On July 30 the drill team was inspected at Wanganui City College for the Davy Drill Trophy.

The team scored 158 points, to come second to No.38 (Christchurch) Squadron with third place going to No.16 (Tauranga) Squadron.

We are all very proud of the team’s efforts and the dedication they put into practising over the past months and making it into the final three teams for the second year in a row.

The Royal New Zealand Air Force Association have decided to continue to only have the Church Service to commemorate Battle of Britain again this year.

We will assemble at St Peters Church in
Koromiko Road, Gonville on Sunday 21
September at 1400 hours.

At this service three members of the Squadron will be carrying the RNZAFA Colours down the aisle.

The church service is normally finished by 1530 –1600 and the cadets will be free to go at this time or partake in afternoon tea.

Gavin Kotua, one of the RNZAF Recruiters recently spoke to all of the cadets on a Parade night. Gavin stayed on after his presentation and answered individual cadet’s questions regarding careers within the RNZAF.

This term will be a busy one with three of the four activities incurring a cost.

We are also aware that some of our cadets will be studying for examinations.

We do not want parents to feel pressured into having their children partake in both the bushcraft exercise and flying training for either financial or study reasons. Some cadets may have to make a choice of which activity they partake in.

If parents have enquiries regarding these activities please give me a phone call.

Our two outdoor exercises for this term have unfortunately not proceeded as well as we had hoped. The decision to cancel or postpone an exercise is based on cadet safety. The factors that influence this are the weather, access to drinkable water, under foot conditions, and if we can conduct meaningful training.

Payment that has been made for these exercises can either be refunded or carried forward to one of Term 4’s activities. If there is surplus money after any exercise, we also credit this to a future activity or provide a refund.

OPERATION “ICEBREAKER”

This was an exercise for the NCO’s of the Squadron and we had three alternative locations in Tongariro National Park. On the Friday night we assembled at ATC and completed a gear check ensuring that the NCO’s were well prepared.

Saturday morning after loading the van, the 5 staff and 6 NCO’s headed off for Ohakune. We made the decision that we would go to Blyth Hut due to the poor weather conditions. On arriving at the car park we discovered that there were going to be 45-50 people in a hut design to sleep 20-24. We had advice from Department of Conservation that Wanganui High School Hut was locked and that there was going to be limited water at Blyth Hut. With this information we decided to do a long day walk and return to Wanganui later that day.

We completed a walk into Waitonga Falls, back out to the van for lunch and then a walk down the old Blyth Track. The NCO’s experienced snow, rain, hail, wind and sun all in the same day with good training occurring for them. Although we managed only the day in Tongariro there were a number of positive outcomes for the NCO’s.

This was the Basic Cadets’ first bushcraft exercise and was planned to be held on Orangimea Station in the Waitotara Valley.

We had some concerns as we had experienced constant rain from the Wednesday before the exercise. On checking with the land owner, we were advised that the creek was up and we knew with that amount of rain there would be surface water around the camp site complete with mud and wet fire wood. These conditions make it uncomfortable for our cadets and place limits on some training activities.

An option we considered was to go up the valley and make our final decision whether to proceed or not from there. With some raining falling on Friday night, Saturday morning and the weather forecast predicting more rain through Saturday, the decision to cancel the exercise was made.

It is important that our first year cadets first time in the bush with us is memorable for the right reasons and not a survival exercise.

The squadron’s end of year function will be held at ATC on Saturday 6 December.

The evening starts with a Mess Dinner for the Squadron Officers, Cadets, ATC Association and our invited guest at 5:15pm.

This is followed with the parents and other invited guests arriving for an 8:00pm start of the promotions and awards part of the evening.

We are currently arranging for two weekends of flying with the Wanganui Aero Club. This will give cadets an opportunity to receive some hands on instruction.

Our suggestion is that cadets who have not flown before, have an hour flight with 20 minutes hands-on at the controls.

For other cadets who have some prior experience, the 30 minute one-to-one instruction may be preferred.

The ATC Association will be subsidising the flying and parent permission forms will be sent home early in Term 4.

SQUADRON TROPHIES

Cadets who have squadron trophies and awards on their shelves are requested to begin returning them at the start of Term 4.

ATC ASSOCIATION FEES

Nearly all have paid the family levy which assists your sons and daughters within the squadron. If you are uncertain if you have paid or not please contact Jane McIntyre on 347 7616 or myself.

During these school holidays we have Cadets Harry Seville and Natasha Ward on the Junior Leaders Course at RNZAF Base Ohakea and Linton Camp respectively.

We are very fortunate to have two of our cadets selected to be part of the first Air Force Experience as there were only 15 places nationally. The Air Force Experience replaces the Live and Work Award.

Sgt Robin Kuhn and Cpl Alannah Butters will be on the Air Force Experience during the second week of the holidays. The cadets will have a very busy week as they visit the 3 RNZAF Bases at Auckland, Ohakea and Woodbourne.

Pilot Office Beaudine Frericks will be the Liaison Officer for the cadets whilst they are at RNZAF Base Ohakea.

REMEMBRANCE DAY

No.9 Squadron will be carrying the ATC Banner on behalf of all ATC Squadrons at the Remembrance Day Service at St Pauls Cathedral in Wellington on 9 November.

There is an opportunity for 10 Squadron members to go to Wellington and these will be chosen from the Davy Drill Team.