possess. Leadership, trustworthiness, sense of responsibility, courage, organising ability, initiative, cooperation and self-confidence are some of the noteworthy attributes out of the 15.

It was not expected that in two weeks the cadets would learn all the attributes but they have been given a great foundation to start thinking about improving some of their capabilities.

FMA is grateful to the Fiji Navy for its enduring support.

The Navy involvement in the cadet program is an extension of the mandatory fire training conducted at the Togalevu Naval Base.