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2175 (Rolls-Royce)
Squadron
Air Training Corps |
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2175 (Rolls-Royce)
Squadron
Air Training Corps |
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March / April 2003 FLT LT BRAD'S LAST NIGHT By Cdt Andrew McLellan
Friday the 11th of April was a very sad day for the whole of 2175 (Rolls-Royce) squadron. Our Commanding Officer, Flt Lt Brad, who had been with the squadron for about 32 years had his last night with us. I have personally known him for just over two years. He had told the cadets that he wanted a quiet leaving however, we knew that that meant he was really looking for a party, so we decided to organize one. Money was collected from all of the cadets for his leaving gifts and plans were put into action. On the night all of the cadets attended the squadron in Wedgwood blues and followed the Training programme as much as possible to try and not alert Flt Lt Brad to the fact that all of this was going on behind his back. The evening began with initial parade including a Last Inspection by the CO where he had a chance to talk individually to the cadets as CO for his last time. We then went to Duke of Edinburgh expedition training and just after that we were supposed to go to “Drill” however we took a few wrong turnings and ended up in the Rolls-Royce canteen. Many people were already there including Wing Commander Campbell, and many other of Ft Lt Brad’s friends and relatives. Eventually the CO arrived and the ceremony began with some memorable speeches and finally the presentations. In all for me it was a very emotional ceremony as I have had Ft Lt Brad as my CO for all of my time in the cadets and have learnt a lot from him. After the ceremony came the mammoth task of clearing up however with all of the cadets helping the task was soon done and then we all returned to the squadron for final parade where the CO dismissed the squadron for the last time and left in a flurry of party poppers. I hope that our much loved ex-CO will still maintain links with the squadron as I know that all of the cadets would like to keep in touch with him. Further pictures of Flt Lt Brad's last night are available in the gallery. NEW CO APPOINTED Flt Lt Graham Short RAF (VRT) has been appointed as Commanding Officer of No. 2175 (Rolls-Royce) Squadron. Flt Lt Short is transferring from our sister squadron in East Kilbride. Next Month's newsletter will feature an interview with our new CO, that's as soon as he returns from holiday in Tenerife! REGIONAL FOOTBALL By Cpl Michael Little As some of you know I was chosen to represent the wing in the Regional football competition, well! I am going to tell you how we got on and guess what, we came first, we were the best, not joking! We started the day with us meeting at North Hanover Street. It was a long bus journey to R.A.F Leuchars but we had the female hockey team travelling with us which was not such a bad thing! When we got there we got changed and went onto the pitch. We warmed up for 10 minutes then the first game was against Ireland. We scored first then Ireland dived in the box. We were fuming but the game must go on and they drew the game. Then, it went into a penalty shoot out where we won. We had a while to wait to play our next match against Aberdeen. But when it came we thrashed them! We were in the final against Edinburgh wing. They scored first and it wasn’t until the last couple of minutes Bocey scored a brilliant goal then we went in to penalties. Big John Lang made some brilliant saves and we WON! It was a brilliant felling and we all came home with gold medals. The bus journey home was brilliant! We slagged the hockey team for being last but it’s not the winning it’s the taking part that counts. I won’t go to much in to the bus journey lets just say it was funny! POSSIBLY THE FUNNIEST NIJMEGEN TRAINING EVER!!! By Cpl Niall MorrisonIt all began on the Friday night at half three in the morning on the Friday night when several Cadets including our very own bright-spark Cdt Kilmartin decided to leave the billet, totally of their own accord, to participate in section battle drills with nothing more than a pair of socks and boxers. Unfortunately these Cadets then found themselves locked out however, after repeated attempts to get in they eventually re-entered the billet via the main entrance. At approximately 05:30 Cdt Kilmartin and Sgt Patrick McBride decided to dance rather badly and quietly to some happy-hardcore and other assorted rave music- your diligent reporter stayed up all night to achieve this true account of the night for your reading pleasure. On the Saturdays walk we proceeded up the Glen Fruin road, then onto the long haul road which leads down to Coulport nuclear arms base and from then on down to Cove and back to Garelochhead. The days walk proceeded rather slow towards the end due to a few blisters and slipped knee’s enjoyed by the team members who had neither, but despite all the troubles I (your diligent reporter) kept up team morale and when we got back to base I took up the job of administering first-feet-aid to some of the affected team members, don’t worry no need for sterile scalpel blades only blister treatment using Syringes and compeed etc. Later on in the night some Cadets got caught doing bad things and where given into trouble for their actions; needless to say it involved animals (I didn’t do a thing for once, yay). At about 03:30 hours the Cadets of the billet were rudely awakened by my singing and later to the sound of “did you have to do that…..” emanating from Cdt Kilmartin’s side of the room- his eye brows had been shaved off- but that