On Saturday 13 April, seven cadets of 42F (King’s Lynn) Squadron Air Training Corps qualified for their Foundation Air Cadet Leadership badges.
The course, organised and overseen by 42F Squadron’s staff and Cadet Non Commissioned Officers, gave the cadets the opportunity to complete the lesson and assessments for this first level blue badge. The seven spent the day learning and implementing a briefing tool used by the armed forces, ‘SMEAC’ (Situation, Mission, Execution, Any questions, Check understanding), into the tasks that they were chosen to lead. This system guaranteed that not only the candidates but also the assessors ensured that all points were covered and that the team understood what was happening.
To qualify for the badge, each cadet had to pass two assessments as the team leader. The assessments tested their briefing skills, as well as team management, and overall leadership ability. A debriefing period followed each exercise which enabled each to evaluate his or her own performance and learn from their experience.
All the attendees passed the course and were awarded their Foundation Leadership badges by King’s Lynn’s Commanding Officer, Flight Lieutenant Pauline Petch RAFAC.
“It is brilliant that all seven cadets passed their assessments” said 42F’s Sergeant Alex Stapleton RAFAC the course director. “They are now eligible to attend the Norfolk and Suffolk Wing run NCO courses and progress to their bronze, silver and gold levels of leadership”.