Only day two in post, but already our new Chief Fire Officer was looking and sounding confident. Ben Ansell has taken over from Darran Gunter, the most superb CFO and who served us all with great competence and professionalism. Ben reminded me over a cup of tea when we first met by showing me a recording of a fire I covered as as a reporter with BBC South television. A younger Ben had been put up to speak to the press about the incident and there he was on screen being interviewed by yours truly. Because this was his first appearance on tv, Ben had told his mum to record it, so here we were looking at a little bit of nostalgia. Cllr Rebecca Knox, who is the very able chairman of the fire authority, was also there. We spent about 45 minutes catching up on where the fire service had got to with its amalgamation with Wiltshire and discussed other matters, too. Ben has a firm grip on his new command and will make an excellent CFO. After changing into a suit and taking a coat to keep warm I headed to Weymouth to attend the Sea Cadets' presentation night. As always, it was a lot of fun, with the young cadets receiving various awards for all that they have achieved. The guest of honour was Rear Admiral Nigel Guild, who gave an excellent speech about uniform, what was expected of them and the importance of families. The evening was of course a little different to what I'm used to, being a former Guardsman. The Royal Navy enjoy their whistles and pennants and of course drill is done without the stamping of feet. I was invited to inspect the Royal Marine section, all 24 of them. And what a great bunch they were. They looked very smart and most had put a lot of effort into polishing their boots. That brought back a few memories. We broke half way through the event, which gave us a chance to chat to the cadets and their parents. Then it was back into the training hall to watch a short dance act and a film showing what they'd all been up to. Then they all fell back in for Evening Colours, before being dismissed back into their parents' charge. The sea cadets are the most impressive organisation, led by the charismatic PO Phil Dennis. He is ably supported by a fantastic team who give so much to their cadets, all of whom were clearly having a good time. A happy evening.