On the fifth of June I, along with the group of winning cadets from Wing Athletics, went to Grangemouth near Edinburgh to take part in the Regional Athletics.  We were competing as Glasgow and West Scotland Wing against, Edinburgh, Dundee, Aberdeen, Highland and Northern Ireland Wings.  When we got there we were given the Wing track suits then started our warm up.  I was competing in two events, junior discus and junior javelin which came later in the day.  I won a bronze medal in Javelin and silver in discuss.  It was a fantastic day out and Glasgow and the West Scotland Wing won the overall competition by scoring the highest points over all of the events.  I hope I can go next year because it was a really fun day out.

From the 27^th to 29^th of May 2005, seven cadets from the squadron were lucky enough to be chosen for the 1701 Garelochhead weekend.  Over the weekend, a lot of activities were planned, these were shooting, shooting and guess what?  More shooting. 

When we arrived on the Friday evening, we were put into our billets and were told to go back down to the meeting room for weapons handling test on the No.8 rifle.  Down at the meeting room we were split up into two flight (people who were qualified to fire the weapon and people who weren’t) and did our respective training.  That night lights out was at 12 midnight.  (The lights went out but no-one went to sleep but surprisingly everyone was awake on the morning.)  In the morning, breakfast was at 7.30 am.  Then we went to the range at Faslane to shoot.  For lunch we went to Faslane canteen which I found was much nicer than Garelochhead’s canteen.  That afternoon, we did some more shooting, then went back to Garelochhead for dinner.  That night an initiative exercise was organised by Cadet Warrant Officer Adam Gregory and Sergeant Hicks from 396 (Paisley) Squadron.  After that we had to run about 400m up and down hill and had to do 60 press-ups as part of a team building exercise.

In the morning breakfast was at 7.30 again and again we went shooting.  That afternoon, we fired the L98 rifle and went to the Small Arms Training range which is target practice inside using computers instead of live firing outside with real rifles.  We then headed home at about 1500hrs.  The weekend was really enjoyable and I would definitely go again.

On one weekend in June 2005, ten cadets of the squadron volunteered to represent the whole of the Air Training Corp at an open day in Howwood. 

We reported to the squadron at 9 am in Wedgwood blue shirts and black ties.  A lot of effort was put in by the staff to get all the displays ready the night before and all the cadets showed their commitment and enthusiasm by making sure that their uniform was immaculate. 

When we arrived at Howwood, I realised that it was starting to rain and thought that this might make the cadets less enthusiastic.  But, I am pleased to report that the rain did not dampen their spirit or their enthusiasm, and we had a lot of fun trying to put up a 12-man tent in which the displays were going to be kept.   

After the tent was set up, we went around and encouraged people to come and see our spectacular displays and we handed out stickers to all the children present there.  Many people came to see our displays, but although I’d like to think they came over because of our persuasive skills or because of how skilled we were in the art of handing out stickers, they probably came over because of the huge glider we had on display and due to the fly past of a Tornado.  The people who came were very interested and some parents were even thinking of enrolling their children at our squadron, which I thought was FANTASTIC!   

Events like this show that 2175 (Rolls-Royce) Squadron has very committed cadets who will always uphold the name of our squadron and the ATC.  This was shown through the shower of compliments we received from all the people there who were complimenting us on our uniforms and how polite and helpful we were and I can’t wait till next time, so we can do this all over again.

In the month of May, older cadets in the squadron went to practice how to use and fire the No. 8 training rifle.  The officer that was going to carry out the practice was Flying Officer Falconer.  He first started off by showing us all the parts of the rifle such as the cocking piece, the butt, the barrel etc.  He made sure we knew all the parts by asking us what they were called.  Next he showed us how the bullet was fired from the gun by taking out the cocking piece and telling us how it worked.  Then two at a time we all had a shot at firing, miss fire and unloading.  It was all a bit tricky for Cadet Fraser McLean who didn’t have a clue how to do it at first, as it was the first time he had taken part in rifle training.  Then came the test.  First we were asked three questions such as ‘what to do if a miss fire occurs’ or ‘what to do if something goes wrong’.  Finally was the firing drill.  We had to do exactly what the Flying Officer showed us.  Unfortunately some cadets failed it first time by making some mistakes but luckily they go another attempt and successfully passed.  Miraculously I passed first time.  Next day was the L98 practise for cadets who had passed the No. 8 test.  Thanks to Flying Officer Falconer’s class we all passed and were extremely glad it was over.  Well done to all the cadets who passed.

On Sunday 15^th May three cadets and two NCOs went along to man the traffic gate on Haggs Rd for the Women’s 10 km race.  Cadets of the squadron have helped out at this annual event for over 5 years now.  We arrived at the gate early and got into position in time for the race starting.  Then we waited until about 10.15am when the first runners came past.  It seemed to take AGES for all the runners to but it really only took about an hour, then we headed off.  We must have done a good job, because no-one got run over.

On the morning of May 7^th, Corporal Neil Finnie, Corporal Hussain Kayani, Cadet Sarah Farmer and I met at the squadron headquarters at 8am for L98 rifle training.  We then made our way to the Wing L98 Training day in the CO’s car.  We got there at 9am.  A corporal came over to us and asked us what squadron we were from and we said 2175 (Rolls-Royce).  Then he went away we were standing talking to each other until about 10 am, when we were split into two groups.  Corporal Kayani went into the group for the refresher and the rest of us went in the group for the full training.  Then the L98 rifles arrived and we were all to take one into the hall and get a chair, place it in a straight line across the room with rifle underneath the chair facing in a safe direction.  We learned the safety precautions and how to use the rifle then went for a short break then went over what we had done.  Afterwards at lunch time we seen Cpl Kayani and went to the CO’s car to have lunch, we laughed about everything.  Lunch was over and we went back into our groups.  In the afternoon, they showed us how to do the weapons handling test.  Then it was our turn to do it, so we left the room and returned one by one.  Corporal Finnie, Cadet Farmer and I were the last to go.  Then Corporal Kayani came over and said he had “failed the first time but passed the second time”.  Then Corporal Finnie and Cadet Farmer started saying that they were going to fail but I said “think positive”.  Then Cadet Farmer went and then two second later I went in and did the test and passed.  It was then time to relax and I chatted with other cadets there that I knew from camps, until it was time to go.  AWO Leonard picked us up in his car and we went home about 4pm.  It was good day no matter if you passed of failed.