The cadets from our squadron that were picked for the shooting module were Cpl Smith and myself.  During the week we would be doing dry training and shooting on the no. 8 rifle and the L98.  As I had unfortunately put my 3822 in the washing machine earlier in the year, all of the entries I had made in it were gone so I had a new one, this meant that all of the shooting I had done and the dry training I had passed was all gone and I had to start again from scratch as I had no proof of doing it.  Not a good start to the week.

So, on the first day we did the dry training on the no. 8 rifle.  Cpl Smith was put in the refresher class and I was put in the beginner class. Whilst I was "learning" what to do in my class, Cpl Smith and the other class were finished their training and were sunbathing for the rest of the day.   By the time we were told we were doing our weapons handling tests I was an expert on the rifle and got a skilled pass first time.  Go me.  I have no idea how Cpl Smith got on in his Weapon Handling Test and since he is away enjoying himself in Spain just now I can't ask him.

On the second day we finally got to shoot the rifle.  I did exceptionally bad and got a score of 34/70 whilst Cpl Smith on the other hand did exceptionally good and got a score of 67/70, qualifying him for his regional marksman.  Well done Cpl Smith :-) .  For the rest of the day we got to sunbathe a lot and occasionally got to shoot. Unfortunately I had a slight fall out with the sun and it decided to burn me, turning my arms a nice shade of purple.  I've now learned my lesson and its now factor 40 all the way.

On the next day we did the dry training for the L98. It soon all came back, with myself and Cpl Smith passing in our second time sitting the test. I think Cpl Smith passed with skills but don't quote me on it.  For the rest of the week we were shooting the L98 with quite a number of people getting their marksman badges and even one person achieving their corps marksman.  

Also during the week people were being taken out of their modules to go flying and swimming which was a good break from the constant shooting.   

Overall, Cpl Smith and myself really enjoyed the shooting module although I would have liked to see more activities during the week.  Anyway the camp was a complete success and if it was to be run again I would definitely be going back.

Fieldcraft Module By Cdt Zain Kayani

Fieldcraft is basically looking after yourself in the field. For example, avoiding capture using different movements in certain situations and avoiding being seen by using camouflage paint.

On day one we had to give a talk, introducing ourselves. Than we learned how to give 6-figure grid references. In the afternoon we were split into flights, mine was A Flight, and we walked on a trail and had to give the grid references for certain buildings we came across. Next day, we had a Lieutenant from the TA to teach us how to use your webbing (safety pack). Your webbing holds your ration pack which is guaranteed to help you survive 24 hours in the field. He explained what each item was and showed us how to cook our meals.On day three, we were taught "Camouflage and concealment", which is how to hide yourself by blending in with the background.

All our knowledge had to be used together for the night exercise, which was quite tough. We had sentry duty which was tiring, waiting for the "enemy" to show. the exercise went pretty good and we had a great laugh. I went out on two patrols and then fell asleep. When it came to my turn to go on sentry duty the whole team tried to wake me up, but it didn't work!

Overall, I had a blast doing fieldcraft at MOD machrihanish and personally would recommend it to anyone and believe me I mean it!

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RAF Stafford

On the 1st-8th of July, I took part in the Air Cadet Leadership Course at RAF Stafford. This course is designed to train potential cadet SNCOs. The syllabus of the course includes the theory and practice of leadership. The ability to get on with others is tested by the mixing of cadets from all areas of the UK into flights. These flights have to meet standards of dress and living accommodation cleanliness. Physical fitness is an important element of the course and a 25km navigation exercise along with a demanding orienteering exercise are involved in the assessment. Cadets are interviewed by their flight commanders during the course to review their progress and assess their strengths and weaknesses. There is no “pass mark” for the course. However, all cadets need to meet the required standard in all respects, in order to graduate from the ACLC. I am glad to say that I did manage to graduate from the Air Cadet Leadership Course.

