A leading boarding and day school for boys and girls aged 12-18 in Perthshire, Scotland
Most of these units are in Independent Schools. The aim of the Cadet movement is to develop such qualities as leadership, self-reliance, teamwork and good citizenship. A secondary and not insignificant aim is to foster and engender an interest in the role of the UK Armed Forces. All of this is achieved by means of a combination of military type training and adventurous training.
All pupils at Glenalmond have to spend one year (Fourth Form) in the CCF. This activity takes place on Wednesday afternoons. Pupils can elect to join one of three services - The Royal Navy, The Army or The Royal Air Force. Cadets can, and many do, stay on longer and the idea is that the senior cadets run the Wednesday afternoon activities under the supervision of the CCF Officers. The majority of the CCF Officers are members of staff, although this is not always the case. During the year there are CCF camps which cadets can attend. The Army camps tend to be centralised and many schools come together to undergo a week of activities. These camps take place at Training Camps that are normally adjacent to large Training Areas, e.g. Wathgill in Yorkshire or Warcop in Cumbria.
RAF cadets attend camps at operational RAF stations. In recent years RAF cadets have attended camps at RAF Brize Norton, Lossiemouth, Odiham, Kinloss, Cranwell and Cosford. There are many flying opportunities for RAF cadets, both in powered aircraft and in gliders. Some cadets are able to fly solo if they make good progress.
Royal Navy cadets do not attend camps as such, but there are numerous courses that cadets can attend. A list of these courses is published annually. Many cadets get the opportunity to spend some time aboard one of HM's ships during the course of their service in the CCF.
Apart from camps there is a range of other courses which cadets can attend. These include leadership courses and adventurous training courses at one of the Cadet Adventure Training Centres (there are three in the UK). Cadets have the opportunity to attend overseas training in countries such as Canada. Most of this is free or at very little cost to cadets.
For more information, you may wish to visit the following websites:
CCF is optional for those in the Fifth Form and above. Pupils in the Fifth and Lower Sixth Forms choose from a variety of activities on a Wednesday afternoon, all involving an element of service to the school or the wider community. These activities include Duke of Edinburgh Award, stagecraft, conservation, community service in Methven and Perth and helping with the Second and Third Form activities.
Contact: Roger Benson (rogerbenson@glenalmondcollege.co.uk) or 01738 842108
|
RAF News
The joy of flight I am strapped into the left hand seat of a Grob Tutor at RAF Leuchars. The weather is bright and clear with a light wind blowing from the NE. We have finished our taxi to the threshold of Runway 06 and my pilot for this sortie turns into wind starts his pre take-off checks. These are done to ensure that the engine is behaving itself, and that the controls have full and free movement. Once these checks have been completed we align onto the main runway. A long ribbon of tarmac stretches 9000 feet ahead. We get the "clear for take-off" call from the tower and my pilot opens the throttle. The 180 bhp Lycoming accelerates us rapidly. Today the wind is from the left and the aircraft wants to weathercock into the wind. A touch of right rudder keeps the nose straight. At 60kts we unstick and the aircraft is in her element. We climb at a steady 80kts indicated tracking north. The visibility from the cockpit of a Tutor is excellent, and the air is gin clear, with the cloud base is at about 5000 feet. The pilot hands the aircraft over to me and I trim the nose down to maintain 100kts. My head twists like an anxious sparrow's. The first rule of airmanship is lookout, and we both constantly scan the sky. After about 5 minutes I level the aircraft out at 5000 feet, and since it's been a while since I last flew I practise some steep turns in and out of the canyons formed by the cumulus cloud. The scenery is breathtaking, with the snow-capped hills to the north and the Tay estuary and St Andrew's to the south. We find an area clear of cloud, and it's time for a few aerobatics. We carry out the pre-aerobatics checks, known as HASLL, and then my pilot shows me the first manoeuvre that he will normally show a cadet. This is called a wingover. He performs one, and then tells me that it is my turn. I place both hands on the stick and push the nose down. I watch the speed build up to 140 kts, then I pull firmly back on the stick. The horizon drops away like a duvet sliding off a bed, and then there is only sky. I glance to the left to keep the wings level. At 60 degrees nose up I put on about 30 degrees of left bank, then centre the stick. The horizon pivots round the left wingtip and fills the windshield as the weight of the engine and the gyroscopic torque pull the nose earthwards. There is a glorious brief sensation of zero g, and then the speed picks up as we hurtle downstairs. I heave back on the stick to level out and feel the onset of the g forces. Next he invites me to perform a loop. The initial entry is similar to the wingover, but this time I keep a firm pull on the stick and I can really feel the gs build up as we pull through the vertical. Once inverted I unload the aircraft (the stall warning is already sounding), and as we float over on our back I glance back over my head to watch for horizon as it slides forward down the top of the canopy. Now we are racing downhill and it's time to haul back on the stick and arrest the descent. It is this loading and unloading of g forces which reminds you that this is a totally different ball game to a roller coaster! All too soon it is time to point the nose back towards RAF Leuchars, which the GPS says is 11 miles to the south. The Tutor cruises at about 120 mph, so this makes the maths easy – 5 and half minutes to run. The pilot tells me to reduce power and we begin to lose height in order to join a long base leg before turning onto finals. The pilot runs through his pre-landing checks, and then I get the command "I have control" as we descend through 500 feet. We cross the fence at 75 kts indicated and then the power comes off and the stick comes back as we float over the numbers and settle with a rumble. As we taxi back my mind replays the sortie.
