Easter Camp to JHQ Rheindahlen - Germany, 28th March - 4th April

This year, three cadets from Monmouth school took part in the CCF RAF Easter Camp in Germany where they joined 45 RAF cadets from many other RAF Sections across the country. The Camp was hugely enjoyable and the cadets got the chance to fly in Army Air Corps Gazelle Helicopters, get up close and personal with a number of military vehicles including the AS90 Field Gun and the Warrior tank, visit the National War and Resistance Museum in Overloon- Holland and a German War Cemetery which turned out to be a very humbling experience.

The cadets were split into six flights and competed against each other all week in a variety of disciplines including drill, sport, shooting in the indoor laser DCCT range and outside on the Full Bore 30m range, go-karting and ten pin bowling. All of the cadets had a fantastic time and have made some great friends in the process.

Gliding Scholarships

This Easter, three Monmouth Cadets were lucky enough to be selected by the Air Cadet Organisation to undertake a Gliding Scholarship at 625 Volunteer Gliding School, Hullavington.

The Gliding Scholarship required the cadets to learn about advanced principals of flight and airmanship through a series of lectures held each day as well as putting theory into practice and completing at least 5 - 10 launches a day. The training days were demanding starting at 8.00am and finishing at 8.00pm. When cadets were not studying, taking part in lectures or gliding they were expected to help as ground crew.

The launches, although fun were carefully designed to help develop a number of skills including turning, pitching, use of airbrakes, launching and landing, as well as coping with problems such as launch failures and stalling.

All three of the Monmouth School RAF Cadets were successful and flew solo by the end of the course. Congratulations must go to all three young men. Well Done!

RAF Assegai Shooting Competition

Congratulations to the Monmouth School RAF Section Shooting Team for coming 4th in this year’s Assegai Shooting Competition. The team scored 562 points out of 600 and were only 5 points behind Stamford School who came third. This is a very good result as we were competing with 63 other RAF Sections from across the country and this was our first time to compete for a number of years. This is particularly encouraging as the team are still quite young and are showing great promise for the future!

Royal Marines Leadership Weekend

Lewis, a current member of the fourth form was selected to take part in a Royal Marines leadership weekend. The 50cm wide beds on H.M.S. Bristol were the first of Lewis’ surprises as he embarked upon this training weekend! As the only Welsh cadet, Lewis quickly settled in to his section and enjoyed his first dinner on H.M.S. Excellence. The 05.30 wake up call came as quite a surprise, as too did the “Call to Hands” order which involved reporting on deck to say “Good morning” to the Queen! H.M.S. Collingwood was the site for the leadership tasks which the cadets undertook. One of the major challenges to face them was the assault course which comprised a 25ft high rope ladder, rope swing over water, a series of zip wires over water, a 10ft high wall, a muddy pipe to crawl through and a series of muddy nets to crawl under. This together with the following 15 mile trek across the South Downs ensured that lights out was a wecome reprieve in their schedule!

The next day saw the cadets undertaking some more PLTs (Practical Leadership Tasks) and another wet run of the assault course. Caked in mud and soaked through to the skin, Lewis’ section battled hard to receive a well earned first place! Altogether this Marines Leadership weekend was an excellendt experience for Lewis and he has returned to Monmouth School’s CCF section full of new ideas and refined leadership skills.

Speed March and Shooting Competition

Fifty teams entered the recent prestigious Speed March and Shooting Competition.  Monmouth School's teams (comprising fifth and sixth form students) were placed first and second overall, a fantastic result.

Hadrian's Wall Adventure Training Trip

Nine, fourth form cadets have recently walked the line of Hadrian's Wall, covering 75 miles in just 5 days.  The boys started near Newcastle and finished beyond Carlisle, on the coast of Bowness-on-Silway.  Their accommodation was in tents and the boys survived on army ration packs.  The trip was a huge success.