Towards the end of the half term week 14 cadets and 3 staff from 2028 Squadron left Southam on the evening of Thursday 29th October for the last D of E Expedition for the season. They travelled to the Derby Dales in readiness for the next morning's naviagtion. Two Silver Groups left their start point from Carsington Water on the Friday morning and a Bronze Group left the campsite an hour later to practice their navigation in a different map reading environment. Three experienced staff closely monitored the 14 cadets throughout the day; most hoping to obtain their Silver Qualifying Expedition.

The cadets set off at 8:30am on what turned out to be a misty morning. The day ended up being dry with some spells of sun but the cadets found the navigation difficult. All groups struggled to complete the first day in daylight, with the first group arriving around 3.30pm . The weather on the Saturday morning was much the same, the cadets needing to be reminded of the importance of the day ahead and the limited daylight hours leading into the winter months. The weather ended up being considerably brighter for the most part but challenging navigation towards the end of the day led to the staff having to be fully on their game to help the cadets towards their goal.

On Sunday all the cadets got up at dawn with a really positive attitude, bearing in mind that they now had to contend with driving rain and wind, a complete contrast to the previous two days. The weather was foul and the groups knew they had a tough day ahead. The moment enough light was available the groups left the second campsite and headed out on their 3rd day. Navigation and progress was good; quite surprising considering the awful conditions. By mid morning the fog had lifted, the rain had cleared and the wind died down leaving the cadets to make steady progress along the disused railway towards the finish point. All groups finished shortly after lunch and proved that with the right mindset you can achieve even in the hardest of conditions.

The weekend in Derby Dales ended in success, with the cadets happy and the staff relieved.  The weather was good for most of the time, but the Sunday morning weather was a compete change from the Friday and Saturday.

C.I Rogers, 2028 Squadrons' D of E Officer, said after the weekend, “It was really good to see so many cadets attend the camp, we've been waiting a long time for this sort of attendance. I am very thankful to WO Storer-Rogers and Sgt. Caine for their support on this camp as it was needed more than ever given we ended our expedition on the 1st November. My sincere thanks go to them and the cadets for their efforts and determination.”

Flight Lieutenant Moreton, CO of 2028 Squadron commented,”D of E is intended to be challenging for the cadets and our last Expedition of 2009 really proved that to both the cadets and the staff who supported them in Derby Dales. We are a growing Squadron once again and the cadets are for the most part, young in service and age so D of E and the challenges is presents are something very new to most of them.”