News
August 12th 2013
Three of Swadlincote Squadron’s top Cadet Flight Sergeants pass basic course
Flight Sergeants (FS) Louis Mansfield, aged 18, Brad Tallett, aged 18 and Stuart Bagley aged 17 from 1211 (Swadlincote) Squadron (ATC) Air Training Corps (ATC) have recently attended the South and East Midlands area Basic Course at a local Squadron Headquarters based in Leicester.
The basic course stands for the Basic Adult Instructor Course and is aimed at those Cadets who are approaching the age of 18 and new civilian members of staff who wish to continue their careers within the Air Cadet Organisation.
The course covers an overall summary of the history of the ATC and the Royal Air Force (RAF), the conditions of service for a Cadet Instructor and new adult members of staff, health and safety, risk assessments, adult staff responsibilities with regards to their duty of Care towards cadets and Child Welfare, Harassment, Equal Opportunities duty and diversity, administration responsibilities, financial issues and finally drill and discipline.
Upon completion of this course, a CRB check and successfully filling in an extension of service application form, the Flight Sergeants were all presented with a certificate and are now able to continue with their Cadet careers, through both developing themselves as individuals through flying scholarships, leadership courses and sports and also through taking up instrumental roles as instructors on the Squadron where they pass on their skills and knowledge to younger Cadets on the Squadron, sometimes in a lecture format, right up until their 20th birthdays. At which point, they can decide whether or not they would like too stay with the Squadron as an adult member of staff.
When asked for feedback on this BASIC course, FS Louis Mansfield said: “ The course was very useful and made me realise being a staff cadet brings a lot of responsibilities”
FS Mansfield’s next challenge is to complete the prestigious Junior Leaders Course.
FS Tallet is one of the top Cadets at Swadlincote Squadron who has recently visited Singapore through the International Air Cadet Exchange (IACE) scheme, successfully completed a Gliding Scholarship and his Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Award, so when asked what his aims were for his final 2 years as a Cadet he replied: “I would like to achieve the highest rank possible as a Cadet by applying to become a Cadet Warrant Officer, attend a parachuting course and a second overseas camp to Cyprus or Gibraltar and finally work towards a “communicator badge” which will involve learning more about setting up a radio base station at our Squadron HQ to communicate with Cadets from local Squadrons and memorizing the phonetic alphabet.”
1211 (Swadlincote) Squadron opens its doors four times a year to prospective new Cadets, male and female aged between 13 – 17 years.
For more information on joining the air cadet organisation in your area, please contact years the Squadron Commander, Flight Lieutenant Alyn Thompson at oc.1211@aircadets.org or by phone on (01283) 212629 or visit the Squadron website at http://www.1211sqn.org.uk/
