Page 7 - GM Wing 2020 Yearbook

As February approached activities continued with Annual Formal Inspections being undertaken at 468(Hyde)
th
Sqn and 1005(Radcliffe Sqn). The 9 February saw the annual Wing Conference at Ashton Training Centre. The
event was well attended with unformed and civilian staff from many units sending staff. Workshops throughout
the afternoon offered information and briefings around Staff Development, STEM, ACP20 & Sharing best
practice which were all well received.

February also saw the first Wing Activity Weekend of the year at
Ashton with a number of courses offered for both staff and
cadets including shooting training, Method of Instruction, Cyber
st
training, STEM and 1 aid. All of the courses were well attended
with a number of cadets and staff completing the training
successfully. Although these courses are non-residential, the
flexibility of Ashton Training Centre allows many of these one
day courses to run concurrently and then different courses run
on the second day.

The month closed with a Squadron Commanders Meeting. Wing and Wing HQ staff along with the Squadron
Commanders get together at the Wing training Centre in Ashton to be briefed on policy along with updates from
Senior Wing Staff and Wing HQ Staff, these meetings are also a great opportunity for the Sqn Commanders to
feedback any issues they have with their respective units or with policy issues should there be any.

On February 28th the first confirmed case of Covid-19 in a British individual who had not been abroad was
diagnosed in Surrey, and on the same day a British citizen died from COVID-19 on a cruise ship.

As March started with more annual formal inspections, there was also a Squadron Chairmen’s Meeting, these
meetings get the civilian committee element of the Squadrons together to again discuss policy and be briefed on
any changes in a similar fashion to the Squadron Commanders meetings.
On March 5th the first person in the UK died from the virus and it was confirmed that 100 people had been
infected with the virus in the UK. It was clear something drastic had to be done to try and curb this infection.

Shortly after this, the decision was made that the second Wing Training Weekend of the year set for the 20th
Mar would be cancelled and on March 16th the Health & Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock announced in the
House of Commons that “all unnecessary social contact should cease”. This was then followed up by Prime
Minister Boris Johnson on the 23rd March announcing a complete lockdown of the UK. The majority of the
restrictions actually starting on March 26th.

Following guidance from HQ Air Cadets all face to face RAF Air Cadet Activity then ceased, with further updates
being sent as they became available using guidance from the National Youth Agency. The organisation very
quickly moved to virtualized parade nights to continue delivering the cadet experience on a best endeavour basis
to the cadets using the latest technologies with great success.