Managed to get stock of Blue Leadership badges for Cdt W, Cdt H and Cdt K. Bronze DofE certificates and badges to Cdt B and Cdt M. Cdt S and Cdt K recently did AEF. They got their blue flying wings after completing Part Task Trainer (PTT) element on Monday with adult Sgt G from 612 VGS (with help from Plt Off D in setting up Flight Sim), and (finally) Cdt M got his Leading cadet classification badge. Meanwhile, some of our junior/mids have been working on Bronze Cyber badge (Plt Off D taking lead) and been kicking of Bronze iDEA registrations.

Last weekend saw CWO H and the ever taller Sgt G undertake 80km road marching over 2 days, a serious mental and physical challenge tinged with leadership, followship, camaraderie and teamwork. Around 300 air cadets from across the country participated, with the RAFAC Commandant Air Cmdr. Al Lewis doing his usual round of selfies. Well done to Sgt G on collaring him for a where is 1368 Sqn's building photo. Huge physical achievement with a lots of training build-up but lots of friendships from the shared experience, time chatting, singing and digging deep. Resilience and mental fortitude. Good for athletics distance fitness and Gold DofE prep, no doubt, or material for writing English stories. Well done. Both are mentioned in dispatches for their achievements. Also a couple of staff members helping. RAF Walking and Road Marching Association https://rafwarma.org.uk

Last weekend saw first 1368 expedition weekend of the season with 2 groups exploring the wilds of the Shropshire Hills AONB. Pre-Easter planning proved useful and great that we got 8 assessed through their exped plus 4 more through a Practice including a Yr10 newbie, maximising what we needed to do. Some impressive personal resilience, great teamwork shown.  Two cadets from 2286 also joined. Looking forward to the group presentation to find out what "the nugget" got up to ;-) 

Cdt B was OC's COTM for last month. A high-flying cadet, his keenness and thoughts for others being primary factors, esp. his signing up for ex-1368 OC Wg Cdr Dawe's funeral.

Easter hols saw us finishing-off blue leadership and attempting band finish-offs. Great success with blue leadership, badges to come though. Well done to Cdt C on passing Blue Badge band (marching drums) with sustained engagement and high attendance. Some photos also of first class, senior and master badge passes as cadets move up a level. Silver group did stove safety refresher ahead of exped.

1368 Sqn managed to pick up last minute scratch places on the Sunday to get 6 cadets Air Experience Flying over 2 days. Cdts P, B and B-R flew on the Monday, with Cdts M, K and K flying on the Tuesday (thanks to some last-minute Av Med 1 form signing).  Cadets who have not yet flown are reminded to bid on future events and bring in Av Med 1's (v5) for signing. You never know when last-minute places come up. Av Med 1's are the ticket to fly, hence any cadets (esp. 0924-0925 intakes) who haven't flown are encouraged to apply for future slots before new intake becomes eligible.

Cadets and staff stepped up on 1368's first community duty of 2026 helping Leamington Round Table run their fundraising 10k run, stepping up last minute taking on extra duties and both days. Great Sheggspearian-esq feedback. Many thanks to Plt Off D for sorting. Hi- hope you're doing well and recovered from the Regency Run! I just wanted to take a moment to let you know, that I thought the air cadets were phenomenal. I am so grateful for the cadets helping us on both days. On Sunday in particular, I had no other tablers helping me on the merch tent, and as soon as I assigned a job to the 6 cadets that had been posted there, I felt immediately at ease because of how self sufficient and organised they were as a team. There were 2 girls in particular (I didn't catch their names sorry) that seemed to adopt leadership roles in the group, these 2 picked up the scanning app that I had sent you, and they just got on with it without any issues. I had a particular process that they g...

Well done to Cdt R  who has achieved her Silver DofE with 1368 Sqn and Cdt M who got her Bronze DofE. Bronze certificates & badges also arrived from Wing for Cdt Mand Cdt B.  The Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme is a key pillar of 1368. Training is already underway for Bronze and pre-DofE initial expeditions for 0925 and 0226 intakes.

1368 Sqn returned to Athletics track ahead of the 2026 Athletics Championships, a chance to give our newbies the taste of track and field, including field events, a sprint focus, and return of the customary 1368 Hokey Cokey warm down. Also nice to see a few of the oldies.

Well done to the 10 cadets who attended 1368 Sqn's first "lets do something new" National Navigation Award Scheme ( NNAS ) practical training in 2026 over Easter at Cookley and Kinver. Also a lot of fun exploring some new places for 1368, discovering stuff like Nannie's Rock, Kinver Hill Fort, Locks, and a Dragon Tree.  This is our first proper year of trying to dovetail NNAS with our traditional DofE Bronze and Initial Expedition Training (IET) build up for newbies. Great to get 2 groups going, Friday turned out to be a lovely sunny day with great views from Kinver hillfort.  Great engagement for newbies plus some doing Silver DofE very soon. It'll be interesting to see how lost they get in upcoming expeditions.

