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Cadets enjoy joint training exercise in the field
Five Malmesbury Air Cadets were ecstatic after a 24 hour joint field craft training exercise spent in the woodland at RAF Lyneham recently.
The cadets from 992 squadron, along with cadets from 2491(Lyneham) squadron, learnt or refreshed existing field craft skills like how to keep clean, cook safely with ration packs, movement in the field techniques such as the kitten crawl, and also how to camouflage correctly within their environment.
Once the training was completed, the cadets put their skills into practice through a number of training exercise scenarios, which included the cadets in their teams observing the enemy camps manned by the training staff, without being detected and note information such as troop numbers and equipment.
Another exercise involved creeping up to a secret meeting between an agent and their informant in the woods and gather intelligence on a secret weapon.
For the Corporals from 992 (Malmesbury) Squadron, the training exercise provided a golden opportunity to hone their leadership skills. Tomas Talkowski said, “It gave me an insight into the work of those out in conflict zones. I was also given the opportunity to put my role as a corporal into practice.”
All the Malmesbury cadets felt they came away with better skills and understanding of what is expected of you when trying to conceal yourself and your team. Cadet Rex Charman said, “I found it was fun and educational at the same time. I’d love to go again and hone the skills I’ve learnt.”
Corporal Tomas Talkowski, Corporal James Slade, Cadet Rex Charman, Cadet Toby Jarvis and Cadet Alasdair Kennedy all agreed that the weekend exceeded their expectations.
Flying Officer Jonathan Wakefield said “Both the staff and cadets from 992 squadron would like to thank both Warrant Officer Mike Tarrant and Flying Officer Steve Bosher for inviting our cadets along and running an excellent exercise”.
(Photo shows Cadets Toby Jarvis 992 (Malmesbury) Squadron and Matthew Harvey-Samuel 2491 (Lyneham) Squadron, cooking lunch)
http://www.malmesbury.com
The cadets from 992 squadron, along with cadets from 2491(Lyneham) squadron, learnt or refreshed existing field craft skills like how to keep clean, cook safely with ration packs, movement in the field techniques such as the kitten crawl, and also how to camouflage correctly within their environment.
Once the training was completed, the cadets put their skills into practice through a number of training exercise scenarios, which included the cadets in their teams observing the enemy camps manned by the training staff, without being detected and note information such as troop numbers and equipment.
Another exercise involved creeping up to a secret meeting between an agent and their informant in the woods and gather intelligence on a secret weapon.
For the Corporals from 992 (Malmesbury) Squadron, the training exercise provided a golden opportunity to hone their leadership skills. Tomas Talkowski said, “It gave me an insight into the work of those out in conflict zones. I was also given the opportunity to put my role as a corporal into practice.”
All the Malmesbury cadets felt they came away with better skills and understanding of what is expected of you when trying to conceal yourself and your team. Cadet Rex Charman said, “I found it was fun and educational at the same time. I’d love to go again and hone the skills I’ve learnt.”
Corporal Tomas Talkowski, Corporal James Slade, Cadet Rex Charman, Cadet Toby Jarvis and Cadet Alasdair Kennedy all agreed that the weekend exceeded their expectations.
Flying Officer Jonathan Wakefield said “Both the staff and cadets from 992 squadron would like to thank both Warrant Officer Mike Tarrant and Flying Officer Steve Bosher for inviting our cadets along and running an excellent exercise”.
(Photo shows Cadets Toby Jarvis 992 (Malmesbury) Squadron and Matthew Harvey-Samuel 2491 (Lyneham) Squadron, cooking lunch)
http://www.malmesbury.com
Night Exercises
We have these towards the end of summer or on camp. Over the summer, the Squadron would've carried out fieldcraft training to prepare the cadets for what you will expect to do on a night exercise and now it will be put into practice.
It takes a lot of preparation, but at the end they are very fun and everyone enjoys being apart of them. The cadets are normally separated into small groups which consist of a cadet IC (in charge), a cadet 2 IC (second in command) and various other roles which make the groups feel like a tighly packed group. They may also wear camouflage cream to hide their faces in the dark - you can get it to the stage that people will walk right by your feet and not notice you, an excellent way to gain intelligence. The basic set up is a mission against the staff, who pose as the bad guys bent on world domination or something similar, where we have to move undetected through the area, retrieve or destroy something and then get back to base safely. We often go to Lydiard Park or use the area behind our buildigns for night exs to alow us plenty of room to manoeuvre around the enemies and other teams. An example exercise would be finding the ammo boxes scattered around the woods in Lydiard, guarded by a patrol of staff, and remove the code inside to find the final meeting spot. The guards should move on an arranged route which, using the skills of observation and tracking, the cadets should be able to figure out and hence avoid them with ease, those that run in like lunatics are very often discovered and captured - either technique is good fun though. All in all, it is a great adrenaline rush, a good chance to use the skills we teach and we try to do them as often as possible due to popular demand.
It takes a lot of preparation, but at the end they are very fun and everyone enjoys being apart of them. The cadets are normally separated into small groups which consist of a cadet IC (in charge), a cadet 2 IC (second in command) and various other roles which make the groups feel like a tighly packed group. They may also wear camouflage cream to hide their faces in the dark - you can get it to the stage that people will walk right by your feet and not notice you, an excellent way to gain intelligence. The basic set up is a mission against the staff, who pose as the bad guys bent on world domination or something similar, where we have to move undetected through the area, retrieve or destroy something and then get back to base safely. We often go to Lydiard Park or use the area behind our buildigns for night exs to alow us plenty of room to manoeuvre around the enemies and other teams. An example exercise would be finding the ammo boxes scattered around the woods in Lydiard, guarded by a patrol of staff, and remove the code inside to find the final meeting spot. The guards should move on an arranged route which, using the skills of observation and tracking, the cadets should be able to figure out and hence avoid them with ease, those that run in like lunatics are very often discovered and captured - either technique is good fun though. All in all, it is a great adrenaline rush, a good chance to use the skills we teach and we try to do them as often as possible due to popular demand.
