Page 58 - Cadet Review 2_24

NATIONAL POLICE AIR SERVICES VISIT
Shortly before Easter, the National Police Air Services (NPAS) base at the West Yorkshire Police site in Carr Gate, Wakefield welcomed a visit by 12 cadets from 868 (Mirfield) Squadron.
This is the lead base for the NPAS and operates a Eurocopter EC135 helicopter with a wide array of special features to aid its role as an integral part of the policing support provided to ground-based services.
The cadets were shown around the site and the aircraft in particular, where their host Simon Marshall, a Tactical Flight Officer, explained all the many of the technical aspects of the helicopter and its special features, in addition to the role of the NPAS. He was joined by another TFO (Rob Haigh) and a pilot (Jon Everitt) who helped to explain some of the operational systems to the visiting group.
It was interesting to note that the “small-world” syndrome exerts itself even here as Rob Haigh was found to live in Mirfield, and Jon Evritt is due to join the Air Experience Flight at RAF Leeming in the summer, as a pilot.
Enrolment
Ceremony at
208 Squadron
On Friday, 2 February, we held our ‘D Flight’ enrolment parade, which officially welcomes ‘D Flight’, our latest recruits, into the ranks of the Air Cadets and 208 Squadron in particular.
Flight Lieutenant Phil Cowling was on hand, ably assisted by Sgt Robyn Bowers, and our Padre Martin Charlesworth officiated. All cadets swore their oath and were welcomed by the Padre and Flt Lt Cowling.
We wish our newly enrolled cadets well and hope that they enjoy a long and fruitful association with 208 Squadron.
Blue Radio Course
By Cadet Sergeant Holly Bloomer
On the 16th of March 13 cadets and I attended a Blue Radio Course run by 148 (Barnsley) Squadron staff.
During the course we learnt about various things such as how to operate the radios, signal and causes of signal disruption, the phonetic alphabet, radio checks and our squadron radio name. We also
used the radios to communicate a message to the other people on the course. In addition to this, we found out the different types of radio equipment and their purposes. The instructors were all very knowledgeable and supportive throughout the day and used different activities to help us practice what we had learned and solidify our understanding, together with exposure to talking over the radio.
The practical assessment towards the end was quite a nervous experience for me and everyone else because we had to remember radio names and the correct procedures to go through and much more. Although the assessment was scary to do at first, everyone was really happy to know we had all passed.
I thoroughly enjoyed learning about how to use radios using the correct military radio procedure
and the phonetic alphabet. Speaking to others who attended this course they said that it was ‘a great introduction to learning how to use radios’ and ‘it was fun’.
58 CADET REVIEW SUMMER 2024