This summer, cadets from 444 (Shoreditch) and 291 (Westminster and Chelsea) Squadrons Air Cadets spent the day at Woolwich Barracks, training on their military obstacle course.
Under the guidance of qualified obstacle course instructor, Sergeant William Dooley, the Squadrons tackled obstacles such as a net wall, high and low bars, trench jumps, a high beam walk, and even scaled 6 and 12 foot walls!
Despite facing all of these, the very real risk of getting wet in the plunge pools that formed an important part of many obstacles, and rather heavy rain showers, the teams pulled together and showed excellent team spirit.
Although finding it a challenge at first – the cadets quickly picked up the techniques taught by the Sergeant Dooley, and by the end of the day, they were easily able to complete the course. Pilot Officer Rex Nicholls RAFVR(T), leading the weekends activities said “the cadets showed real determination and team spirit. It’s a difficult course to complete with a particularly high wall – but they’ve shown exactly how capable they are. We are looking forward to putting this training in to practice at the upcoming competitions.”
This training is an important part of the team preparation for the London Wing inter-squadron Inness Sword Competition – an annual competition in which an elite team from each Squadron spends a weekend demonstrating their skills at a variety of events – from first aid to observation, and with a number of physical challenges such as the obstacle course and stretcher run. Both squadrons will be competing this year, and are taking their training very seriously!
444 cadets can look forward to a number of additional opportunities to take part in this kind of activity including a weekend training camp at Pirbright Training Camp, and of course the real Inness Sword Competition in September. The final team will be selected based on performance at a number of these training activities taking place in the lead up to the competition.
By CI Coralie Young, 444 (Shoreditch) Squadron, London Wing, Air Training Corps