I was glad to learn that I wasn’t the only Scot at the course. There was a girl from Aberdeen and a boy from Shawlands. As soon as we arrived at the RAF base we had to collect helmets, white tapes, our room numbers and our flights. I was allocated to “C” Flight. In order to collect our helmets and white tapes, we had to march out in front of 2 Adult SGTs and answer 10 questions, without looking at any notes. So we had to remember who the Course Commander was, our room numbers, our helmet numbers, what flights we were in, the phone number to the guardroom, the phone number of the RAF base, the combination to the lock of the FRONT door of our accommodation, the combination to the lock of the BACK door of our accommodation, what time dinner was at and also where we were to be at 6 o’clock. After what seemed like an eternity, I finally managed to retrieve my helmet and white tapes. The white tapes were used instead of rank slides on the course. I then proceeded to unpack my suitcase in my room, which I shared with an English bloke. Yeah, I know - NIGHTMARE, especially if he talks of nothing except cricket. Great.

After dinner, we had to proceed to the Briefing Room, where we would meet the Course Commander, Sqn Ldr McCran. He explained that the course would be very difficult and that although only a small percentage of cadets dropped out each year, everybody feels the pressure. He did say though that the key to success was 3 things: Standards, Integrity and Courage. Standards: He said that attention to detail can determine the difference between a good leader and a great leader. Integrity: He said that it isn’t what you do when somebody IS watching that counts, but it is what you do when NO-ONE is watching that counts. Courage: He said that anyone can lead a team and make mistakes, but it takes a good leader to admit those mistakes and learn from them. He then explained about the teddy. This is a small teddy bear which gets “damaged” by the staff if the cadets mess up. More about the teddy later. We were then given our security and fire brief before being dismissed and meeting our flight commanders. The Flight Commander for C Flight was Flt Lt Stanley. He then briefly revised maps and compasses and I got to know a little bit more about my flight. After this we were dismissed and had an hour to prepare our rooms and our uniform for inspection. My uniform wasn’t up to scratch, despite ironing and polishing my shoes. I was also told to shine my belt buckle, something that I constantly overlook. Again, attention to detail. Lights out was at 11:15pm and we were given the bare minimum amount of time to sleep - 6 hours.

I woke up at 5am the next morning and the first thing on the programme was PT at 5:45am. During PT the males have to complete a 1½ mile run in 11½ minutes and the females the same except in 12½ minutes. Everyone completed this challenge and our reward was breakfast. Anyone who fails this challenge would be sent home. After breakfast we had 5 minutes to change from our PT kit into our uniform to be ready for drill. The purpose of drill on this course was not only to ensure the discipline and bearing of cadets on the course, but also to practice for the graduation parade. It was here that we received our first unfortunate encounter with the teddy being “damaged”. The Warrant Officer explained that the previous night, as he was trying to sleep, some cadets in the room below started playing football, and kept him up half of the night. Then he promptly ripped teddy’s arm off! We were scarred for life! Anyway, we were also told that teddy had to be in one piece by the end of the course, so someone had to sow his arm back on. After drill we were broken up back into our flights for Exercise Singleton - a 25km navigational exercise. There was no real competition between the four flights, as this was essentially a team building exercise. The one objective that we did have to complete however, was that we had to know everyone in our flight’s name and also something about them. The exercise took around 7 hours to complete and upon doing so I had quite a few blisters on my feet. Again lights went out at 11:15pm.

I woke up again at 5am and prepared myself for drill at 6. Then we had breakfast at 7 before heading to the briefing room to study leadership theory. I learned quite a lot, which I didn’t think I would. After this we had a demonstration on how to construct a tripod and then our flight commanders taught us quite a few knots and lashes using ropes
Then we had our Phase 1 Command Tasks. Phase 1 was the easiest and Phase 3 was the hardest. Phase 1 consisted of everyone being the leader of the rest of the flight for a particular task which lasted 15 minutes. My task was to make a swing durable enough to hold 2 people using 10 ropes, 7 pine poles and a plank of wood. I wont bother telling you how I succeeded in this task, I’ll leave you to think about it. When we finished this, we had dinner and then an inspection. This time I shined my belt buckle.

