Starting with a church service at Lancaster Priory, where the new Wing Banner was blessed, the cadets and staff of the Wing formed up and marched through the city centre. Taking pride of place at the head of the parade were the cadets of Lancaster Squadron. It promised to be a difficult and daunting affair with all the squadron’s NCO’s taking other duties in the banner party, but less experienced cadets pulled together and managed to lead the parade in style. All this after a morning of organising and preparing Lancaster for the biggest wing parade in recent memory.

The work wasn’t to finish, however. After the parade, as host squadron, the cadets were expected to serve refreshments in the town hall to all 650 participants, which was accomplished with no complaining and masses of commitment.

On behalf of all the squadron staff I would like say how proud and impressed we are of every cadet on the parade. It was plain for all to see how well they performed, managing to look better than most on what was, for the majority, their first parade.

Well done guys!

Adam Jackson

Sgt(ATC)

We went for our dinner at approximately 16:30 – The eating times were extremely hard to get into for the first few days. The first day was quiet, every squadron seemed to keep to themselves and nobody would integrate.

Straight after dinner we started a ‘FAMEX’ or Familiarization Exercise around the local area with small groups of cadets from our Flights, we were set questions and goals to complete as this was a task that went towards the scores for the ‘Best Flight Competition’

After the FAMEX we went to the beach to play sport (it was an interpretation of baseball). A Flight led by the fabulous Sgt Smullen (from 345 Sqn) beat B Flight marginally…22-8. With numerous home runs scored by myself, Sgt Smullen, Cdt Barker and Cdt McGrath J.

The Rest Of The Week Consisted Of:

• Dry Rifle Training- L98-A2
• Shooting- No.8 + L98-A2 Rifles
• Aircraft Recognition Competition
• Aerospace Management Exercise
• Wet ‘N’ Wild
• Trip To Hadrian’s Wall
• Night Exercise
• Drill Competition
• 202 Sqn Search & Rescue Visit
• Low Ropes Course
• Alnwick Castle Visit
• Social Night
• And some lucky cadets (Me, Sgt Smullen, Cpl Nicholson and Sgt Knight – 3 of those 4 cadets are from Lancaster Sqn) got a flight in a Seaking Search & Rescue Helicopter.

My Favorite Moment Of Camp:

The most enjoyable moment of camp and possibly the best moment of my life was when 4 of ‘The Best’ cadets on camp were given a flight in a Sea King Search & Rescue Helicopter. We flew over Alnwick castle where the rest of the cadets were visiting that day, and it brought me and the others great satisfaction to wave at the cadets from the open door of the Sea King. The flight was only 20 minutes long but felt a lot longer.

My Least Favorite Moment Of Camp:

Was losing the drill competition to our rival’s B Flight. All week we were favorites to win the competition and were very confident, however nerves on the day lead to a few errors and resulted in the loss of the competition. We weren’t fazed by this for long, as A Flight’s attitude was that B Flight had to win something at some time.

By Cdt Wilkinson K

When you are in the Grob Tutor you will usually get the opportunity to do aerobatics (I do it every time). It is amazing! Sometimes the pilot will ask you to follow him through on the aerobatics. If you are lucky the pilot may ask you to do the aerobatics (I have never done this but other cadets have and they say it is amazing).Then the pilot did “10 touch” and goes, but finally decided to land. As we were on the taxi way I felt a bit sick so the pilot opened the canopy for some fresh air and as he opened it there was cold air flooding into the cockpit because the propeller was acting like a massive fan, this was a lovely feeling!

On the coach journey home everybody was tired so most people fell asleep, when we arrived at the drop off point our parents pick us up and we went home – exhausted but eager to do it again.

Cdt Wilkinson J

It takes place mid-July and is probably the hardest thing a cadet will ever do – but it’s by far the best. This was my first year participating in the marches and it was a severe shock to the system, from the first training session (which is in October the year before!) all the way to the marches itself. But after all the training and completion of the qualifiers in Garelochhead and Cosford, you become prepared and ready for the gargantuan task of 25 miles a day, for four days in a row.

 On the 16^th July 2011 the Cumbria & N. Lancashire Wing Marching team flew out to Amsterdam and we got to Camp Heumensoord just a few hours later, which is where we were staying for the next week. The marches commenced only two days later when we had to get up at 2am for breakfast – and to get out onto the road. All 14 of us were coping well for the first 2 days, but by day 3 the 1 million people that lined the streets were desperately needed to raise the morale of the blistered, tired and sweaty cadets… A few team duets with the Dutch and Canadian military helped of course (singing is the key to keep everyone going while out marching!)

