Well done to 1368's CWO D who became the latest NCO inaugurated into the illustrious "Gnorman Knights of the Domino Pizza order" for his work over the last 6 months, esp. in admin and cadet coordination. He gets to wear the Gnorman the Gnome bucket hat till the next illustrious cadet leader steps forward with amazing NCO-ness. He got the NCO selfie treatment on 7 May 2025. A leader is necessary when a group of people have to achieve an objective. A leader, therefore, is expected to use a team to achieve results or get things done. Many leaders can get things done but some seem to do it quicker and with less fuss and frustration. The ability of the Corps to develop leaders is one of its core strengths. Since joining 1368 CWO D has demonstrated willingness and dedication to getting things done and has been a great asset to the squadron.

Cadet of the month for April 2025 was Cdt H. This is also a team win for cadet team that sorted uniform and packed him off to RAF Lossiemouth camp on a 10 hour coach journey but also for his demonstration that it doesn't hurt to throw yourself into things if they come up, esp. blues camps and high jump. Well done. 

3 Cadets and 1 Staff from 1368 attended a Gold practice expedition at Capel Curig. Really nice to see some smiles in the face of adversity. and friendships with other squadron cadets over what was an unusually wet week even for Wales.  From a 1368 perspective it also means we have enough cadets who've completed a practice to form an assessed expedition, hence July exped ambition a step closer.

Monday saw the Silver actual team (aka the Abominable Gnormans) present on their Silver Exped (RIP the Pink Inflatable Flamingo). Great for younger cadets to hear what older ones get up to, and also the sense of comradery and teamwork that comes from our expeditions when done well (we start with IET with newbies partly for this reason, also team dynamics and leadership). Wrt air loss of Flamingo, I'm thinking what Sqn might need is a good course in the Entry Level Award (ELA) in Health & Safety, and Hazard Awareness 😉 Silver actual expeds now signed off meaning some cadets very close to awards:  Good news: Cdt K's Bronze & Cdt M's Silver both approved last week (badges/certificates pending).

Monday's parade saw a carnival atmosphere generated in local community as our mid's undertook Blue Badge assessments with Wing band master Fg Off D. It's one of the hardest badges due to the mixed skills needed to be able to march and play 3 songs at same time. 9 passes (2 bell lyre, 7 drums), a brilliant initial haul for one night of assessments that demonstrates the further strengthening of our overall pool of musician cadets, a step change in bell lyre playing which bodes well for Wing Music Competition. Apparently, the cadets generated waves heard as far as Chase Meadow Community centre.

Alas, 1368 only got 2nd in Wing Athletics competition on Sat 10 May 2025 bringing our 3 year winning streak to an end. Stunning performance of 1368 Sqn boys to win the Boys overall trophy though, given that we had very few junior men this year. Massive haul of individual medals, and great to see the look on our newer cadet's faces when they realize they are good enough to win Gold medals.  Congratulations to 492 Sqn who overpowered us with a much larger team with more girls. A well deserved win from a motivated team that brought everything to the table. Great to see competition heat up with some really big teams, and massive thanks to older 1368 cadets who went out of the way to try and give us a chance to fill gaps in older age categories. 

DofE scheme is an important Pillar in 1368's training programme with a large cohort going through Silver's and Gold's at the moment. Monday saw the 6 of our Bronze level cohort who were down get their Bronze certificates and badges for their Brassards. The Squadron expects all cadets to achieve their Bronze Award within first 1-2 years with Squadron. It runs it's own DofE expeditions. The DofE Scheme isn't just about expeditions. There are also Skills, Volunteering, Physical sections where the scheme requires them to do an hour a week on average over an extended period of time and get better. Many of the activities we do at 1368 Sqn cadets can be used for these sections and since they spend 5hrs a week with us, Royal Air Force Air Cadets is a great place to get the awards. The DofE Scheme offers complementary value to both organisations and the individuals who achieve their Awards. Well done.

Lots of amazing effort on last night (#6) of athletics training ahead of Wing competition. What really stood out (and then in) was the traditional 1368 Hokey Cokey warm-down, possibly the last as a cadet for our 19 year old CWO  who took on the master of ceremonies responsibility. OC cadet of the month for April 2025 was Cdt H for throwing himself into things. CWO D became the latest NCO inaugurated into the illustrious "Gnorman Knights of the Domino Pizza order" for his work over the last 6 months, esp in admin and cadet coordination. He gets to wear the Gnorman the Gnome bucket hat till the next illustrious cadet leader steps forward with amazing NCO-ness (e.g. achieving outdoor quals and ensuring cadets get to achieve road marching, that sort of thing). 

