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Cadet Dominic James - Easter Camp
Diary 2008 |
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Easter Camp Diary 08.
RAF Halton.
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Introduction:
I, along with Cadet Bethan Havard have
written this report of our Easter camp spent
at RAF Halton.
RAF Halton is where all the airmen go for
recruit training and where they graduate
into the RAF. We have written this report to
give younger cadets an insight into what a
camp at a RAF base is all about. I have
compiled a diary keeping up to date everyday
and is compiled into this report.
Saturday 5th April:
We met at McDonalds and the bus left at
08.00 hours. We were told that the journey
to Halton would take around 4 hours but
ended up being 7 lengthy hours on the coach
due to taking the wrong direction. But
after 7 hours we reached our destination and
we were told which flights we were in and
who our room mates were. Cadet Havard
and I were both in B flight which ended up
being the best flight of the camp. We were
told to change into DPMs and we had a brief
of what is expected of us by the camp
commandant Flt Lt Ford. We were told
all the security measures taken and what
places were out of bounds as well as the
rules such as no alcohol etc. After
the brief we headed back to the
accommodation and spent the night doing
personal admin which means basically ironing
your uniform and bulling your shoes and also
making our beds using hospital corners.
Sunday 6th April:
An early start for us at 0615 hrs.
We put
on our working blues and after breakfast we
had a photo of all of us together in the
snow which made for a really good
background.
After
we changed into DPM's and went on a fam ex
which is basically a familiarisation
exercise where you familiarise yourselves
with the base.
We
were split up into groups and given a series
of questions and we marched off to find
them. After the fam ex was completed
we headed back and had a break for an hour
before going over the other side of the base
to go swimming where I gained my basic
swimming certificate. We had to swim
90 meters, tread water for 2 minutes and
then pull ourselves out of the pool at the
deep end all in the eyes of the wing
commander who came to stay with us
until Tuesday.
Monday 7th April:
Yet another early start ready for breakfast
in our working blue uniform. When we
came back we had a room inspection which
went excellent for our flight. After
this we were invited down to the Parade
ground where we watched the graduates
rehearse for their parade which would see
them become members of the RAF tomorrow.
Later on in the evening we were supposed to
have a night exercise with the RAF Regiment
but sadly this got cancelled due to
unavailable regiment members, so instead all
of the cadets went into Aylesbury to go
bowling.
Tuesday 8th April:
We woke up in a bit of a rush this morning.
We had to have breakfast and then head to
Duxford Imperial War Museum. I and
many other cadets found the museum very
interesting with all the aircraft here, and
we were able to go inside some of them such
as the Concorde and a VC-10. When we
got back we changed into DPMs and had a
field craft lesson taught by Sgt Garner,
where he taught us how to tie a b knot and
also how to camouflage yourself up and how
to crawl along the ground properly.
After this we had 2 hours of drill practice
ready for the drill competition in a few
days time. As we got back to the block I
found that the morale was very low in nearly
all cadets, with a lot suffering with
injuries or illness.
Wednesday 9th April:
This morning we all had another 2 hours of
drill. After this we visited the
Trenchard museum which is located on the
base. I found this museum very
interesting and learned a lot from the staff
who showed us around. Later in the day some
cadets who had not yet flown or hadn’t flown
in a while were transferred to RAF Benson
for AEF (Air Experience Flying).
During the hours they were gone we all took
our WHT (Weapons Handling Test) on the no 8
rifle and the L98. After this was completed
we went orienteering around Halton woods
which tested our map reading skills
nevertheless it was a nice walk and in the
evening we had a game of football which was
inter flight, our flight winning 3-2.
Thursday 10th April:
Today was my
favourite
day because we went to No 6 AEF RAF Benson.
I was first up and it was a beautiful day to
fly (Flying Log
here). After spending all day down
at Benson we headed back and prepared our
uniform for a drill competition. We
were under the watchful eyes of two DI’s
(Drill Instructors). Many of us were
expecting them to be shouting in our faces
but they were actually very kind to us
asking us questions about the camp and about
how life is going within the cadets.
Sadly our flight lost the drill competition
by 30pts which made us very downhearted.
Friday 11th April:
Today was the last day and night we would
spend together as a camp. After having
breakfast we headed across the other side of
the base for L98 shooting. I have
never shot the rifle before and I was unsure
whether I wanted to shoot it but as I took
my first few shots I knew I wanted more of
this. We were told by the Range
Officer that we had 2000 rounds to get rid
of and we didn’t let them go to waste!
After all day shooting we cleaned the rifles
and headed back to the block. We had a final
parade where awards were given out and my
flight (B Flight) won best flight which was
a major boost for us. After various
awards were given out we returned to the
block to get changed and then had a disco in
the V2 club. The disco was very good
and everyone got up to dance including
me!
Saturday 12th April:
Last few hours at Halton. We had
breakfast and packed our bags, tidied our
rooms and folded up our blankets neatly. We
left RAF Halton at 1045 and returned back to
Briton Ferry McDonalds at 1530 saying
goodbye to our friends we met on camp.
Conclusion:
Our conclusion is that the camp was great.
We have learned that the weather plays a
crucial part of what activities become
available such as the night exercise. I
would most certainly recommend another cadet
to go to a camp at least once in their ATC
career. We both met so many friends of which
we still keep in contact with today.
We would like to thank the Camp Commandant
and all the staff who made the camp a really
good place to be and we would both like to
thank Mr Stones for allowing us to go to
Easter Camp.
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