Exercise Scuttlebutt dominated the summer August Bank Holiday for 5 Squadrons from Warwickshire & Birmingham Wing.

Exercise Scuttlebutt was attended by 29f, 489, 492, 493, and 1459 with each squadron providing a team of 5 Cadets to take part in a competition focusing on fieldcraft skills.

Day 1 – The cadets were spilt into 3 groups and rotated around 3 fun activities.

Climbing/ abseiling which was provided by Flt Lt Hemes and Fg Off Allwood who allowed the cadets to overcome height issues and take cadets out of their comfort zone.

DCCT Range was supervised by FS Anslow and allowed the cadets to practice their individual marksmanship skills and finished with different aim and shoot scenarios on the computer display.

Clay Range Shooting was managed by Sqn Ldr Martin, each cadet managed to shoot 10 clays, although on some occasions not very successfully. This activity is only available in 3 wings and the cadets were very lucky to be able to take part in such a fun activity.

Day 2 – The competition started with an early morning rise by staff and Cadets, operations were commanded from the small holding Acksea Farm. Cadets were briefed on specific operations and then using basic fieldcraft skills, such as camouflage and concealment achieved the operations. In total each Sqn team completed 5 operations. Scoring was achieved by 2 assessors always independent from the Sqn.

The evening was set aside for Cpl Simon Watsons 30 th Birthday celebrations where upon the staff created a formal 3 course dinner, with a mandatory bow tie dress code.

Day 3 – The competition continued and heated up with the final competition which an old school sports day. The games included tug of war, egg & spoon, 3 legged and the infamous relay.

The competition provided team spirit and a very close race between all of the Sqn’s taking part. But as always there could be only 1 winner and the winners trophy was presented 29f (Rugby) who took to the challenges with ease and good spirit.

Flt Lt Jo Coles OC 489 Sqn & Exercise Commander for Op Scuttlebutt said ‘The weekend was a complete success, the cadets have enjoyed all the activities and I must thank all the staff for their hard work over the weekend’.

Article Submitted by:-
Cpl Simon Watson RAF SMCO - 489 (Acocks Green & Olton) Squadron
15 Sep 10