By the fourth day everyone was tired but eager to finish, and we did so in a rapid time unmatched by most of the British Army and RAF teams who were there! After collecting the medals a march-past through the city of Nijmegen was done by the whole of the British Military Contingent – us included. There is no feeling quite like the one you get when countless people applaud you for completing the march – and it’s one of the many reasons I’m planning on going again next year. It’s just amazing!

Sgt Joshua Smullen

For Christmas every year cadets hold a party before standing down over the Christmas holidays to celebrate the festive season. We as cadets get to chose what we do. The activities vary from ice-skating, bowling, Trafford centre or laser quest (magazone but better). This year we decided to have a little party having pizza delivered and setting up Wiis and Xbox 360s on the overhead projectors, which was extremely fun! We brought down sweets, snacks and drinks too.

It was a very enjoyable evening and if we didn’t want to play on the games we went outside and had a massive snowball fight! I was rubbish but just taking part was fun even though I got creamed… in this case iced!

It went on from 7 till 11 and for those 4 hours that was the best fun I have had in a while!

Cdt Nicholson N

Sports at Lancaster and Morecambe College are the best for matches and full on games. At the Collage we play games like hockey, football and basketball. My favourite is basket ball because I am good at it compared to the rest, sometimes it gets very good because some cadets and staff get very competitive and it makes it a really good game, it makes it more fun I and the other cadets enjoy it very much. The college supply’s the equipment and I think it is an enjoyable evening.

By Cdt Nicholson

Sport at the University of Lancaster is very fun they have a fun range of activities and sometimes you can pick and chose! You only have to pay a small fee because squadron cannot provide the money because they are not made of it.

Swimming if fun you can play games with your friends at cadets or you can relax and float around a bit.

Squash with cadets can get very competitive or you can just have a little game of your own. When I play squash I try my hardest but it keeps hitting me, I don’t think I am very good at it but you can play if you are good or not.

Aero ball is really fun you bounce about on a trampoline and try and hit a ball in people’s corners I find this very fun and I love bouncing!

Climbing is my favourite, the university has a large climbing wall and I love climbing, the first time I found it a bit hard but once I got the hang of it I loved it

If you join cadets the sports is something to look forward to.

The 345 squadron takes things to the max, some of the activities as follows (flying , gliding, assault courses ,shooting and many more fun experiences). Even when you’ve settled in, new activities and experiences always pop up.

By Cdt Ramsey and Cdt Christmas

Being the determined and challenge-relishing Squadron we are, we had to go for the 30km.

 It was not a good start; with torrential rain battering our faces we shot off into some sludgy fields heading for the first checkpoint which was 8km away. We arrived at the Scout Hut (Checkpoint) and refuelled on snacks and cups of tea. But soon after the much needed break we set off in quick pursuit of another cadet squadron, despite the fact we were wet to the skin. After quickly overtaking the other cadets we were all starting to feel the burn, and whole team had to motivate one another and the marching songs were being sung to keep morale high – which was hard as the rain never stopped.

 After successfully getting to the second and third checkpoint, a few members of the team were starting to get a couple of unwelcome blisters, and wading through 2 foot deep puddles did not help.

 After seven and a half hours of being wet, we finished the RAF WARMA Winter Walk with high morale and smiles (or grimaces) on our faces. The team received their March medals and the walk will be remembered for a very long time.

            Next morning was dewy but the weather looked promising enough, we had added the walk from the campsite to the start point on to the route, but had removed a later section so we walked the same distance, but without the need to drive to the start point. Progress was slower than expected which was demoralising for the entire group. Roughly a third of the way through the route passed though an area of marshland, which as we discovered upon entering, was also swollen with the rainwater from the day before. Progress was slow going, and the water was putrid presenting a health risk to those with open sores on their feet from blisters. Unfortunately this proved the final straw for the team, as we promptly made our way to the nearest road, whereupon we abandoned the expedition and returned to squadron headquarters for a debriefing.

            Despite our expedition being a ‘Failure’ it was worth its weight in experience which will allow a more realistic route to be produced for our next attempt. In the mean time, all team members will continue to walk in such terrain to gain confidence and experience to ensure success next time, as ultimately it was our own inexperience which was our downfall.

Corporal Watson.