The section continues to recruit well, and our current strength is now 40 all ranks. I am very pleased that the number of students staying on in the 6th form is consistently high. This year we have ten members of the 6th form. Jack Glen and Thomas Heyes are our senior cadets, and there are eight members of the L6th. This compares very favourably with the other sections, and ensures that there is a good mix of new recruits and experienced cadets.
The first big event of the term was the October Field Day. This year's proposed date had to be shifted at the last minute to accommodate the HMIE inspectors who decided to drop in that week. Despite the short notice we managed to knock together a visit to RAF Leuchars for the 5th form, whilst the 4th form stayed at Coll. Their first task was to spend the night on the golf course with nothing more than a poncho and a few pieces of string to keep out the rain. S/L Gardner had advised members of the RAF section to bring some sharpened sticks to serve as tent pegs. The ones who remembered had their shelters up in no time. There was then a bit of fun and games which involved trying to sneak back to the bivvy area unobserved, whilst the staff put up 'illum' in the form of mini-flares. The cadets survived the night, and the next day they completed a series of team building tasks.
RAF Leuchars is really quiet now that the Tornado F3 force is being run down. As recently as three years ago there were three squadrons based there. Now there is only the one (43 Sqn), and that will be going soon. The locals should enjoy the relative peace and quiet while it lasts. One of the results of the drawdown of the F3 force was that we were able to get six cadets onto the F3 Simulator, due to lack of demand. This was state of the art in its heyday, but it the graphics look a bit dated now, not that the lucky six cadets were complaining as one by one they climbed into the cockpit to do the Maverick bit!
All the cadets had a go on the DCCT. This is the Dismountable Close Combat Trainer or Digital Close Combat Trainer - I have heard two versions of what DCCT really stand for. Why did they have to change it? We all understood SAT (Small Arms Trainer)! Basically it is a small arms simulator, and it is excellent for honing skills on the weapon in a warm, dry (and quiet!) environment. Incidentally, all our 5th form cadets have been trained on the new cadet GP version, which is called the L98A2 (the CCF has taken charge of 30 of these). This is the same as the standard army issue piece of kit, except that there is no change lever, and thus no automatic fire capability (now that would be scary!). However, the cadets now have a really good semi-automatic rifle, and the standard of marksmanship should really improve, as you don't have to move the right hand between shots. Wishful thinking? Back to the DCCT; Robin Holliday and Ifan Lazorko did indeed shoot very well – Ifan even beat the OC, who simply couldn't resist the challenge (how come I had fewer rounds though?) The Welsh Sgt from the RAF Regiment did a very good job of incentivising - horrible expression - our Ukrainian cadets. Clue: England had just lost to Ukraine!
We have just said a temporary farewell to Sgt Marr, who will return in some four months time. His last duty was to score our drill for the inter-school drill competition. Our drill team, under FS Thomas Heyes did us proud, and the turnout was really excellent, so well done everybody!
We had about twelve nominees for camp. I have bid for RAF Valley in Wales (home of the fast jet trainers of 19 and 208 sqns), but in reality we could get anywhere. I normally hear in December, so stand by! Easter camp in Cyprus is always popular, and Flt Lt Erdal has pipped me on that one again! He must have a room on standby there!
All in all the RAF Section is a vibrant, fun place to be on a Wednesday afternoon, and my thanks to Flt Lt Erdal and all the NCOs who put in a lot of work to make sure that things run smoothly on Wednesdays.
Sqn Leader Gardner RAFVR(T) Section Commander |
Strategic Marketing and Design by the Native Agency
