Last weekend saw another six of our 1368 cadets achieve their Youth First Aid (YFA) badges. The 2 day YFA is similar to St Johns AFA but is possible for under 16's. Great to see cadets taking advantage of Wing-organised level events. We also had CI M and FS R pass the next one up, Activity First Aid (AFA) (required by NGB Adv Training qualified staff). As well as saving life knowledge, sets us in good stead for next year's Wing Competition.  In other news Cdts G and M were added to list of cadets achieving Pres Skills in last 2 weeks. Many thanks to Sgt J for delivery of training, inspiring an impressive level of presentation standard in tight timescales. No badge for this, but opens the door to other things and helps evidence Coaching, Teaching and Leadership for Volunteering section of DofE. 1368 Sqn has 43 active cadets on the books with YFA. Many thanks to Lion's and Warwick Council for historical help with First Aid equipment.

It is very rewarding to give 1368 cadets a difficult challenge and see them step up and deliver (Operation "get it done"). With cadet building still out of use, last week saw a difference with a segue into Sports with a Presentation Skills (PS) for mids alongside.  PS course is an intro course to giving effective presentations, a pre-requisite to the Wing Method-of-Instruction (MOI) course that leads to instructor lanyards (an expectation for NCOs). The 1368 "Electricity" didn't disappoint, with cadets pulling some great rabbits out of the hat, demonstrating their depth and breadth of knowledge and passion in topics such as Rubik's Cube, Vulcan, Judo, AI, Aircraft/Bases, Fishing,... Our mids are pretty smart cookies. Stunning work by all who delivered.  Cdt F did a great 1st run already on principles of flight lesson dry-run, more to come, hopefully.

Many of our cadets have a passion for aircraft and some really want to become pilots themselves. As well as air cadet experiences such as Air Experience Flying and Gliding at Volunteer Gliding Schools, cadets are recommended to strive to take advantage of scholarship opportunities if they can, e.g, Closing date for applications to The Honourable Company Of Air Pilots for their Gliding Scholarships is 3rd February 2026 at 12 noon. Scholarships are residential and are offered to people aged between 16 and 25.  Successful candidates have the  opportunity to fly on a one-week course at a youth approved British Gliding Association centre. 

A catch-up from last year. Well done to Cdt G (Mk III) for achieving the COTM award for due diligence and effort in community duties in December. Last week saw us settle into classifications and cross country again. There was also chance to talk about exciting ideas for 2026 such as clay pigeon shooting, archery and an Adv Trng w/end camp.

Amazing really. 2nd year running that we've had a 1368 Sqn Panto, re-written with cadet jokes and performed by cadets and NCOs. Last year it was Sgt Cinderella not being about to go air experience flying due to the evil Cadet Warrant Officers, that included Babcock team that tried desperately to get flying happening and a Chinook flight. This year was Sgt Aladdin, a love story about a camp relationship, involving a magic carpet and a lamp and Sqn Ldr genie. Brilliant effort by all, but particularly our outgoing CWO C and every present CI M for the writing. Brilliant cast that including roped in review cadets.  We were corralled a bit on dates due to lack of building, hence sorry not all got to see or perform. People would pay good money for this, but it did make a fantastic start to Christmas week. The imaginative solution to the magic carpet was amazing, plus pulling off a play in play (very Shakespearian). Well done team 1368. Happy Xmas.

Monday saw 10 cadets complete the Blue Radio Basic Operator training at Aylesford School. A practical course, it teaches correct use of basic radio procedure in the air cadets, and includes a practical assessment. Blue badge training is core to Sqn's annual training programme. Blue badges make our cadets eligible for Bronze courses, typically run at Wing or Sector level. Radio training's particularly useful as we use them for community duties and nav exercises. They all passed the practical assessment, so well done, and thanks to all the staff, NCOs and cadets involved.  We also managed to get an MOI dry-run done for Cpl F, an added bonus. Getting yellow lanyards done is going to be a key focus in the new year.