Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Period Of Remembrance

We have now entered the period of remembrance, therefore as we do each year all cadets and staff shall wear a poppy on their uniform. This is worn of the right hand side of the shirt or jumper.

Poppies will be available from the squadron.

R Davis
SGT (ATC)
Adjutant 2393 Squadron

Monday, October 22, 2012

Berlin Camp

A letter will be going out to all cadets regarding a camp to Berlin that we are in the process of organising. The key focus of the camp is WWII and Cold War Germany, where cadets will learn about life during the war in Berlin, the Holocaust, Nazi Germany, post war Germany, Berlin Wall and the Stasi (East German Secret Police).

The letter will provide full details on the camp, which will take place in February half term 2013. Those interested in attending need to complete and return the slip at the bottom of the letter along with a deposit of £100 to secure a place on the camp.

R Davis
SGT (ATC)
Adjutant 2393 Squadron

Successful Flight Competition Weekend

Well done to the cadets from both flights who put a lot of effort into the flight competition weekend. Despite the weather we still managed to have a good weekend of activities including a nav ex race, archery, raft building and shooting. The scores from each event are being bought together and the winning flight will be announced on tomorrow's parade night.

The staff would all like to thank and say well done to Sgt Longman who had the idea of running this event and was the key organiser for the weekend.

One final note on kit. Should anyone find a jacket that isn't their's then please return this to the squadron as it more than likely belongs to Deacon T. It's quite important that this is returned as his glasses are in one of the jacket pockets.

R Davis
SGT (ATC)
Adjutant 2393 Squadron


Tuesday, October 09, 2012

Staff Now BELA Qualified!

After 10 months of hard work and training weekends Mr Pether and myself are now BELA (Basic Expedition Leader Award) qualified. Last weekend we both traveled to the Peak District with several other staff members from Essex Wing for our final assessment.

On day 1 we walked an expedition route from Edale covering part of the Pennine Way. This was similar to a silver DofE route carrying all the kit we would need for a weekend. On the way round we were given various tests including triangulation, aiming off, hand railing, questions on the country code and a first aid scenario. Each member of the group had to lead the team on a section of the route and ensure everyone's needs were taken care of.

Day 2 focused on a shorter day walk on a route from Edale, walking up to Hollins Cross then back round and down to the campsite. Further navigation and group leadership tests were given on route to really test us on all the learning outcomes. The walk came to a close at 13:00 when we were given individual feedback on our results and were very please to be told we had both passed with flying colours! After sharing round a celebratory bottle of champaign talk soon started on how we intend to use our new qualification.

The BELA will allow us to lead groups in non-mountainous and non-remote areas of the countryside. This provides our squadron with even greater flexibility to run adventure training activities and more DofE expeditions. Mr Pether and I are very keen to run training navigation weekends, practice and actual DofE expeditions in areas such as the South Downs, Peak District and Snowdon National Park once the adventure training season begins in March / April 2013. This will be a great opportunity for us to put our skills to good use and for the cadets to learn from us in an environment they are not familiar with.

There are a couple of groups of people we would like to thank who made it possible of us to complete this award. Firstly, thanks to Essex Wing ATC and their team of tutors and assessors for their instruction and guidance throughout the course, without which none of this would have taken place. Finally, thanks to our Civilian Welfare Committee for funding this for us meaning we avoided any personal financial cost.

R Davis
SGT (ATC)
Adjutant 2393 Squadron