A taste of life in the RAF

 

By Paul Hincks

A taste of life in the Royal Air Force at RAF St Mawgan Air Cadets on Annual Camp line up in front of the RAF St Mawgan Shackleton

 

Picture and copyright © Paul Hincks

 

Cadets from 121 (Nuneaton) Squadron Air Training Corps got a valuable taste of life in the Royal Air Force when they went on summer camp to RAF St Mawgan in Cornwall.

Every year, Air Cadets are given the chance to attend camps on operational RAF stations. These camps give the cadets a first-hand opportunity to see what life in the RAF is all about. It's also an excellent opportunity to meet new friends and have lots of fun.

During their time at St Mawgan the cadets experienced life in the RAF, sleeping in RAF accommodation, eating at the airman's mess and visiting various sections around the station, most notably the Defence Survival, Evasion, Resistance, Extraction Training school where the cadets got to see how aircrew from all three servises are trained to survive and evade cpture, they were also allwoed to try on some of the flying equipment.
Many of the cadets on the camp even managed to get a flight in one of the RAF?s Tutor Elementary Flying Training aircraft of No. 3 Air Experience Flight which operates from Newquay airport. The training programme for the camp also included shooting, sports, First Aid training and exercises as well as lots of drill, uniform and room inspections.

But as usual annual camps are not all hard work and no play, the cadets visited the RAF Davidstow Museum, which depicts life on a Word War 2 airbase, they also visited the National Maritime Museum at Falmouth where they held their own mini regatta, racing remote controlled sailboats on a large indoor boating lake. The cadets also managed to experience some of the wonderful Cornish landscape, visiting Lands End and walking part of the South West Coastal path with some time allowed on a superb beach at the end.
The cadets and staff also visited Flambards, a theme park which features a Victorian village and a Britain in the Blitz exhibition as well as lots of fun rides which gave the cadets and their staff (the big kids) plenty of time to let their hear down and play. Cadets and staff including the Officer Commanding Warwickshire & Birmingham Wing, Wing Commander Pravin Ladwa also spend an evening doing battle in the local Laser Quest. For some inexplicable reason the Wing Commander got shot more than anyone else.

The Camp Commandant Squadron Leader Bryan Coats (from Bedworth) said, ?I am pleased to say that this years camp at RAF St Mawgan has provided the cadets with a valuable insight into life in the RAF and with all the extra activities we have managed to cram into the week I think I can say that we?ve all had a brilliant camp?.

If you're aged 13 ~ 17 and interested in becoming an Air Cadet why not drop into the 121 (Nuneaton) Squadron headquarters on the Ribbonfields, off Attleborough Road, Nuneaton on any Tuesday or Friday evening between 19:30 - 21:45 hrs and have a chat with one of our staff or visit our web-site at www.aircadetonline.com. Who knows, you could soon be experiencing life in the Royal Air Force for yourself on an annual camp with the Air Cadets.