News
June 10th 2013
RFCA Deputy CEO sees Midlands Air Cadets in action
On the 29th May, the Deputy Chief Executive of East Midlands Reserve Forces and Cadet Association, Lieutenant Colonel (Retd) Simon Worsley, was a guest of South and East Midlands Wings, Air Cadets’ annual training camp at Swynnerton, where he had the opportunity to observe more than 250 Air Cadets take part in a wider range of activities.
Accompanied by around eighty staff and Instructor Cadets, cadets from all over the Midlands and spanning the entire cadet age group (13 to 18 years) were split into twelve flights of around twenty cadets each to spend a week competing against each other whilst being trained and exercised in various disciplines.
The camp was held at Swynnerton in Staffordshire where a busy programme was formulated by the Camp Training Officer, Flight Lieutenant Jack Stepanian, that included; First Aid (Casevac), Shooting, Drill, Field Craft and an Adventure Day that featured mountain biking, archery and a climbing wall amongst others.
A Flight school was introduced to this year’s programme in which cadets learnt to fly and navigate on a computer simulator. The building of Rocket Cars (miniature) was also on the programme and the cars were later tested on the road to see which car went the greatest distance.
Several cadets also used the week to complete their Duke of Edinburgh’s Gold Residential award.
On the camp’s Final Parade, Wing Commander Nigel Dickinson, Officer Commanding the Wing praised the cadets for their endurance and fortitude during the days of continuous rain. The staff were also recognised by Nigel for putting in the time, not only during the week at Swynnerton, but for all the hours spent planning and setting up the exercises. Nigel said: “Swynnerton doesn’t just happen. Planning for next year is already underway and staff will spend many hours during the next twelve months putting together another great Swynnerton”.
Deputy Chief Executive Simon Worsley, from East Midlands RFCA, said: “I was delighted to be invited along to the spring camp. It is always great to see such courage and determination among both cadets and adult volunteers to make activities a success no matter what the weather. In this case the weather was not great, but everyone involved just carried on as normal.”
