Squadron Presentation Evening 2013

On Saturday 16th November the squadron hosted its annual Presentation Evening to celebrate the achievements of all our Cadets over the last year.

Preparations began the night before with Cadets employed in setting the considerable number of table places as over 70 people were expected to be in attendance.

Preparations Under Way

 The night itself began at 7pm with Cadets making their way into the hall from the squadron building and awaiting the arrival of the top table (from the bar). Following a welcoming speech from O/C 218 Flt Lt Green the presentations began in earnest. Congratulations to our award winners:

Cpl Webb - Best Attendance
Cdt Wood - Best Drill
Cpl Newbould - Commitment to Squadron

Cpl Badger - Sporting Achievement
Cdt Wheeler - Academic Achievement
Cdt Parkin - Cadet with most Potential
Sgt Dovey - Best NCO
Cdt Plummer - Best Overall Cadet

In addition our ex Cadet Warrant Officer, CWO Roberts, and the O/C of 146 Workshop Company (TA), Major Aidy Hunt, both received a ceremonial squadron plaque in recognition of their support for the squadron.

Ex-CWO Daniel Roberts Receiving a Squadron Plaque

Major Aidy Hunt Receiving a Squadron Plaque

After the presentations had concluded the buffet began with many going back for seconds and even thirds.

The meal ended with the traditional toast to the Queen before the top table retired to the bar leaving everyone else in the capable hands of Mr. Vice.

Mr. Vice - Cdt Bracken

After ten minutes the rest of the table also retired to the bar and the night ended with a disco for the Cadets (and occasionally staff).

Our thanks go to all the Cadets who attended, the squadron staff for putting in the time and effort needed to organise the event and our special guests Major Aidy Hunt, Stewart Ellis and his wife Eileen, Lt. Cdr. Alan Dixon of the Royal Naval Reserve and Flt. Lt. Tim Smales.

Cadets on show

A busy weekend saw the cadets and staff of 218 Squadron helping Rotherham Council with the staffing of the largest free land show in the North of England.

We helped by assisting cars to park, giving out information and programmes, and getting visitors to the right places, a highlight was the safe delivery of military hero Lance Bombardier Ben Parkinson MBE, who was the honoured guest of the Rotherham Military Community Veterans Centre. Cadets had their photo taken with Ben and spoke to MCVC staff.

We also ran a laser rifle range for the TA, collected monies for charity and gave out information to recruit new cadets for our next intake on Wednesday 18 September.

With thousands of visitors we had a very demanding role as part of the larger Rotherham team and cadets earned praise from many members of the public. Above all it was a very enjoyable, if tiring, weekend.

The cadets were excellent role models for the young people of Rotherham, a credit to the Air Cadet Organisation, and conducted themselves in a mature and thoughtful manner. 

Bonjour a Rotherham

After months of hard planning, with emails flashing across cyberspace, we finally gained permission for an expedition to Ardres, on the Opal Coast in France. And so it was that 41 cadets and 6 staff gathered in Rotherham to board a coach.

The purpose of the expedition was to gain leadership and teamwork skills and to build confidence. This would be achieved by a number of activities with different outcomes.

The party arrived at Ardres in the afternoon and after sorting out tents and equipment, they went to a wet assault course where they competed against each other in teams and got used to the water. That night they did some familiarisation of their local environment.

Day 2 saw us doing a mixture of Kayaking, Canoeing, Raft building, Archery and Mission Impossible in teams of 12. Mission Impossible was made up of a number of tasks that used thinking and teamwork skills to gain a solution, for example, moving a container from an exclusion area using some ropes and wood. In the evening we trekked to a nearby ice cream shop. The owners spoke very little English so we worked together to try to order around 50 different ice creams. Thanks must go to Alex Robson who recently undertook his GCSE in French and would have made his teacher proud of his skills.

On day 3 we trekked into the local village and had a morning taking in the culture around their open air market. Again this gave everyone a chance to work on language skills and interact with the French people. For the afternoon we had a mixture of Kayaking, Canoeing, Raft building, Kata Kanue and Stand-up Sailboarding.  In the evening we organised a volleyball competition between the groups.

Our final full day on site was made up of Climbing, Night Line, Kata Kanue, Stand-up Sailboarding, Canoeing, Raft building and Kayaking. In the evening we held a talent show, with the staff doing a Pantomime, and cadets putting on various acts including a Lancaster Bomber show, a sing-along, and a ventriloquist show.

