Four days spent outside in the wilds of Hampshire, sleeping under a “basha”, eating every meal out of a mess tin, plastering each others faces in camouflage cream, monitoring enemy radio transmissions and avoiding contact with the civilian population at all costs – not everybody’s idea of a good time, but for the Cadets of Newbury Squadron it’s another fun packed weekend away!
This year, for the first time, the event was organised entirely by a cadet lead team – the Exercise Development Project (EDP)– who have spent the last 6 months planning in intricate detail the Exercise; from the logistics of moving 35 cadets, 15 staff & equipment to the exercise area, to providing “pre-deployment training”. Under the watchful eyes of Civilian Instructor Alice Pye, but headed up by Corporal Luke Pepperell, the EDP also booking the Training Area from the Army, negotiating ration packs from the Royal Air Force, and arranged for extra instructors to aid in the exercise - former Newbury Air Cadets, Sapper Richard Wall of 131 Commando Engineers, and Trooper Mark “Para” Skeavington, presently undergoing training to join the Parachute Regiment.
The 35 cadets who attended the exercise were subjected to a gruelling, physically and mentally demanding schedule of activities which saw them living out under nothing more than a tarpaulin, and moving tactically throughout the exercise in order to achieve their many objectives – but also saw each and every cadet gaining confidence in their own abilities, building their teamwork skills, and developing their leadership qualities.
For many of the cadets this was their first exercise, and their first experience of living in the field – but all did tremendously well.
CI Alice Pye said “the cadets all coped very well under some quite high pressure environments. We are pleased with the progress of the junior cadets, the leadership of the senior cadets, and the command and control demonstrated by the EDP in organising such a complex exercise”
The cadets are now looking forward to Thames Valley Wing’s annual Wing Challenge – a weekend exercise in which teams of 8 compete against other squadrons in the Wing at similar activities. This is to be followed up with a week long exercise in August at Sennybridge Training Area in Wales.