Over the weekend of 27th and 28th June 2015, a small group of air cadets from 1279 (Melton Mowbray) Squadron, South and East Midlands Wing, spent their time practising for their marksmanship badges.
The young people sent time developing skills that they had already learnt in initial weapons training and put them into good use on the rifle range.
From start to finish, every cadet that attended one of the range sessions showed massive improvements in their target shooting ability with some even scoring enough to achieve squadron marksman badges, wing marksman badges and a corps marksman badge, the highest cadet marksman badge available. With great weather outside, the cadets took a break on Saturday to enjoy a well earnt BBQ before returning to the range.
The final session was a chance for less experienced firers to get a chance to practise their skill with the support of some of the more experienced firers who form part of the squadron’s shooting team. On Sunday, the cadets then joined forces with 2229 (Loughborough) Squadron and 209 (West Bridgford) squadron to continue their training and pit their skills against firers from a different unit. All of the cadets who attend did really well and again, there were plenty of targets being collected to see if they score towards marksman badges.
Cadet Sergeant Luke Shepherd, aged 15, commented, “I really enjoyed the weekend and getting some practice in before Wing Field Day. It was also good fun to take part in the Committee Shield Shooting Competition. I’ve already got my Corps marksman badge so it was good to see others achieving their marksman badges.”