Home > School Life > Combined Cadet Force > Royal Air Force Section
Royal Air Force Section
A cadet's account of her stay at RAF Lyneham
During the school holiday, a group of RAF Cadets met bright and early, ready to embark on the unknown - a week's residential stay at a real operational RAF base!
RAF Lyneham in Wiltshire is a base for Hercules aeroplanes. As we drove around the base in search of our accommodation, we were all struck by its sheer size. It seemed to us as though it was a complete, self-contained town and we were to learn that this was hardly an exaggeration.
There were two large rooms, one for girls and one for boys, containing bunk beds and lockers in a 'barracks' style. Our lodgings were modest, but somehow they added to the excitement of being on a real RAF base. Once we had unpacked, we introduced ourselves, somewhat tentatively, to the other cadets on camp. They came from CCF and Air Training Corps (ATC) from across the country - we even had groups from Scotland! We were divided up into two flights, each led by a Senior NCO. In true RAF fashion, they were named Flight A and Flight B. In the evening, we had an inter-flight sports competition with benchball, basketball and hockey to help break the ice.
Our day began early, reveille was at 7.00am and breakfast, in the airmen's mess, was at 7.30am. The food served was delicious, but I don't think I have ever before or since worked so hard for my meals! The mess was a good ten-minute walk from our lodgings, but being on an RAF base, we were required to march there in two ranks. This meant that each meal was preceded by a 15-minute march, in full uniform, trying to look as smart as possible and saluting any officers we saw. As one might suppose, this did indeed work up a healthy appetite! Of course, after the meal, we looked forward to the march back again.
Our activities varied tremendously over the week; there were no two days that were the same. One of the most exciting events was having a go on the Hercules simulator that pilots used for training! The cockpit was exactly the same as that found on a real aircraft, including the high-tech navigation screens and maps. The flight was fairly smooth, but when we bounced on the runway a few times and then crashed into some trees, I figured we would need a little more practice before we tried our skills on the real thing.
We all had the opportunity to increase our flying experience when we went on sorties in Grob Tutors. The pilot I was with took me through various exercises in turning and banking. Unfortunately, the weather was too cloudy for aerobatics, which I had very much wanted to do. I think the pilot must have felt bad, though, because he let me go up a second time at the end, just so I could hang upside down, 2000 feet in the air, for a few seconds!
RAF camp was the first time I had been on a proper, outdoor shooting range using live rounds. The loudness and recoil of the shot stunned me at first, but I soon became used to it and began to enjoy the experience. Given that I was only a beginner, I thought I got a pretty good grouping of about ten centimetres. My improved accuracy came in very useful for our evening at LaserQuest! It was another inter-flight competition, and unfortunately my flight lost, but we all had a lot of fun! Some of our other outdoor activities included a night exercise and a 20km walk, both of which were, again, inter-flight competitions. For the night exercise, we were divided into smaller sections and taken to the bottom of a wooded hill. I was in charge of a section and the aim was to lead them to the top of the hill where there were glow-sticks that we had to recover, with the help of a contact (a member of staff). The catch was that the sticks were guarded by the enemy (senior NCOs) and, if we were caught, we had to make our way back down to the bottom of the hill and start again. We were awarded a certain number of points for each stick recovered. My section was very close on our first attempt, but didn't manage to actually recover a stick until very near the end of the exercise, when it was stopped due to rain. Although quite challenging, both mentally and physically, the exercise was definitely one of the most enjoyable on the trip!
During some spare time, Lauren Papworth and I took the opportunity to sit our Part II tests. We passed with merit and proudly sewed our new badges on to our armlets. We were tested on some of the physics of how the aircraft actually flies, aircraft recognition and navigation. The navigation came in very useful for the walk, which took place in the hilly Wiltshire countryside. We paired off and each pair took it in turns to lead the flight for a leg of the journey; the idea was that the better you navigated, the quicker you'd reach the checkpoints and the more points you would win for your flight. The day was tiring and some cadets dropped out before the last couple of legs. I somehow managed to stay with the reduced number that carried on, and was soon glad I did! It was mostly uphill and quite hard going, but the rush of reaching the top was definitely worthwhile, as well as the extra points for my flight, of course.
We spent some time visiting the different sections of the base, learning about what each did and how it fit into the functioning of the base as a whole. We visited the Aeromed section, Air-Traffic Control, the Fire Department, Police Dogs, Engineering and Flying Squadron. The Aeromed Section consists of qualified nurses that fly out on a Hercules to anywhere in the world where medical aid is required. I was impressed by the level of commitment these nurses had, as well as the state-of-the-art equipment they used, including portable isolation chambers. There was little activity when we visited Air-Traffic Control, but we learned about the equipment and protocols used to ensure that aircraft land and take off safely and, hopefully, punctually. The Fire Department is always on hand to deal with any fires that might break out on the base. They demonstrated the water guns they use on us! Some cadets were well and truly soaked! One cadet was nearly knocked off his feet when someone else aimed the gun at him!
In the dog section, we were treated to a demonstration of how a trained dog would respond in a situation when confronted with an armed enemy, and it was not pretty! In the engineering section, we were given a tour of the hangar in which Hercules aircrafts are maintained. We learned about how the main parts of the engine worked, as well as having the opportunity to explore a Hercules up close. We were given a lecture by a Hercules pilot, who explained to us that the Hercules is primarily a transport vessel, but is very much multi-purpose, and so is sent on a wide variety of different missions. As well as the section visits, we were allowed to do some work experience on the base, if it was possible for the officers to arrange it. I chose to spend an afternoon in the accounting department, where I learned about the financial side of running an RAF base. I even issued a rather large amount of cash to a pilot who was about to embark on a mission to Iraq!
The finale of the inter-flight competition was a drill contest. We turned out on the drill square in our two flights, immaculately dressed in formal gear and boots so shiny you could see your face in them. There was a set schedule of movements that each flight had to carry out as smartly as possible, with the Senior NCO calling the commands. As it happened, the points situation was very close and whoever won the drill would win the overall competition. The pressure was on and, though we had been practising all week, we were still very nervous. Unfortunately, on the day, my flight did not win, but it's the taking part that counts!
I think the most memorable event of the trip was the last night. There was a 'disco' at the 'nightclub' on the base. Admittedly, both the setting and the music were extremely cheesy, but we had a good laugh! Afterwards, our Senior NCOs awarded each cadet a paper plate prize. Mine was 'Best Card Player' as a result of my daily games of cards, often triumphant! The officers then gave out 'Best Cadet' awards to one cadet in each flight, and the winners were: Cadet Papworth and Cadet Tekriwal! I thought it was very interesting that out of all the cadets there, both the awards went to girls from Bedford School CCF.
The seven days seemed to pass in a flash, and before we knew it, we were saying goodbye to our new friends, hardly able to believe that we had met such a short while ago. I reflected on the amazing new experiences I had gained during my stay. The entire camp was just such a fantastic experience!
by Vidushi Tekriwal