Annual summer camps provide cadets with a great opportunity to experience life on an RAF station and the chance to take part in activities otherwise not available to them at squadron or wing levels. A number of cadets this year for summer camp within Thames Valley wing headed to RAF Shawbury across 2 weeks in August to see what happens at the base

RAF Shawbury provides for the RAF the Defence Helicopter Flying School, training aircrew for all three military services, and the Central Flying School (Helicopter), delivering the next generation of helicopter instructors. The Central Air Traffic Control School, more quietly but with equal energy, deliver the next generation of controllers, prepare those already for operations and train selected individuals as instructors. Continue reading →

The weekend of the 28th-30th of June saw Air Cadets from across the Oxfordshire area come together to take part in Exercise Tri-Hard, the Oxfordshire Cadet Challenge. Working with cadets from the Sea, Army and Combined Cadet Force, they took part in a range of exciting and challenging activities.  The aim of the weekend was to work together in teams to win the Challenge.

Throughout the weekend the cadets took part in water-based activities like kayaking and power boating with the Sea Cadet Corps, the Army Cadet Force provided first aid scenarios to test the cadets and the Air Training Corps challenged the groups to find a downed pilot by completing a number of different leadership exercises. Continue reading →

2507 (Bicester) Squadron have been granted the Liberty of the Town in a glittering formal charter signing ceremony held at the offices of Bicester Town Council.

Having seen their original event postponed due to heavy snow, the Town Council were keen that the rearranged event be conducted with the fullest of pomp and ceremony. At the invitation of the Mayor, the attendees included the Vice Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire, the Officer Commanding Thames Valley Wing Air Training Corps, Wing Commander Chris Fisher and the local Member of Parliament, the Honourable Tony Baldry MP. Continue reading →

The cadets and staff from 211 (Newbury) Squadron have narrowly beaten rivals 2507 (Bicester) Squadron in the Marshall Trophy – a competition to find the best Squadron in the Thames Valley. The trophy was collected by Commanding Officer Flt Lt Simon Cragg in his last duty as Squadron boss before moving to become Wing Staff Officer.

Sector Commander, Squadron Leader Mark Trevena, was pleased to see the trophy returning to West Berkshire “Newbury have always performed really well in the Marshal Trophy and I am really pleased they have won the silverware against some really strong competition with Bicester just a single point behind them”. Continue reading →

When Bicester Squadron’s compound went out of control, local firm EP Barrus leapt to the rescue with the donation of a top of the ranger lawn mower.

Boss of the Squadron, Flying Officer Dan Azizian takes up the story:-
“Since our surrounding MOD site was sold, we’ve struggled to keep our land tame and safe. Thanks to this donation, the task will be far easier and will allow us to again devote our time to the cadets.” Continue reading →

In a surprise result, the cadets of 2211 (Bracknell) Squadron have won the Thames Valley Wing Activity Day held at Edward Brooks Barrack from a strong field of 287 cadets from right across the Thames Valley.

Bracknell secured the win by a strong performance across all the categories – Foot Drill, Banner Drill, Aviation Art, Aeromodelling, Photography, Media Skills, Aircraft Recognition, Flights of Fancy and Map Making. Runners up were 1996 (Earley) Squadron followed by 211 (Newbury) Squadron and 381 (Reading) Squadron. The overall drill winners were favourites 1116 (Wodley) Squadron who now go forward to the Regional Activity Day. Continue reading →

Waking up at 6am isn’t the usual Sunday morning for a teenager, but the cadets from Slough squadron were up for the challenge of Wing Activities Day. Ready to compete, we arrived at Edward Brooks Barracks prepared to engage in the competitive spirit of Thames Valley Wing. As Slough squadron’s team captain, Sergeant Pusey was already motivating the cadets: “This is a great opportunity to boost the confidence of three of our new cadets.” The new cadets at Slough squadron had been preparing and training for this opportunity to demonstrate how much they have improved over recent months, and were excited to participate. Continue reading →

The annual Inter Squadron Swimming Competition was held recently at Temple Cowley Pool and saw 21 Squadrons from across Oxfordshire and Berkshire in fierce battle for the awards on offer.

The competition itself was spread across four classes (Junior Boys, Senior Boys, Junior Girls and Senior Girls) and comprised both individual and team events in all four main disciplines, namely Backstroke, Breaststroke, Butterfly and Freestyle. In addition there were further categories including the individual medley, one cadet completing all four strokes in one race, the medley relay (4 cadets 4 strokes) and the freestyle relay (4 cadets any stroke). Continue reading →

What do you get if you take 100 Air Cadets, a confidence course, the RAF Outreach Team and a choice of field craft training areas – well you get the most successful  greens camp offered by Thames Valley Wing to date!

The camp, now in its third year at Pirbright Camp in Surrey, was aimed at the Wing’s younger cadets with a three day “Blue Phase” which was followed by a two day “Green Phase” field craft exercise.  Also in the mix were a VIP engagement day and a myriad of evening social activity. Continue reading →

Cadets from Thames Valley Wing have been putting themselves in the news at their first weeklong Media Camp held at Pirbright Camp in Surrey.

The cadets learnt lots of new skills including photography, copy writing, newsletters, film making and presentation skills during the week as they provided media cover for the Wing’s annual greens camp. Continue reading →