West Essex Cup Competition
After reaching MTS early on a Saturday morning, a team of five CCF RAF cadets prepared themselves for a tough day of competition ahead, facing off against other Air Cadet squadrons competing for the West Essex Cup.
writes Zayd H (5ths)
Despite the competition starting on Saturday, the prep commenced the previous night by ensuring that uniform was ironed neatly, and boots were polished to the highest standards.
The day started off with a round of archery where all 5 of us scored highly; arrows flying true to their targets, followed by a leadership exercise lead by CWO Dominic L (U6ths) where we posted a very quick time to complete the task at hand. Next came a frighteningly realistic first aid scenario in which we were tasked with aiding two wounded patients. Despite the screaming of the actors and the chaos of the scene around us, we were able to treat the casualties, using our training from previous sessions. Between all these activities, we seized every opportunity to run through our drill sequence just one last time, to iron out any tiny errors or imperfections that we could improve. The physical activities of the day included a gruelling stretcher run and twelve minutes of ergo rowing, where we had to set the highest distance we could.
Finally came the drill. Under the watchful eyes of the judges, we performed our drill sequence to the best of our abilities with very few errors. In spite of the short time we were given to commit the sequence to memory, we all performed exceedingly well and demonstrated our teamwork and practical abilities.
Overall, the day provided us with numerous experiences that taught us valuable lessons that will most certainly prove useful in our future careers. We would also like to thank Mr. Shirley for organizing the event and providing us with the necessary training and, more importantly, allowing us to improve our skills and character.