Monday's commemorative VE parade at Sherbourne Church saw cadets from 1368 Sqn perform as a Sqn band for the first time in public. Making public performances was their challenge for 2025 off the back of the first entry of the 1368 band in the Wing music competition in October 2024. The band challenge for 2025 was to perform in public, hence we thank the visitors to Sherbourne Church for providing them with an audience. The band was formed last year with the arrival of new instruments. February to April has seen a 2nd wave of cadets learn how to play drums and bell lyre, so what's particularly nice about this performance is that it included some of the cadet's who've just gone through basic band training and have yet to get their blue band badges. All the more impressive is that they're pretty much self-taught, i.e. cadets teaching other cadets.

Cadets and Staff from 1368 Squadron took part in a WWII Dam Buster RAF Pilot and crew VE Day Commemoration and Wreath Laying at Sherbourne Church on Bank Holiday Monday. This was in memory of 617 Sqn pilot Henry Eric Maudslay from Leamington who died aged 21 along with crew when returning from Operation Chastise, an RAF mission to destroy the Ruhr dams using special bouncing bombs, a pivotal moment and RAF mission in Second World War.  

Well done to the 4 cadets and 1 SNCO from 1368 Sqn attended last weekend's Wing course at RAF Cosford aimed at increasing knowledge of Foot, Banner & Ceremonial Drill.  The course is designed to bring knowledge & enthusiasm onto back Sqns to deliver consistent teaching across the Wing and was also a great opportunity for them to do rifle drill.  The next step is to use their new found knowledge to raise 1368 drill standards for newbies, so to match recent focus on improving uniform standards.

1368 (Warwick and Royal Leamington Spa) Squadron tends to do intakes at the beginning of each school term, hence we are doing a small intake in May 2025.  Procedure for recruitment is based on the following steps: 1. Expression of interest submitted via RAFAC webform:  https://www.raf.mod.uk/aircadets/interested-in-joining-as-a-cadet/?squadronno=1368 . This gives us the details we need to email or phone parent/guardians to arrange a tour. 2. Parent/guardian responds to tour request and visit date/time for tour is arranged. 3. Parent/guardian & prospective cadet attend a show around tour, followed by a chat with OC. Tour is usually done by a cadet and gives an opportunity to find out what it is like being a cadet at 1368 Sqn. 4. If still interested after tour then we would add to desired intake list. 5. Closer to the intake date, forms are sent out electronically with a welcome pack. Parent/guardians return forms electronically and date/time of first parade is confirmed. In...

Some great coaching of juniors was really nice, e.g., Javelin and High Jump. Cdt H's commitment to high jump was astonishing. Lots of race-offs.   Relay practice hard as ever and, of course, the 1368 Hokey Cokey.  Athletics training really good for DofE Physical section sign offs for those that needed it.

Well done to 11 cadets who were down on Monday to get their St John's Essential First Aid badges. EFA is delivered to new recruits within the first 6 months of their joining the air cadets. The next badge up is Youth First Aid. 23 of our cadets are already YFA qualified hence we are contemplating running a weekend YFA for 0125/0924 to keep up momentum on First Aid delivery with the help in First Aid equipment provided by a recent Warwick Town Council grant.

Monday's parade saw 1368 cadets receive an insight into post WWII with a talk by Mr Jennings who was working on Canberra air sampling aircraft during the Grapple Y Nuclear Tests, a British atomic weapons trial conducted on Christmas Island in the Pacific Ocean on 28 April 1958, as part of Britain's programme to develop a hydrogen bomb. A video was shown. Not many young people get to hear first hand what it was like to witness a nuclear explosion and a great way of connecting the young with history. It was an insightful talk with some humorous reflective moments from his experiences in the RAF and life in general. The Wing Commander for Warwickshire and Birmingham Wing, Wg Cdr Lee Cassidy, had the pleasure of presenting him with a Nuclear Veteran's Medal and he gave some awards to 1368's younger cadets.

Well done to 13 cadets from 1368 Sqn who were down on Monday to get their badges for Blue Leadership. The Sqn ran a large scale leadership training programme in Feb->Apr that involved our newbies working together as a team to solve command tasks and learn leadership and briefing techniques. It's been a popular yearly part of the programme, great for building teamwork and friendships. Blue leadership is also a solid foundation badge for building self-confidence and opening up ability to bid on Bronze leadership courses run above Squadron level.