wasn’t all that was in store for the Mess IC of Green Flight, his entire head was shaved completely free of hair, he looked a bit like an ugly q-ball with his shiny head and lack of hair. At 07:00 hours we were getting up and ready for breakfast when I beheld the monstrosity that Cdt Kilmartin had become I couldn’t stop laughing and neither could he for some reason…….anyhoo, back to the proper things. On the Sunday we marched out of camp and began to head to Luss, but the staff had a surprise in mind for the team. A team building exercise took place at a river and hut out on the military training areas which surrounding Garelochhead. We had to take a casualty and a Bergen across a river whilst under “hefty” enemy mortar fire (staff throwing things into the water to make splashes) my team completed it successfully mainly by walking through the river directly and not trying to use the slippy stones only getting our feet wet but we then decided that our casualty and leader (Cdt Nicola Kirkwood) was far to dry- myself and CWO Anton Bainbridge carried her down to the waters edge then CWO Bainbridge took her in and dropped her in the river. The next team was not as fortunate as ours they dropped their casualty (Cdt Jen Mathers) into the river halfway through and failed the exercise- great fun to watch. We then proceeded back to camp were we had enough time for a quick wash and a change before our victorious group returned home. In conclusion the weekend was a great amount of fun and hard training utilising the same route that will be used for the qualifier to be held on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th of May (Editor’s note: The qualifier will actually be around 11 miles longer!) If you have any further questions about the weekend or even the Nijmegan Marches please go and see one of the members of our Sqn who attended the training Cpl Morrison, Cdt Kilmartin or Cdt Brad. GARELOCHHEAD By Cadet Neil Finnie
On March 14th, the squadron went to Garelochhead camp with five staff members. We left around 6.30 and arrived at the camp around an hour later at 7.30. We were all very eager to find out what we would be doing over the weekend. Friday night saw the first night exercise. The idea was to find items around the cottage and keep them until End Ex from all the other teams. Cpl Morrsion’s team won this exercise with ease. Saturday brought PE at 6.30 am. We ran down a giant hill and had some relay races at the bottom. Coming back up the hill tired everyone out. At 8.00am we went to Faslane for breakfast; it was a full fry up – YUM! Then we were put into our different flights for exercises. The exercises were really fun. We did leadership exercises, fieldcraft and trips on the police boats in Faslane. At 11.00 we carried out an orienteering exercises made by Cpl Morrison. It was tiring, running about looking for pieces of paper with numbers on them. Everyone was given a different route so there would be no cheating. Around 12.00 we wnt down to Faslane for lunch. There was hot dogs, “spag boll” and baked potatoes. That afternoon we carried out the rest of the exercises. Dinner that night was brilliant! It didn’t look very nice but tasted brilliant! That night we had another night exercise. The theme this time was “escape and evade”. We were all given time to hide and then the NCO and staff team came to find us. Gillies won as he was not found until the end. He was hiding in a big lump of grass. Sunday morning; another PE exercise. This time we did pressups and ran up and down the hill. At breakfast we had a choice between a croissant or a croissant. Noboday wanted a croissant so we all went off in a bad mood. And, just to make it worse, we then did a navigation exercise. After that, it was time to pack and clean our billets. Then it was off home. As a first timer at Garelochhead I would say it was brilliant. I don’t think any other cadet would say otherwise. The beds were really comfy and the billets were warm. I would recommend it to any other cadet that gets a chance to go because it’s as Cpl Morrison would say “fantastic”. Further pictures of Garelochhead Camp are available in the gallery. ATHLETICS TRAINING 2003 By Cdt Howson
On the 19th April we were taken to Scotstoun Leisure Centre for the first athletics training this year. It was a great day out for everyone. We had a qualified athletics coach instructing us on how to throw the javelin, shot put and discus. Most of us were all right at the javelin and shot put but when it came to the discus, most of the cadets were mince! We also got to do the track events too. These were the 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m and the 1500m. All the cadets could handle the track events until it came to the 1500m! However, there were a few mishaps when we all took part in the long jump. Flight Sergeant Hastie was supposed to jump over the stick and into the sandpit, but he was concentrating on distance so much, he didn’t see the stick! The Flight sergeant ran into the stick full force, done a summersault and cleared the furthest jump point. When we were taking part in the high jump, the competition started to hot up between the Flight Sergeant and Cpl Little. Both of them were competing to see who could jump higher. The Flight Sergeant won, of course! The whole day was great and I, along with a lot of other cadets, can’t wait for the competition. SPONSORED ROLE REVERSAL NIGHT
Comic Relief, registered charity 326568 To raise money for Comic Relief, the squadron held a sponsored role reversal night. The cadets swapped places with the NCOs for the night, letting them get their own back! The final total for money raised is: £414.44 Thank you for your donations!
