During the period Friday the 8 th October to Sunday the 10th October 2010 Cadets and Staff from 2028 (Southam) Squadron travelled to the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire for their D of E Bronze Expedition. The weekend began with the Cadets travelling from Southam on the Friday evening and setting up Camp near Drybrook for the night so everyone could make an early start on the Saturday. This was not so easy as the Camp Site was a new one and took a little time to find in the dark and even more fun setting up the tents!

The Cadets had been warned about taking on lots of water and protecting against the expected sunny weekend. The weather throughout the Saturday was warm but the expected sunny day never happened which everyone agreed was in fact a bonus. Although the group made a navigational error it did not dampen their enthusiasm and they made it back to the camp site just before it got dark, all of them very tired from the days walking. They all quickly set about preparing their evening meal and had a quiet evening eating and discussing the day and what Sunday would bring!

On the Sunday morning everyone woke up to thick fog and most were still fatigued from the day before but after eating a hearty breakfast and clearing the Camp Site they set off once again to complete the second part of the navigation exercise. There was clearly a team spirit amongst the Cadets and the weather was a whole lot better than Saturday with clear blue skies, if a little windy at times. The Cadets found their check points once again, with a few minor navigational errors. On arrival at the pick-up point everyone climbed into the Mini-Bus for the journey home most of them quickly falling asleep.

The weekend was a complete success and demonstrated the best use of Skills by the Staff for the benefit of the Cadets, whilst at the same time helping the Cadets to improve their navigational skills. It was also another opportunity for the Cadets to use the Squadron D of E Kit and the staff to use the 12 person Tent, recently demonstrated at the Squadron ‘open day' in September, which made the Cadets a little envious, considering the amount of room it provided!

Overall, the Cadets worked well as a team and those Cadets who found it more difficult than others were helped by their team mates. They all found the right mentality required for the expedition demonstrating a real determination to succeed, even if there was the occasional map reading error.

WO Storer-Rogers said after the weekend, "It was really great to see the Cadets work so well together and succeed in achieving their D of E Bronze Expedition ‘actual' qualification. The commitment they have all shown over the last 12 months has been clearly evident this weekend."

Flight Lieutenant Moreton, CO of 2028 Squadron commented, “As I have said on a number of occasions the idea of these D of E Expedition weekends is to present the Cadets with carefully controlled challenges of their spirit and skills. The Cadets who joined the Squadron over the last 18 months have proved they are up for the challenge as demonstrated once again this weekend.”