14th PA Camp

Day 1 at 2K2 Camp

Welcome to the Zone.

Be prepared for a memorable time meeting new friends and catching up with old friends. The Officers, especially your Quadrant OC and Adjutant, are here to make every effort to ensure that your 2K2 experience is the best ever. We want every one to have the best time that they can, so remember to keep others in mind in everything you do. Everyone has a part to play to ensure no one feels left out or alone during camp. Many of your fellow campers do not have other members of their home company here and are looking for friendships (and even those who do will probably enjoy meeting new friends). To ensure everyone is well, Officers will probably encourage you to be safe in all things: physical activities, eating in balanced ways, and ensuring that not only you, but your fellow campers have adequate sleep. While we're were disappointed that General Cosgrove was unable to attend the opening ceremony as guest of honour I was delighted that Brigadier Wallace was able to officiate. Have a great camp.

Guest of Honour Profile:

Brigadier Jim Wallace was made a member of the Order of Australia due to his contribution to the Australian Army's counter terrorist capabilities as part of his career with the SAS (Special Air Service) and Special Forces. He has served as part of UN forces in Lebanon. A committed Christian through the majority of his army service, and after 31 years of army service, he is now the Executive Chairman of the Australian Christian Lobby, an organisation aiming to see the Christian vote and opinion count more in the governance of the nation.

Bushfire changes

We promised that Canberra was going to be hot but we didn't expect it to be this hot recently! As a result we've had to change some of the 3-day electives to cope with areas shut down because of the fires, or areas that have just been burnt out. Major changes include: the elective at Bungonia has been relocated to Wee Jasper - still with extreme caving (@ the Punchbowl), abseiling, a cave tour and time to splash around. The Canoeing elective at Kangaroo Valley is now at Jindabyne - with paddling, water activities and some alpine land exploration thrown in. The Brindabella expedition will now be hiking through the Kosciuszko National Park. All campers will be briefed tonight after the Opening Ceremony about your electives. Please pause and think about those affected much more seriously than we are by the bushfires today.

Head Chaplain Profile:

Mark Schultz, Executive Officer of Scripture Union ACT, became a Christian at 13. Since then he has been involved with and led university, school & church groups, beach missions, and various other outreach activities primarily focussed on youth for the past 15 years. He loves water skiing, scuba diving, camping, bushwalking, any other land sports, and is particularly fond of games involving strange substances (think tuna and jelly). He is passionate about helping others meet God, and discover further what God wants them to do with their lives. During camp, see if you can find out what was one of him and his mates favourite extracurricular activities.

Pentapac Award:

As you know by attending 2K2, you have the chance to earn either a Gold or Silver Pentapac Award (which you wear on your left arm of your BB uniform). For each of the five areas, you will be assessed as Gold (outstanding effort), Silver (meets minimum requirements) or Iron (uninvolved). To earn the Silver Pentapac you will need silver in all five areas (or three golds, one of which has to be for the spiritual side). To earn the Gold Pentapac, you will need gold for all five areas. With suitable effort, all campers should be able to achieve the Silver Pentapac award easily. The Gold Pentapac will however require more effort - but the more you put in, the greater the reward! The five sides are: * Devotional sessions involvement (spiritual); * 3-Day Electives involvement; * Mt Kosciuszko Climb (physical); * Discover Canberra; & * chess (On-site activities).

National Capital Passport

At registration, you will be issued with your own National Capital Passport. When you receive it, make sure you write in your details in the front inside page. This passport will be a key part in recording your achievements in obtaining your PentaPac Award. For the Discover Canberra day, you will be able to collect stamps on the relevant pages from the places you visit. Also for the completion of Mt Kosciuszko Climb and the On-site activity aspects of PentaPac, you will receive stamps on the "Notes" pages at the back of your passport.

2K2 - Ten days of Warfare

At 2K2 we are keen for you to get to know other people well and form long-lasting friendships. However, over the ten days we're encouraging you to go to war with others: battling with your wits over chequered battlefields. To qualify for your On-site activities component of the Pentapac you will need to (learn and) play chess. To gain a silver level, you will need to play two games that should go for about 15 minutes overall. If you don't know how to play chess, that 15 minutes can involve you learning the rules and basics of the game. To earn a gold level, you will need to play an additional 2 games (15 minutes overall). Let the supervising Officers know when you begin, and they will stamp your passport upon completion of the silver requirement. For Gold you need an additional stamp. The date will be recorded next to the stamps earned. May all your battles be fair, friendly and enjoyable.

(6 Jul 2006)