38 cadets from 1368 Squadron descended on Planet Ice in Coventry for an end-of-year social night last Wednesday. The infamous 1368 Conga returned. Also a surprise chance to catch up with friends from 29F (Rugby) Squadron who had coincidentally chosen same night for their Christmas social. Higher than normal speeds achieved by Fg Off S. Good fun night. A chance for some to learn something new and for others to put on the latest batch of 1368 apparel we got in last week from Green Frog. 

Well done to all the cadets and NCOs who participated in Monday's end of year fun night at Sqn. CI M/NCO Panto plot: Flight Sgt Cinderella not able to go to AEF because of the nasty (and very ugly) CWOs, finally gets to go thanks to the magic of the friendly Sqn Ldr, but leaves her parade shoe behind. Really impressed with acting, esp. the Chinook crew's northern accents and Flight Sgt R's method acting. All action night featuring the legendary Egg, Sausage Chips and Beans and a lot of dancing. Oh, and cake/chocolate. Cinderella also got locked in the staff toilet because the handle had come off, a new twist on the plot. Great fun night to cap off a great year. 48 cadets attending. 

Last Wednesday saw cadets from 1368 Sqn undertake the team challenge of building and decorating the best Gingerbread train, (while the Cadet NCOs are out of picture writing and learning their upcoming NCO-Panto performance). Some amazing attention to detail and creativity by the winning team. Also great planning and execution.

Well done to all the cadets that supported the Warwick Lion's annual Christmas parcels packing duty.  Many hands make light work. Cadets drew a lot of praise for their due diligence, work ethic, dedication to duty and enthusiasm. Really super-smooth operation this year. Each year, Warwick Lion's collect food donations from the local community, so the duty consists of re-sorting it into bags that are then delivered to families and others in the community that could do with a little more help over the Christmas period. Helping the local community has been a long tradition with 1368 Squadron Air Cadets, and is one of the Squadron's pillars (core activities that make us what we are as a Sqn). The Lion's calculated that just over 1 ton of food (an estimated £3000 in donations) was collected around Warwick to sort into 200 bags. Many thanks to the people of Warwick who donated.

A bit of catch-up but fantastic night on Wed 4 Dec. Well done to brave new intake and the cadets who put on a great show looking back on their successes in 2024. This annual awards evening is a chance for cadets to reflect on some of their achievements for 2024. The evening was delivered by the cadets themselves hence gave them the opportunity to experience holding the attention of the 120+ audience, fantastic for those using Coaching, Teaching & Leadership > Air Training Corps as their DofE Volunteer section. 1368 Squadron's achievements for 2024 included 1) Winning Wing Athletics 2024 (third year in a row), 2) 3 Junior Leader graduations (unprecedented), 3) 1 Qualified Aerospace Instructor Award graduation, 4) 3rd in Wing competition incl. 3rd Drill/1st Cyber/1st Ensemble, 5) 5 Gold DofE Awards, 6) Wing Best Sqn for DofE Trophy 2023/24 7) Squadron's first ever band performance (3rd in Wing band competition) 8) Having fun. Squadron is consistent year-on-year with number...

Sqn parade strength remains solid with all 12 of 0924 intake having stuck. All 44 cadets on 2 Dec turned up in uniform (very impressed). New staff member CI M gets a framed lanyard from crew to commemorate his cadet journey. 1368 Sqn finally unlocks the key to the Bronze Cyber badges with 5 awards from earlier Sqn-run Bronze course. 3 cadets attend Wing CyberFirst day also get theirs on the day having done the Bronze iDEA certificate. 

Tuesday 19 Nov saw an evening trip to Redpoint Climbing Centre in Birmingham, a much loved venue by 1368 Sqn cadets due to the friendliness of their staff, ease of booking, and their love of climbing. A great night was had with a balance of ages from 12-19 year old including our newbies getting involved. Great mix of bouldering and climbing with ropes including belaying practice. Adventure training is one of the pillars of 1368's training programme. As well as allowing people to develop outside of their comfort zone, the shared experiences help to gel friendships which is really what the cadet experience is really about.  

Well done to Cpl B who became first NCO gnominated to wear the new Sqn Gnoman Bucket hat in  recognition of his banner duty work during Wing comp and remembrance parades plus strong leadership and map reading in the Silver expeditions in September. This new award, is just for NCOs to balance with the OC's Cadet of Month award which continues alongside. Bad news is that there's only one. It's only custodianship. He gets to keep it having gained a place a "Gnorman Knight of the Domino's (Pizza) Order" until a different NCO earns the right to wear it, and he has to hand it over.

Next intake will be January 2025 hence Sqn is doing remaining tours for this, booked in advance, for those cadets interested (join as a cadet ). You need to be in Year 8/9/10 (not 7) though. Meanwhile we continue with team building and badge gaining, including 3 radio badges and 2 blue aviation badges (for those having done ground training, simulator/PTT and real flight at VGS or AEF).

Well done to the 13 cadets who undertook course passed the practical assessment in RAFAC basic radio operator course, esp. those that got their first significant badge (other than than the 1368 Sqn).

Well done to the  Leam Spa parade contingent on Sunday. Personal thanks for effort put into uniforms and drill practice. You looked amazingly good on the day. Special mention to Cdt K who was 1st time Wreath layer, and Cpl B, 1st time Banner bearer on a remembrance parade. This year we had 20 cadets at Warwick and 25 cadets at Leamington, one less than last couple of years but still 45 cadets is a pretty good number for a single Sqn. 

This year saw 1368 Sqn continue to split Squadron across both Warwick and Leamington Spa parades concurrently. Really well done to Warwick contingent (which we fixed at 20 due to staff ratios) and special mention to first time Wreath layer, Cdt F. 

Well done to team supporting the revived concert in Leamington Spa on Sat evening. A really strong group who didn't need any encouragement to volunteer and turned up immaculately presented. Duty included a ceremony building a drum head, presenting the banner, escorting in dignitaries, a guard of honour, and a reading. Somber at times but also some fun, including run rabbit run singalong and the impromptu competition with Sea Cadets on the opposite top row as to who could get most engaged in the 40's sing along.

This training which was delivered over a weekend includes a practical assessment, is valid for 3-years. Great step up in our training to get 19 cadets through. First Aid is an important part of what is a quite rich and varied training programme that the RAF Air Cadets offers to young people. YFA gives them a Bronze Level badge and can be done before they are 16 years old. As well as a useful life skill, it plays an important role in preparing them to be self-sufficient when they do things like Duke of Edinburgh Award expeditions.