The final morning saw the weather change with a massive thunderstorm while we packed equipment away and loaded the bus. We took a short stop at Cite Europe in Calais to pick up presents for loved ones then boarded the ferry for good old Blighty.

Over the course of the week all of the 41 cadets managed to achieve the standards for level 5 of the PaddlePower Passport Award scheme from the British Canoe Union, which is the equivalent of the 1 Star Award for adults.  The criteria for this is:

•          Warm up thoroughly before the activity, including practising paddle strokes and gently warm down.
•          Check, launch and get into a boat, from different surfaces, without assistance.
•         In the boat show good body position, shape and balance whilst doing simple tasks.
•          Hold a paddle correctly; paddle properly and effectively at different speeds close to a named point.
•         Stop the boat moving forwards or backwards quickly whilst moving at speed.
•          Show how to steer a boat using a paddle or rudder, along a course, using different paddling actions.
•          Show a controlled ‘wobble’ in a boat, moving or stationary and edge a boat on the low and high side.
•          Get out of a boat onto different surfaces and empty water from it.
•          Paddle a distance of 2 kilometres with control and without stopping.
•          Paddle in time with a crew and set the stroke rate.
•          Fit buoyancy aids and swim with them
•          Capsize the boat and recover to continue with the paddling.

The week was action packed and exhausting but very rewarding for both staff and cadets with chances to build up a stronger rapport between all members. They also left with fond memories and hope to get a chance to do this kind of expedition again. The catchment area for Rotherham contains the third most deprived area in the UK and some of these young people haven’t even left Rotherham before this adventure.

218 Rotherham Squadron Royal Air Force Air Cadets would like to thank the Ulysses Trust for their generous sponsorship of this expedition and the staff at Acorn Adventure for their enthusiasm and support.

Regional Drill Competition

What a day Father’s Day turned out to be. We loaded up the coach at 6am and set off for RAF Linton-on-Ouse via 148 Barnsley Squadron and Wing HQ.

This is where the problems started. Firstly the brief was given that the drill competition would start at 10.30am.

When were we due on? Just get ready for 10.30 and you’ll be on as soon as the ones in front go off (the routine takes roughly 8 minutes).

So 10.30 outside in uniform to go on. One wing are already parading and there is another wing in front of us.

But then a band marches on.

Secondly, the band finish, we move to get inspected. The NCO in charge of inspection has disappeared for lunch; no one else can do it! Come back at 1.00 and we’ll start again.

So we also go for lunch, which means the cadets cannot sit and relax as they don’t want to crease their perfect uniforms or scuff their shoes.

Thirdly, back at 1.00 and ready for inspection. Still no judge, his lunch has been extended!

Fourth, OK, go on the square and do the drill sequence. This won’t work; the uniform will suffer from the strict manoeuvres. So to compromise another judge will look at the dress standards and give feedback to the inspection judge when he returns.

Fifth, the squad go on and show some real determination despite all the problems and have a good stab at motivating themselves again. They leave the parade square and are finally inspected.

Skip forward to the final parade, confidence is low because of the problems during the day but the squad did it, South and West Yorkshire Wing represented by 218 Rotherham Squadron are once again Regional champions and through to the final six!

To top it all we also have Sgt Adam Cantrell as top Drill Instructor, although this was announced as FS Paul Woods (due to a communication error).

Let’s hope that they don’t cancel the Corps competition in November this time, but knowing our luck so far……

 

First Steps

13 sets of proud parents and well-wishers watched their children take the first steps on their journey within the Royal Air Force Air Cadets.

Under the Squadron Standard and joined by serving members, they stood tall and marched out to make their promise, "I, Cadet *Full Name*, hereby solemnly promise on my honour to serve my Unit loyally and to be faithful to my obligations as a member of the Air Training Corps. I further promise to be a good citizen and to do my duty to God and the Queen, my Country and my Flag."

Well done and congratulations to Cdt Thompson who was awarded the best recruit on the intake for showing outstanding progress across all areas of the training syllabus. And welcome to all the newly enrolled cadets from the cadets and staff at 218 Rotherham Squadron.

The evening was hosted by Commanding Officer Flt Lt Green and a blessing was given by Plt Off Wright.  The vsitors were invited to the cadet building after the ceremony to enjoy refreshments and to chat with staff and cadets.