During the first week in April a joint effort by Hertfordshire & Buckinghamshire and Middlesex Wings, Royal Air Force Air Cadets, saw a group of 17 young people travel down to Dartmoor to take part in a Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Expedition.
The Cadets spent the first day receiving some refresher training to make sure their skills were sharp for the challenging environment they would be working in. Warrant Officer (ATC) Adrian Trent, the Chief Instructor from 1159 (Edmonton) Squadron, said; “It’s really important that we give cadets the chance to operate in wild country like this, the challenge of working here gives them such a great sense of achievement and it also helps to prepare their skills for when they move on to the Gold Award”.
For the following three days the Cadets took part in an Expedition out on the moor, they were totally self-sufficient carrying all of their equipment and food with them and each team spent a night wild country camping.
Cadet Corporal Abigail Davis aged 17 from 936 (Hertford & Ware) Squadron said; “I loved every minute of the expedition, it was really hard but the skills that I learned and the people met made it all worthwhile”.
The Expedition element consists of one quarter of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, the cadets will also need to have spent a number of months, doing a skill, working on physical fitness and also carrying out volunteering.
The DofE is the world’s leading youth achievement award, giving millions of 14 to 24-year-olds the opportunity to be the very best they can be.