The Squadron has had a very successful year in 2006 and will continue to thrive through 2007. During the last year as usual we have seen cadets leave and of course new cadets join the ranks taking the number of members in the Squadron to a tremendous count of 40.
We continue to be a strong unit and are still maintaining a highly committed staffing level where they are constantly attending courses and updating their knowledge to improve the quality of activities available to cadets.
As for myself I have now entered my 11th year of command and continue to find it very enjoyable with every new challenge that is presented to me.
The Squadron has maintained its success when it comes to The Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme and continues to gains awards in both the Bronze and Silver criteria, but its main success fell into the Gold award category to which 3 cadets and 1 member of staff were awarded. The Gold awardees are now waiting a date for their formal presentation at St James Palace in London. Also a few MV (Millennium Volunteer) awards have been successfully achieved within the Squadron.
Adventure training is one of the most important areas of training within the unit, last year we saw the return of the Moosehunt during the Easter holidays and this year we look forward to the illustrious Dragon Bash. This will be full of fun as well as hard work in the mountainous area and will include various outdoor activities such as climbing, abseiling and canoeing.
Sporting activities have been of a high standard with cadets reaching Wing, Region and Corps level – Keep up the good work!! It’s down to the hard work of those that participate in all areas of the sporting criteria which has given us an amazing result in being positioned 4th overall in the Wing.
During the last year the regular attendance at RAF Innsworth for shooting has paid off well, with 1 cadet gaining his Corps marksman, 6 gaining their Regional marksman and an enormous amount of Wing and Squadron marksman awards. This again is an activity that will continue to be held regularly for all those cadets that enjoy a cold day at the outdoor range.
With YLSP (Young Life Saver Plus) being part of the cadet training syllabus it was wonderful news to congratulate 12 cadets on gaining this award, who display their qualification on their brassard.
Publicity this last year has been outstanding, to which all of the local newspapers have been bombarded with week in and week out, to which I hope we will continue to do so throughout 2007.
My outlook for 2007 is again to maintain morale within the Squadron, continue with enhancing training for both staff and cadets, maintain encouragement with more young people and adults to join the unit, continue with the highly maintained publicity in the local newspapers and overall ensure that while discipline is maintained we still enjoy each others’ company and have fun.
Yet again I look forward to another prosperous year.
Flight Lieutenant Carol Marsh RAFVR(T)
Officer Commanding
1002 (Ross-on-Wye) Air Training Corps
