Longmoor 2011

What is the best thing the ATC does? Flying, gliding or shooting surely? Well, if you posed the question to the Wing President, Air Commodore Moulds, or 9 cadets from 2204 (Chesham & Amersham) Squadron, you would get a very different answer. In their minds there is only one candidate for this honour, a long weekend in the Hampshire countryside.

The annual wing exercise, held at Longmoor Camp in Hampshire, is undoubtedly the highlight of the wing’s programme of ‘green’ activities. For the 2011 edition, we were very much looking to put past disappointments behind us and achieve a top ten finish. CWO Yates selected a team built around experience, augmented by some fresh blood in Cadets Kretschmer and Cullen. Our team was one of the most experienced at the event and boasted 6 NCOs and 20 previous wing exercises between the 9 of us. In full, the team was: CWO Yates, Flt Sgt Yates, Flt Sgt Sergeant, Sgt Fowler, Cpl Smart, Cpl Shamshudin and Cadets Muchhala, Cullen and Kretschmer.

This year’s event was organised differently to usual and, after arriving and settling in on Friday night, Saturday started bright and early as we breakfasted at the shocking , for those of us grown accustomed to the more relaxed timetable of study leave, hour of 7am. During the course of the day we completed exercises including a log run, ropes exercise, puzzle, and mine clearing task among others. All of these were well-planned, enjoyable and developed our leadership skills. That evening we settled down to watch the Champions League Final in the comfort of the tri-bar, before enjoying a night of welcome sleep. Sunday followed a similar programme as we continued our hunt for a top ten finish, a position we had occupied the previous night. That evening, those of us yet to complete a heart-start course were able to do one, learning some valuable, and possibly life-saving, skills.

Monday was the final day of the exercise and had just two exercises scheduled. Easy, you might think, but you would be wrong for these two exercises were the speed march and assault course. As usual, we were early pace-setters on the assault course and our time was bettered by few other teams. On the other hand, we traditionally struggle on the speed march, and this year followed the same pattern as we were hindered by one team member’s lack of fitness. Soon after completing this we headed home, tired but full of satisfaction at completing what Air Commodore Moulds labelled “the toughest event in the Corps.” We had had an interesting discussion with the Wing President on the Saturday, when he assured us he would visit the Squadron soon and tell us all of his single-handed repellence of a 30 man Taliban attack, armed only with a knife and a water bottle. Ultimately, it was an excellent weekend, and our efforts were justly rewarded with a 9^th place finish- testament mainly to all the hard work of CWO Yates, completing his 5^th and last wing exercise, who pushed the team to new heights this year.

Sgt. Fowler

Chesham Schools' Carnival

At the Chesham Schools’ Carnival the Squadron had a stand in the park with boards full of information about the Squadron, and the ATC in general. Some people came over to the stand and asked questions about what we do in the ATC in general and what we as a squadron do.

On our boards there were pictures of shooting, Longmoor, wing field day and other activities we carry out. Also at our stand we had some of the leaflets which had contact information for people wanting to join the squadron. There were some people interested in joining but as some of them didn’t live in Chesham we gladly gave them details of their local squadron>

What I enjoyed most about the carnival was giving out leaflets and answering questions people had about the squadron and the ATC as well as being able to walk around the park and look at the other stalls.

Cdt. Bramley

Longmoor 2011

The highlight of the Wing Calendar, the Herts and Bucks Wing Exercise, is fast approaching.

2204's Longmoor 2011 team has been training hard for 2 months, preparing the necessary skills and tactics essential for the weekend. The training so far has involved: several discussions of tactics for Command Tasks and leadership exercises, a recap of First Aid skills, fitness training and assorted practice exercises. Training continues for the next three weeks, then the team,

·         CWO Yates

·         Flt Sgt Sergeant

·         Flt Sgt Yates

·         Cpl Fowler

·         Cpl Smart

·         Cpl Shamshudin

·         Cadet Kretschmer

·         Cadet Muchhala

·         Cadet Cullen

·         and Cadet Grenyer,

will leave for Hampshire.

After 3 days of intense physical and mental activity they will return, possibly triumphant, definitely shattered.

CWO Yates

Chesham Bois Clean Up

Our Squadron has a strong bond with the Chesham Bois Parish Council, as evidenced by our drill display at last year’s fete, and a part of this is our regular participation in their biannual village clean up. Although not the most adrenaline-filled activity in our calendar, events like these are part of the Corps’ commitment to the community and, consequentially, we had a good level of involvement. The day in early March saw 5 cadets: Cpl Fowler, Smart and Cadets Willment, Muchhala and Gill; accompanied by Mr. Clark attend the event and spend a few hours helping the local community. The cadets’ efforts were thankfully received by the event’s organisers and all those involved received a personal letter of thanks from the Parish Council.

Cpl. Fowler

Heart Start Course

Imagine the scene, a woman collapsed on the kitchen floor, knives, blood and gore everywhere; would you know what to do? The whole of 2204 Chesham & Amersham Squadron do. They got the opportunity on a regular cadet night to learn how to deal with such situations. Kindly Flt Lt. Callaghan sacrificed her time to come and show some “eager to learn” cadets how to administer basic first aid to anyone of any age. The cadets really enjoyed themselves using “resusci annies” to learn CPR and even got given face masks to protect us from germs if we were ever unfortunate enough to have to administer it for real. In the end, the course was extremely insightful and all the cadets were ecstatic to learn about the cataclysmic effects accidents can have and how to treat them.

Cdt Muchhala

Gliding Scholarship

I first started my gliding scholarship at 613 VGS (RAF Halton) in November 2009; by February 2010 I had gone solo in a Grob 109. After doing so I went through a 3-4 week “transition” period where they determined whether or not I was eligible for becoming a staff cadet, whereupon I would be allowed to do my Gold Wings.
By September 2010 I started my Gold Wings course, after going through a rigorous training session where they determined my strengths & weaknesses in the aircraft. I have so far only done a few flights towards my Gold Wings, but with the better weather we are hoping for more flight time.      

Cpl. Hyslop 

Air Experience Flying

Flying was really fun because I got to fly the plane, drink coffee and have fun. When you first get to the RAF base they show you a safety video and show you how to jump out of the plane in case of emergency. Then you get suited up in a proper flying suit and helmet. Then you get in the airplane, you take off and fly the plane and do aerobatics, it’s really awesome. We flew the Grob Tutor aircraft which a small propeller airplane but don’t underestimate it at all, it’s a great plane and you’re missing out if you don’t come. 

Cdt. Gill