We had PT at 6 in the morning, then drill and breakfast before moving into our Phase 2 Command Tasks. These command tasks took 25 minutes to complete and were substantially harder than the Phase 1 Tasks. Most of the cadets, including myself, were not used to this kind of task, mainly because the ones that they use at their Sqns are designed so that anybody can pass them. This provided a challenge, but it was a challenge in which I passed. It was around this point in the day that almost 5 cadets on the course left because they simply weren’t ready for the course yet. When this part of the course was over, we were then briefed on our final command tasks - Phase 3. Phase 3 tasks would take approximately 40 minutes for each leader, which is a long time. No-one on the course had experienced before. During the brief, we were also told that our drill standards were not up to scratch and we all watched in horror as teddy’s ears were cut off! Lastly, at 10.30 that night we had another inspection before lights out at 11pm.

On the Wednesday morning we had drill again at 6 before we had to pack our bags and travel to Swinnerton Training Ground, a NATO training base. This would be where we would be tackling our Phase 3 tasks. On arrival at the guardroom, we were all searched by the guards with the police dogs looking on. At this point we were also told that we were no longer in England, but Europe, and that the vehicles drive on the wrong side of the road. To add to this, we were told that we would most likely find smoke grenades, grenades, live rounds and used rounds scattered on the ground all over the training area of the base. When we arrived at our campsite, we had to construct around fifteen 12x12 tents, for ourselves to sleep in as well as the officers. The officers wanted this task to be completed in 1 hour. We completed it in an hour and a half. As a result, teddy was attached by a rope to a Land Rover and driven through puddles and muck. Everyone was starving at this point and we were handed out our ration packs and we were shown by the staff how to cook our meals. We then had 15 minutes to have our lunch before attempting our Phase 3 tasks, which were complicated, but fun. I had a very complicated, but simple task. This sounds quite weird, because I was just bombarded with information that I didn’t need to complete the task, and it was my job to select the relevant information and use it to my advantage. There was a simple solution to the task, which I used and successfully completed the job. When we completed our tasks, we had a night-ex. The night ex was okay, but was really a “get from A to B, avoiding C” in the dark using a map and compass.

Thursday was a good day for me, as I was made Course Commander, which means that I was in charge of every cadet on the course, and this meant that I had to ensure that everyone was where they should be at a given time. This was a difficult job, because there was some very lazy cadets on the course, but I managed to do my job well. We had drill again in the morning, before breakfast at 8. We then finished off our command tasks and had our lunch at 2pm, we then broke up into our flights for Exercise Top-Dog Part 1, which was an orienteering exercise at the training ground. This was quite fun, as we had to travel through thick forest, etc. After this we had dinner, before proceeding to part 2 of Top-Dog, the dreaded log run! This was a flight running with a log for 1½ miles and trying to beat the other flights at the same time. My flight came in 3rd place, but this wasn’t a bad thing considering that we had 2 people with asthma. When this was finished we were given the rest of the night off, which felt like luxury, because we never had any spare time on the course. My flight used this time well, because we prepared for our presentation, which had to be given as a flight to the rest of the course on a given subject. This was to last no less and no longer than 10 minutes, and my flight had to talk about the importance of communication within a squadron. We spent most of our free time on it, and so did every other flight.

On Friday it was our job to take down all of the 12x12 tents and pack them away. This took around 2 hours, because we had to remove everything from inside the tents and load them into a truck. By 12 o’clock, everyone was back inside RAF Stafford. As soon as we arrived, we had to get changed and report for drill. As the Course Commander, my job was doubly hard, because I had to make sure I was perfect, as well as ensuring everyone else was perfect and on time for drill. After drill, we were interviewed by our Flight Commander to find out if we passed or failed the course. I passed with excellence, and no-one failed the course, which was great. We then had dinner before having a social night. I won’t bother explaining the details of the social evening . . .

On the Saturday morning everyone was rushing about all over the place trying to make sure that their uniforms were perfect, myself included. We had practiced for the graduation parade all week, and this was our chance to shine. The parade took around 15 minutes, during which everyone was presented with their badges by Wing Commander Hand of the RAF Regiment. We then had to say our final goodbyes to people before travelling home. I couldn’t wait to get home, but I also knew I would miss the course. Overall I would say that the course was highly beneficial and I would highly recommend it to anyone who likes a challenge, but I would also like to say that the course was very physically demanding, with late nights and early starts. Anyone wishing to participate with the course should also note not to commit themselves unless being sure of seeing it through, a mistake that 5 cadets on my course made. I thoroughly enjoyed the course and would gladly take part again.

