11 May 08 - Wing Training Day
On Sunday 11th of May, we attended the Central an East Yorkshire Wing training day. 22 squadrons from around the area came to RAF Linton-On-Ouse to participate in a number of activities. These included sports, such as football and volleyball, model aircraft making, a drill competition, aircraft recognition, and socializing with other squadrons.
The day kicked off with a first aid contest. Both Stellings (who are also Saint Johns ambulance cadets), Cadet Riley and Cpl Wray were involved in this event. It comprised of a resuscitation exercise and a role-play. The roll play involved a woman that had fallen down the stairs and our very own Sgt Cobbett being a nosey bystander. Unfortunately, we did not win this event.
Next came the drill competition and inspection, which for some very odd reason was done in jumpers on a boiling hot day! The drill team’s uniform was so good that the very specific Warrant officers inspecting them went up to our boss at the end of the day and congratulated our squadron on the drill teams turn out. The squadron came joint second with East Clevland(Redcar) Squadron and Harrogate Squadron coming first.
Sports were unfortunately not as successful. We were knocked out in the first round of volleyball by a very strong team from Scarborough, and in the second round by Redcar squadron.
The last event of the day was aircraft rec. This involved cadets Chapman, Coats and Widdowson. They were expecting this event to be a team collaboration, and so each revised a different group of aircraft. Unfortunately, it was an individual event and was not a great success.
After this, our squadron had to sit around and wait until final parade, as the sport semi-finals and finals were going on. So two hours later than expected, all the squadrons were formed up outside in the glaring sun. After marching onto the parade ground, we were allowed to sit down. We were not expecting any awards, as we knew we had not won any events. We were all surprised when, at the end of the awards, our squadron was called forwards to receive a certificate from the Commandant Air Cadets. The certificate was in recognition of our increased involvement in the local community and in cadet activities, the creation of ties between the British Legion and our squadron, and the great improvement in the recruitment and numbers of our squadron since the boss took charge.
Overall it was a great day out and an enjoyable experience that we all would like to repeat next year.