Nick Hewlett, head of geography and Contingent Commander of the Combined Cadet Force at Magdalen College School, Oxford, explains why CCF still makes its mark . . .

If you should be walking over Magdalen Bridge on a Tuesday afternoon and you look south, you may well wonder what is going on in the grounds of Magdalen College School.

In front of you could very well be a number of young people, ranging from 15-18 in age, face down in the mud, in full body camouflage and crawling their way to a makeshift enemy position before enacting a tactical assault under the command of one of their peers. Indeed, many people do stop on that bridge and stare with a look of utter bemusement at the spectacle before the, m and with some reason.

Objectively it is quite an extraordinary thing. The absurdity of it all can be quite striking.

The Combined Cadet Force was founded in 1948 and is a Ministry of Defence sponsored youth organisation in the United Kingdom, although it has many facets worldwide. Its aim is to "provide a disciplined organisation in a school so that pupils may develop powers of leadership by means of training to promote the qualities of responsibility, self reliance, resourcefulness, endurance and perseverance".

But should we really be encouraging children to parade in uniform? Should we really be teaching a child to shoot a weapon?

Should we really be teaching children to think tactically and lead a group of peers in a battle scenario?

There are many people who would question the moral place of the Combined Cadet Force in the current political arena. Surely it simply glamourises war? Aren't we just manipulating young minds?

We ll perhaps there is something in all of that. Perhaps we do need to be especially sensitive in these times of war and turmoil, but I fervently believe that were we to lose the CCF and organisations like it, we would be losing something truly special.

What the CCF does is so much more than teaching a cadet to shoot. It hones a twofold skills base of self-restraint, patience, attentiveness and companionship on the one hand whilst on the other encouraging assertiveness, leadership and decision making.

And what is more, I believe that the nature of the training accelerates the learning of these skills at a speed unparalleled in other learning environments. The activities in which the cadets partake stretch their mental and physical ability to the very limits.

When a cadet enrolls with the CCF he will be assigned to a Section of around 12 people and this Section will have its own rank structure into which he or she becomes a part.

That Section will work together over as much as two years.

Completing overnight exercises, they will learn to patrol silently together through 'hostile' territory; they will learn to look out for each other, to help each other and to respect one another.

Ration packs will be shared for the good of the Section, the slowest man will be aided - the camaraderie is quickly fuelled and in a very positive way.

Younger cadets benefit from positive role models.They want to become leaders. They want to be the caring yet assertive and controlling hand over the Section.

And for many they do just that.

Ye t beyond all the productive educational values spawned by this organisation and the ability to learn productively and rapidly beyond the classroom, the CCF does something even more fundamentally important. In its purest form it is a genuine celebration of childhood - it allows children to be children - to get muddy, climb trees and build things. Cadets set up camp, cook for themselves, make fires, build rafts and navigate through the hills: a welcome addition to lives spent in dark bedrooms logging on or hanging out on street corners.

Recent research shows that extracurricular youth activities that take place in a group setting, with a clear hierarchy and structure, clear and well defined aims and consistent meetings help children to develop better social and emotional skills.

Wearing a uniform has been shown to help, as it signals order and discipline. Is this really surprising? Children need discipline and structure in their lives as well as fun.

Working with cadets, it used to surprise me how well they responded to drill (marching and saluting in time). But now it all seems to be part of a greater obviousness. What children really want is well ordered, productive fun that challenges and educates in a stimulating and exciting way.

They need role models and activities that inspire them and shape them in a way that they see and know as being right. I feel the CCF does exactly this.