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Carronvale House

By Cdt Dominic Hastie

From Sunday the 6th to Wednesday the 9th of august I attended the Leadership for life course at Carronvale house in Stirlingshire. We were told that we were to meet at Carronvale house on the Sunday evening, which was a change to what normally happens when I go places with the cadets, but this was not a normal course. We were told very little about what went on at the course but I have heard good things about it, so I was quite looking forward to see what all the fuss was about. As Carronvale house is a Personal Awareness course we are asked not to reveal any details of the activities, in order to surprise the future candidiates!

The course ended up being great and better than my expectations, I highly recommend it to any one who likes fresh challenges.
 

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RAF Cranwell

By Cdt Fraser McLean

When McGregor, Hastie D, Hastie P and myself all turned up at North Hanover Street on a sleepy Sunday morning we were greeted by around 40 cadets from various squadrons in the Wing. The bus journey went by with no major interruptions, which is pretty good considering it was a 6 hour journey!

On arriving at RAF Cranwell, the first sight you see is the magnificent building where the Officer cadets pass out from. This is a huge building with a row of pillars out front facing onto the biggest parade square any of us had ever seen. We were totally confused by our accommodation and thought there had to be a mistake... every cadet had their own room and sink. A new high for the ATC!! we were briefed about the rules and the ranks of officers on the base and were then told to do as we wanted (within reason!). So most of the boys went to a nearby field for a game of football (no tops vs. those with tops) with Cdt McGregor nearly getting booked for indecent exposure! i would like to add that my team won by quite a number of goals.

The next morning we all got up nice and early to go round to breakfast which again, was well above our usual ATC expectations, keeping us all happy and well fed! the first day was Gliding or Rifle Training. the night went by without too many problems except a "small incident involving shaving foam" which I won't go into.

On Tuesday morning we finished our rifle training and after lunch were taken target shooting for the chance to gain a new marksman's badge. On the Wednesday morning Cdt Hastie P, myself and 4 others got the chance to go up in a flight in a Dominie which is a fast jet plane used for navigational skills training. this was very interesting as the pilot let us program our own coordinates into the system to find our own way back to the airstrip! When we returned we were "treated" to a session of drill by AWO Leonard. That night we went to the public swimming pool in the nearby town for a few hours swimming.

On Thursday we went to Lincoln on a day trip. Lincoln was an hour and a half from Cranwell so the cadets sung to pass the time with a few renditions of "There's no such thing as a skinny Warrant Officer" which the staff didn't even try to deny, which must mean we were right! A few cadets (no names) decided to take it upon themselves to brighten AWO Leonard's mood by purchasing a large doll from Ann Summers, though this was kept hidden until the time was right to present this to him.

the Friday night, we were treated to Bowling and the prize giving ceremony. This was also the time to present AWO Leonard with his "present", which the cadets had dressed in RAF No.1s to protect her modesty! this was followed by the Cam Commondants speech who thanked the cadets and staff for making the week a great success and great fun to be part of.

All in all RAF Cranwell was a brilliant way to start off the summer as it was a great laugh throughout, where I made lots of new friends which I have kept in touch with ever since. I would recommend the annual camps to anyone looking for a good experience.

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Llanbedr

By Cdt Peter Hastie

On Saturday the 5^th of August 2006, I went to wing HQ to get on the bus to N.A.C.A.T.C Llanbedr in northwest Wales near Barmouth, to venture adventure on a 7 day adventure training camp. I was the only one from our squadron but I did recognise some faces amoung the other cadets. 

There was an 8 hour journey from wing HQ to Llanbedr and we were all exhausted when we arrived. As normal the staff and NCOs introduced themselves, Camp Commandant Flt Lt MacKay, Flt Lt Pearson, an AWO, Adult Sgt Wilson and Adult Sgt Cappie. That night I got to know of all the cadets and NCOs - 1 flt sgt, 1 sgt, 7 cpls and 18 cadets. Lights out was at 11.00pm that night. 

