Britwell Air Cadets were in the silverware after winning the lions share of the medals and trophies at the Thames Valley Wing Athletics Championships held at Abingdon’s Tilsey Park.

Over 200 cadets and 50 staff took part in glorious sunshine; battling it out to be crowned champions. 11 events were on offer across 5 age categories headed up by Flight Sergeant Barry Tweddle, the Wing Sports Officer. Continue reading →

Cadets from Chipping Norton, based in North Oxfordshire, and cadets from Earley in Berkshire have proved themselves best of the bunch in a thrilling 5-a-side tournament held at RAF Benson.

28 teams from across the Thames Valley started the day with a series of league competitions for the male and female trophies before being narrowed down to the top 12 teams for the nail biting play off stage. Continue reading →

In a nail biting finish the cadets of 381 (Reading) Squadron proved they were the best by winning the recent Wing Activities Day held at Edward Brooks Barracks near Abingdon.

Against the back drop of a deep blue sky and bright sunshine, 21 teams from across the Wing started the day in contention with a testing set of competitions ahead of them. This included Field Craft, Public Speaking, Adventure Training, First Aid, Aircraft Recognition, Foot Drill, Media Skills, Aviation Art, Photography, Website construction and Aero modelling. Continue reading →

Cadets from Thames Valley Wing took part in the Annual Formal Inspection of the Air Cadet Organisation whilst on summer camp at RAF Cosford.

Twelve cadets nick named “The Dirty Dozen” joined Air Vice Marshal Mark Green, AOC 22 (Training) Group and Air Commodore Barbara Cooper Commandant Air Cadet Organisation for an early morning PT session.  Continue reading →

If you are organising a major event and require first class assistance to deal with the multitude of customer facing tasks that need to be performed, where do you turn? If the event is the Royal Windsor Tattoo then the answer is simple, the Air Cadet Organisation.

That’s how come cadets from 259 (Windsor), 2477(Britwell) 153 (Slough) Squadrons, under the command of OC Windsor Squadron,  Sqn Ldr Neil Knowles came to be involved in this immensely high profile event. Continue reading →

The teams from 2267 (Brize Norton) Squadron dominated the Thames Valley Wing 5-a-Side Competition held at RAF Benson. Both the male and female teams edged there way confidently through the early rounds before being place against formidable opposition in the finals.

In the key games of the day the Brize Girls team faced against a confident team from 2507 (Bicester) Squadron only for the game to end in a penalty shoot out. The boys faced a similar final against 1116 (Woodley) Squadron with the deciding goal being awarded being a highly contensious shot from the penalty spot. Continue reading →

With the sun out and temperatures in the 20’s, over 100 cadets and staff from across the Thames Valley enjoyed and uncharacteristically warm weekend at Bramley Training Area during the first Wing Tactical Leadership Camp of the year.

Splitting into three groups, first time cadets learnt the basic principles of fieldcraft and living in the field, an Intermediate group brushed up on existing skills whilst learning how to lead and the most advanced cadets were given an intensive weekend where they were tested to the maximum including a demanding stretcher carry. Continue reading →

RAF Halton in Buckinghamshire was the location for the first training course of 2011 when 8 new members of adult staff were given an introduction to the structure, roles and policies of the Air Training Corps and Thames Valley Wing. Continue reading →

RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire was the venue for one of the premier courses to be held in Thames Valley Wing as a group of cadets, drawn from across the Wing and identified by their Commanding Officers as having the potential for promotion to the rank of Cadet Corporal, were schooled in the basic skills required to perform this task.

The 22 candidates, guided by 4 extremely experienced members of Air Cadet staff and a senior staff cadet were put through their paces in a mixture of classroom instruction and practical exercises covering subjects such as drill and leadership. Every member of the course was given the opportunity to lead and all were closely observed from the time they arrived to the time they departed. Continue reading →

Cadets from 2477 (Britwell) and 2211 (Bracknell) Squadrons have joined forces for a Self Defence course.

This was organised by Flight Sergeant Seb Miller from 1996 (Earley) Squadron who is a qualified Instructor with the Self Defence Federation and assisted by Flight Sergeant Dom Powditch of 1861 (Wantage) Squadron a fellow martial arts expert. Together they demonstrated and taught techniques to the cadets which were extremely simple, effective and easy for them to pick up. Continue reading →