A team of Air Cadets from Woodley have being celebrating their success at the National Drill Championships held at RAF Halton.
Whilst drill, or marching, is something that all cadets participate in, few squadrons will reach the standard achieved by the teenagers of Woodley squadron, based in Mowhawk Way, who qualified for the national championship following a resounding victory in the South West heats. Continue reading
The Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Dalton went back to his roots recently, to visit the Reading Air Cadet Squadron he was a member of in the 1960s. He toured the Squadron seeing projects the cadets were undertaking, before briefing the cadets on his journey from cadet to RAF Chief and answering questions from the cadets and staff.
Squadron Commander, Flight Lieutenant Gail Andrews takes up the story “We were quite surprised when we had a call from Whitehall accepting the invitation to visit us. Continue reading
On Tuesday 25th October, Cdt Cpl John Pritchard visited the House of Commons and met Richard Benyon MP to discuss the benefit of the cadet services for the youth of today.
Travelling by train in the morning, Cpl Pritchard arrived at the House of Commons and was whisked away on a boat trip around London with the other cadets and members of the Reserve Forces and Cadet Associations (RFCAs). Continue reading
On the last weekend in October, Newbury Air Cadets competed against Totton Squadron and a collaboration of Sea Cadet Units in the inaugural Calshot Cadet Challenge event, and came away winners!
Competing in events such as archery, raft building, ski-bob relay races, climbing, crate stacking and more, the 10-strong team from Newbury powered their way to victory, getting some impressive scores in the process. Continue reading
Celebrating a 40th birthday is an important occasion, especially when it is an Air Cadet Squadron and a helicopter force that are doing the celebrating.
It is 40 years since 2499 (Wokingham) Squadron of the ATC was formed, a year which also saw the Aérospatiale Puma HC1 helicopter enter service with the RAF. In celebration of this event the current staff and cadets of 2499 Squadron were invited to RAF Benson, home of the Puma for a day of visits and flying. Continue reading
A team of cadets drawn from across the Thames Valley area triumphed in the pool and came away with the silverware following the recent inter-Wing swimming competition which was held at HMS Temeraire in Portsmouth.
The competition was tough as the team was pitted against others drawn from across the South West of the UK including from as far afield as Plymouth, Cornwall and the Isle of Wight but the Thames Valley contingent proved themselves to be very much up to the mark. Continue reading
Want to be the best at football and hockey, Thames Valley Air Cadets is the place to be as their performance in both these areas has proven to be of the highest standard.
An unusually warm October Saturday morning in Tidworth, Wiltshire saw the 21 member junior football and hockey teams from Thames Valley Wing pitting themselves against the best cadets from across the South West of England. Continue reading
RAF Benson in Oxfordshire was the location of top quality marching drill when some of the best cadets from across Oxfordshire and Berkshire attended the latest Supplementary Drill Course to be run by Thames Valley Wing Air Cadets.
Led by the Wing Warrant Officer, WO Jon Lambert ATC, a cadre of 7 instructors took 41 senior cadets under their wing and taught them everything from the intricacies of banner and ceremonial drill through to the skills required to pass that knowledge on to younger cadets on their own Squadrons. Continue reading
Cadets from 1861 (Wantage) Sqn have attended a memorial service for Pilot Officer Dennis Holland from Chaddlesworth, a World War Two pilot with 72 Squadron who was killed in the Battle of Britain.
Pilot Officer Dennis ‘Dutch’ Holland began his flying career as a civil pilot and when war broke out in 1939 he had logged over 3,000 flying hours. Continue reading
A team of cadets from Thames Valley Wing have come away from the South West Regional Activity Day with a haul of silverware and a respectable 3rd place overall.
Despite the unseasonable temperatures a team of cadets including those from Woodley, Windsor, Wantage, Wokingham, Reading and Earley took up the challenge in Squad Drill, Banner Drill, Websites, Media Skills, Aircraft Recognition, Aviation Art, Aero modelling and Photography. Continue reading