Further pictures of Red Nose Day are available in the gallery. METHOD OF INSTRUCTION COURSE by Cdt C. Kilmartin J An MOI (Method Of Instruction) Course is a course that teaches Cadets how to Teach. On Monday the 14th April a group of cadets Attended the first part of a MOI course at the squadron. The First part of the course consisted of CI Sim teaching the cadets how to create a learning situation and different questioning techniques. On Monday the 21st April the second part of the course was held at the squadron. This part of the course was taken by CI Callan. CI Callan taught the cadets how to properly prepare for a lesson, how to use visual aids and class management. Between Monday the 21st of April and Monday the 5th of May the cadets had to put what they had learned into practise and prepare for their own lesson that they would be teaching in-front of the other members of the course and two examiners (CI Sim and CI Callan). All of the Cadets did very well at giving their lectures, although not all of them are quite ready to teach yet. The Cadets that Passed the MOI Course on 5th May are: Cpl Muir, Cpl Little and Cdt Moreland (F). WELL DONE!!! BBQ FUN DAY
By Cpl Joe Muir On Saturday the 12th of April a group of cadets attended a fun filled day with a barbeque included. The day kicked off with an exercise involving both flights making a dance routine to the song “Move Your Feet” by Junior Senior. The whole day was based around head-to-head competitions between both flights. We also had an inter-flight water fight which diverged into “GET CDT KILMARTIN AND CPL MORRISON”. The day ended with the most exciting part, an inter-flight talent show. The show consisted of our many young stars in the making such as Cpl Little’s impression of Charlotte Church and Cpl Morrison’s “having a baby impression”, with assistance from Mr Sim (the baby). The cadets all enjoyed the day and are looking forward to many more barbeques in the summer. CLASSIFICATION TRAINING RESULTS By CI Steven Sim On the 3 March 2003 cadets studying for their Leading, Senior and Staff classification subjects sat their exams. 2175 (Rolls-Royce) Squadron always gain high pass marks with these examinations; this year was no different. The following cadets obtained their Leading cadet badge: Cdt Kayani Cdt McLellan (A) Cdt McLellan (M) Cdt Rybacki The following cadets obtained their Senior cadet badge: Cpl Little Cpl McMillan Cpl Morrison Cpl Muir The following cadets completed their Staff (PART 1) Training: Cdt Kilmartin Cdt McLellan (F) Well done to all of the above cadets! ROLL OF HONOUR Method of Instruction Course Cpl Joe Muir Cpl Michael Little Cdt Caroline Moreland Regional Football Team Cpl Michael Little Regional Hockey Team Cdt Elizabeth Brad Cdt Kirsty Mack First Class Cadet Cdt Phillips Cdt Pettigrew Cdt Rhodes Cdt Finnie Cdt Smith Cdt Wason Cdt Shan Cdt Clarke Cadet of the Month – March Cdt Chris Kilmartin Cadet of the Month – April Cdt Chris Wason Inter-Flight Wars Winners – March B Flight Inter-Flight Wars Winners – April A Flight |