Great opportunity for any 16-21 year old living in CV34 to go on the Warwick Twinning exchange visit to Germany this summer - FREE! Sponsored by Warwick Town Council and the Twinning Association...just need to apply...🇪🇺♥️

Every year, till the end of March, the number of points for successfully completed Duke of Edinburgh Awards is added up (3pts for Gold, 2 for Silver, 1 for Bronze), and the total score is used to award the Wing DofE Trophy. This year we got 48 points, close to double what we got last year (where we came 3rd by 1pt). Congratulations to 495 (Sutton Coldfield) Squadron achieved an outstanding 50 points, securing 1st place and taking home the trophy. The full results are as follows: 1. 495 (Sutton Coldfield) – 50 points 2. 1368 (Warwick & Leamington Spa) – 48 points 3. 121 (Nuneaton) – 32 points As the Wing DofE Officer states "This year, Warwickshire & Birmingham Wing has increased its overall DofE achievement by an impressive 65% compared to last year. It has been fantastic to see so many squadrons collaborating, supporting one another, and re-engaging with the Award—particularly those returning after several years of limited activity." We do have 4 cadets hopeful...

One of 1368's most senior cadets, FS R spent a week in the Lake District. "Not a PGL week", this W&W Region Staff (and senior cadet) development course focused on training and logbook entries for professional qualifications in outdoor leadership. A chance to experience new locations and meet like-minded people.  It's great to see these region and national opportunities open for senior cadets, and them taking the chance while they have it, challenging them in their chosen sports and developing their qualifications and experience for the future. RAFAC's redeveloped Windermere AT centre is pretty swish, apparently (it even has a TV).

It's now approaching 6 months now since the building was closed due to failure of the building maintenance system following the award to VIVO Defence  as a result of  Volunteer_Estate_Value_for_Money_Study_Report.pdf  which concluded that RFCA use MOD's existing built estates supplier starting in August 2024 as it would provide better value for money. We thank those members of the local community that have helped us continue to deliver with alternatives and RAFAC HQ who have tried their best to resolve. 

Easter hols saw an opportunity for 1368 to run another inter-flight competition. This one was building rocket launchers out of toilet rolls and rubber bands. Some excellent "thinking on your feet" design stories (who needs ChatGPT). Winners based on combined group scores were Alpha (33 pts), followed by Charlie (32) and Bravo (31). It was a smallpeice trust home challenge, 2nd we've done. These seems to fit nicely into a parade night, more to come.  The challenge came from Smallpeice Trust's website here:  https://www.smallpeicetrust.org.uk/challenge-yourself-at-home/  if anybody wants to try themselves.

Air Cadet Training Order 123 (Musician Badges): We have quite a musical Sqn (our rock band won the Wing ensemble last year with a couple of songs they learnt and played together, including an Abba one, they seem to be very keen on Queen at the moment). As we enter final stages of current training segment we're trying to get as many badges as possible. ACTO 123 gives the requirements for musician badges either a) because of existing grades or b) as part of an assessment. As part of an assessment it's possible for new musicians to be mixed with existing. It may change but current ACTO 123 (version 7) says: Blue Badges 6. Blue badges are awarded solely on the basis of musical ability.   7. It is not necessary for a cadet to be in a band to qualify for a ‘blue’ badge – although the assessment route is designed with band members in mind.  A cadet may qualify for a ‘blue’ badge in one of three ways: a. By passing a recognised music board examination at grade 3 (practical)...

Last Saturday saw 8 of our more senior cadets experience clay pigeon shooting for the first time. It's taken staff team over 6 months of liaison and admin to get all the pieces in place, with aim to share their passion. Priority was given to slightly older cadets on first one, which was also a nice opportunity to keep in touch with some of the year 11's. Great success though, including support from venue.  Plan, timings and approvals all seemed to work. More to come, as we look to provide new and exciting stuff in 2026.

Well done to 8 cadets from 1368 Sqn who all passed the St John's EFA course last Wednesday. The night also provided an opportunity for 2 additional staff and cadet Sgt H to be signed off EFA trainers. EFA is the base First Aid qual, and needs to be achieved within first 6 months/renewed every 3 years. Not only does it mean they are better prepared to help save (mainly) old people, but some have also achieved their first badge (aim is to get brassard & sow it on, ready for uniform).