1368 cadets have been doing very well on AEF slots recently, helped by the good weather. Most newbies have had flying chances hence the chance that mids and seniors get future slots is relatively high. A last minute increase in allocation (they had more pilots) meant 6 got to fly at Air Experience Flying (RAF) No. 8 on Tuesday. Most got to reinforce their flying skills with those who wanted to flying some aerobatics. Here's some photos. Note the super-cool new helmets. many thanks to AEF8 pilots and support staff and 1289 for helping with transportation.

1368 Sqn now has a new Vango Scafell 200 tent thanks to speedy tent pitching skills of staff at a recent DofE Trek Together fundraising event they undertook. Vango Scafell 200 2-man tent features two identical poles with exceptional space to weight ratio. They managed to pitch it in 1m 30 something. To honest, our trusty Vango DofE tents are starting to show their usage, hence handy to have more options. Cadets had a go at putting it up on Wed. Obviously, winning the Vango side-competition is the main thing, but I suppose there is also the "raising money for disadvantaged young people to access DofE scheme" to be commended (ask us for help in funding DofE if on low income, as kit funding schemes are out there!). Cadets had a go at pitching it on Wed. Well done to our intrepid amigos! Might come in handy as a back-up on our upcoming Gold expedition.

1368 Squadron operates an induction programme for new cadets with the main induction being in September (typically 12-14 cadets). With intakes the young people join at same time as others and go through the same induction programme before being integrated into the squadron. It avoids repeating training, enables squadron to cope with larger numbers, and leads to stronger friendships among new recruits. We have  a 5 stage process to joining: Initial contact/register interest (ideally via form). Tour/visit to see Sqn where young person can learn more about what cadet experience is. Parent/guardian formally asks to join. Forms are sent out, returned prior to intake date. Young person starts. We have added a new cadet interest form to the website  Join Us  page to work around issues with the form on the RAF page (e.g. doesn't always work and now doesn't allow Year 7's to apply for intakes which start when they go into Year 8).

Last Saturday saw team 1368 organise and conduct another Sqn road march. Special mention to staff team on their motivation and fortitude to get admin sorted for new routes. Great mix of experience and newbies (on their way to the blue badge). Blue badges = opportunity for Bronze= opportunity for Silver etc, with Gold normally (if you're lucky) being Nijmegen.

Well done to one of our staff members on achieving his Gold DofE, 28 Jul 2026. An amazing achievement, it takes a lot of commitment to complete all 5 Gold sections (volunteering, skills, physical, expedition and residential).  He did lot of sections through cadet activities in 1368 Sqn as a cadet SNCO/Staff Cadet and had just the expedition section to go, so he undertook an amazing expedition with a difference experience (sailing with the morning star trust ), highlighting that there are some more varied Authorised Activity Provider (AAP) options out there, if that's what floats your boat. DofE Gold is a journey, not a sprint.

His performance in first 6 months of the year has been exceptional. The first to attain MOI out of the 8 who applied, attendance on NCO Dev course attained, strong accumulated community duties, leadership and host of other badges no-one is going to catch him in terms of qualifications/badges/participation. so decided to call this one now. As Albert Einstein is quoted: "Setting an example is not the main means of influencing others, it is the only means.". Well done.