The next morning we woke at 6.30 to do 20 min of PT as would be done every morning. We then had breakfast which would be a full fry-up every morning. After breakfast we had a lesson in map reading to remind us of the skills we would need for a hill walk that week. We then had cups of soup for lunch. After lunch we went on a short walk around the old airfield to put into practise what we had learned about map reading. Unfortunately we got lost in an unofficial caravan site.  Then Flt Lt Pearson took the map and took us all the way back to where we had started from, but eventually we managed to complete the walk. After dinner we read out what we had seen on the walk. We went to bed at 11.00pm. 

Next day after our usual morning routine, we went swimming so that everybody had their RAF basic proficiency to be able to go canoeing. After lunch we went for a hill walk that started at a caravan site. The walk rose up a steep rock hill until we came to a small cliff. After the walk Sgt Cappie told us to walk up the river next to the caravan site - in all our clothes. At the top of the river there was a small lagoon with sharp vertical cliffs on 3 sides. The only gap in the cliffs was from a waterfall as it fell from a gorge into the water forming a bowl 20 feet down. We jumped in from a rock about 10 feet from the water.  At the same time we saw three men jump in around 20 feet to 25 feet above the water. They were far braver than us!  

Next day we found out that A flight would go canoeing in the morning and B flight in the afternoon while C flight (the one I was in) would go the day after for the whole day. In the morning we were given some initiative exercises. After lunch we were led blindfolded through a wood next to the river we were at the day before. Then we walked back up the river and jumped into the same pool as before. We went to bed at 11.00 pm. 

After an early breakfast for my flight we made our lunches then attached the canoes to the van and off we went to the river for canoeing. We arrived early and got changed into our wetsuits and bouncy aids. Then we took the canoes off the trailer and laid them out one canoe to two people, before warming up. The instructor split us into 2 groups - those how had canoed before and those that hadn’t, including myself. Eventually we stopped in a natural cove downriver from a rail bridge. There we learned how to do a good stroke, the swipe stroke, how to turn on the move, how to use the paddle as a rudder, how to turn on the spot and the different parts of the boat.  Then we raced back down the river for lunch. After lunch we went back up the river to the spot under the bridge where there was some fast flowing water to our left. Here we learnt how to fairy glide across the fast flowing water and how to break in and out of the fast flowing water. While breaking in I managed to capsize the boat. We raced back down the river. We came to some rapids and went down them. Unfortunately we hit a rock covered with water and half capsized but by some miracle we flipped onto our bottom and were able to paddle on down the river. I learned a lot thanks to the fantastic instructor. Afterwards we packed up the canoes and went home. We went to bed at 11.00 pm. 

After breakfast we were split into our flights and taken around to the climbing area and harnessed up. We were told to climb up a wooden pole to a small platform about 25 feet up and swing, jump and grab on to a bar. When I did it unfortunately I slipped off the bar and got caught by the harness in the fall but very painfully! After lunch we went to Barmouth. The RAF were doing an exercise over Barmouth and two Harrier jump jets roared above, shortly followed by two Apache longbow scouting about the area. There was a carnival in town and we spent much of our time there too. We had fish for dinner that night. Lights out was at 11.00 pm. 

After breakfast we went go-karting for the morning. After 6 badly driven minutes I came in last. After lunch myself, 2 other cadets and Flt Lt Pearson were led up to a field full of sheep to do some archery and my aim was so bad I almost killed a sheep! When we came back to the accommodation we packed. We went to a restaurant for the last dinner and a prize giving. We went to bed at 11.30 that night, as there was no PT the following morning.   

We left early on Sunday morning. 

I did more in that week than I had done in any other week in my life. I would like to thank Sgt Wilson and CI Adam for making all the meals, the Camp Commandant Flt Lt MacKay and especially the course instructor. I would encourage any cadets who have the opportunity to go on this course to grab it with both hands. 

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University of Glasgow Bikeathon

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