Two sisters, Cpl M. Mackay and Cdt H. Mackay, from 2425 (Nottingham Airport) Sqn have just come back from the National Marching Band Camp. The purpose of this camp was, at the end of the week, to do three live performances (in Portsmouth and Twickenham) as part of a band made up of cadets from all over the UK.
Cdt Hannah Mackay reports;
The actual camp was good, hard work but fun. We got up at 6:00 a.m. and had breakfast at 7:00 a.m. Then we normally had sectionals till lunch which was at 12:30. After lunch we rehearsed drill or full band. Once dinner, served at 5:00 p.m., was finished we had drill or full band depending on what they wanted us to work on. Then we had free time for uniform prep, going to the shop or other activities they had planned. One night was a Quiz Night and another was Open Mic Night (talent show). That was quite funny. Lights out was at about 10:00 each night. However, the days weren’t just music, drill, music, drill. There was one wonderful opportunity where we got to watch a passing out parade of a group of the RAF Airmen (and women) who had finished their basic training. That was Amazing! We were all looking forward to performing on Friday at Portsmouth. This was my favourite part of the week. It was brilliant to march on that parade square in front of HMS Victory, Nelson’s flagship. It was a double honour because that parade square is sacred for the Royal Marines. We were only the second group of air cadets to march on that parade square. One of the other great things was all the people we met and all the friends we made. Also, as a member of the Marching Band we will now be asked to attend other camps and workshops. Also, I am sure many rare and wonderful opportunities will arise where we can play. This National Marching Band Camp was absolutely brilliant and if you love music and enjoy drill this camp is the one for you.
Written By: Cdt Hannah Mackay 2425 (Nottingham Airport) Royal Air Force Air Cadets
Cpl Manning attended a Nordic Skiing expedition in Bavaria and this is his diary...
Arrived at 5' o'clock Saturday afternoon. Also assigned chalets, I was put in shaley no.25, with 1 from own region, South And East Midlands, and 3 from Scotland And Northern Island Region.
Sunday- Collected skiing equipment at 8:30am, so we were ready for our skiing session. We had our first session of skiing, this would decide what groups we would be in for the rest of the week, either group 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 or 8, with one being the highest group and 7 being the lowest, group 8 was for those who wished to do silver and gold, either because they had been the year before, or because they were particularly good at skiing.
READ THE FULL ARTICLE: Bavarian Skiing - A diary by Cpl Manning
By Cadet George Harris
Please donate: https://www.justgiving.com/Simon-Harris7/
George is a Cadet with 2425 Squadron but although this is not a cadet activity, it is in support of our chosen charity, the Royal British Legion.
"Later in the year, from the 11th to the 21st of December, I will be walking up to the summit of Kilimanjaro in Africa for the charity 'Royal British Legion'. The Royal British Legion provides practical, emotional and financial support to all members of the British Armed Forces past and present, and their families.
By Cdt Charles Denney
On 21st February 2013 Cadets from 2425 squadron went to RAF Wittering to visit 5131 BD Squadron. 5131 squadron are bomb disposal experts who can dispatch rapidly to any bomb threat.
Upon arriving we were split into two groups. My group first of all was given a talk on conventional munitions (for example grenades, mines and mortars) as well as IED’s or Improvised Explosive Devices. The talk was extremely informative with the servicemen very keen to answer our questions. I learnt a huge amount.
Also we were shown the many ways these people are able to safely disarm munitions if required. Also the Squadron showed us a great deal about their participation in various conflicts including the Northern Ireland, Kosovo and Afghanistan. After that we were soon shown the Bomb Disposal suit which weighed a whopping 30kg!
Also the Squadron staff showed us their robots used to disarm IED’s. These robots were extremely high-tech and were fitted with cameras which allow the operator to get the best situational awareness possible. We were allowed to operate the robots, which was great fun and slightly nerve racking as we told they cost £750,000 Driving and controlling the robots was great fun and surprisingly for the small robot wasn’t as hard as imagined to do the basic tasks such as driving and picking up various items. To conclude this visit we were given a peek inside the squadron’s rapid response vehicle which is sent to any emergency and was very high-tech inside. Overall I think the visit was a fantastic day out and I’m very thankful to the servicemen for allowing us to visit the unit.
No, not a weather-related story but with recent events you may be forgiven for thinking that! Earlier this year one of our cadets, Cadet Corporal Harby, had the privilege of carrying out work experience at RAF Coningsby, in the Eurofighter Typhoon Maintenance Flight.
The week started by signing the Official Secrets Act due to the potentially sensitive nature of the work he would be carrying out on some of the 10-12 Typhoon aircraft that were at various stages of maintenance, depending on their flying hours.
