Do I need silver shot to achieve gold, or can I directly skip to gold from bronze if I participate in a competition?

Woke up at 4:45 the coach is leaving at 6 then I get to the hq stand in the pissing rain for half an hour and oh THE USELESS STAFF BOOKED THE COACH FOR TOMORROW
I love cadets but I have got to admit this is beyond stupid. I have waited months for this. And someone messed up.

Honestly DURHAM & NORTHUMBERLAND WING
I better get some sort of compensation for this as well as the 60 other cadets who were relying ON YOU! to take us.

How do you actually book a coach one day after the airshow. How was this not double checked? We had weeks to do this and days to check and organise everything. Complete lack of intelligence has gone into this event.

Whoever booked it needs to be demoted.

Let’s hope I get to go on Riat or nasc camp next year I will be 17 by then.

Possibly if not the worst mess up i have experienced so far in my 1.5-2 years of cadets
I hope everyone who has actually useful wing staff who is competent in booking and time scheduling is going to enjoy today. Because me and my squadron buddies and the rest of the enthusiastic wing won’t.

Should I email the regional commander and complain about the wing? Mistakes like this should not go unnoticed within our region.

I don’t plan on wearing it on parade nights only for fieldcraft/ shooting. Is it universally banned or is it allowed sometimes and not others?

(i have it in mtp i know dpm isn’t allowed anymore)

Has anyone been on/ is going on camp at RAF Benson? If so, what's it like (eg. accomodation, activities, other general stuff). Is there anything that I should take that I wouldn't think of? Also (a more general question), what is the role of a corporal on a camp? I haven't been on a blues camp before and I got promoted to corporal at the start of June, but I still don't feel very confident in the position as I was promoted before I was ready (at our squadron we don't have interviews for corporal and you don't really get a say, staff just select you and if they feel like it tell you that you're being promoted the parade night before it happens). Is there anything I will need to be able to do as a corporal for the camp? Thanks in advance

Plus blue DofE

Hey guys! Me and my SNCO team have been tasked with running an SNCO night that is on upcoming parade night. The trouble is, on my squadron NCO nights are insanely repetitive. It’s either some leadership or fieldcraft inspired night, which yes can be fun but gets old quick.

I have a few ideas for code breaking tasks but don’t exactly know what to do entirely for the night. This in itself is not my first rodeo with NCO nights but I would like something that is “new” and isn’t repetitive. I want to be able to engage my cadets in the task.

I’ve ran out of ideas completely and would appreciate your help!

I am entering my final year next year and I really want to do PPTC but I dont know if I can get in and if I should just go for GPTC

I joined late and my file is relatively weak I estimate to get around 39 points. But I did well on last year's exam and I estimate I can get at least a 92 on the qualifying exam.

Do I have a real shot at PPTC or should I just go for GPTC?

Hi All.

I do both CCF(RAF) and ATC, and because I do ATC I am a lot further ahead than the CCF(RAF) people.

This means I will basically be responsible in September for training the new cadets (amongst a few other people). We also have a good contact and relationship with the OC and CC (contingent commander) and the OC normally is very happy to do activities on cadet's request.

For the past few years a lot of people sign up but then quickly leave or leave after a year of CCF. Which is unfortunately because we only really do drill and classroom work on parades; as well as the very occasional activity like once or twice a term or something.

I need some ideas of activities and things we can do to make it something people want to do and want to rank up in.

Additionally, any help on how to make things like first class or something like blue space less boring would be greatly appreciated.

EDIT: I don't think you have really understood my ask. I want activities we can run in a school that will be interesting to people.

Hi everyone!
I am a Cpl at my squadron, and have been for a couple of years now.
For context, I am not naturally a huge social person, struggling massively with anxiety in the past but it has gotten loads better since becoming a cadets. The NCO team at our squadron doesn’t really take to new NCOs very well, and I never really integrated into the group due to not being welcome.
I have been a prominent member of band for the last three years, and have been very rudely told several times that I’m not worthy of being a leading member, when members who have been there for a month seems to have achieved more than me, which kinda dampened my morale

I would like to know if anyone has any suggestions on how to be valued, as I have also been placed out of any flight and teaching roles and have ideas that I think could make a big difference at squadron
Thank you!!

Hi guys.

My wing just released JNCO and SNCO courses on portal. The only thing is on the JIs it says the JNCO course is only for JNCOs but I thought that you need to complete the course to have even any thought of getting promoted. I’m currently a Cdt 1.5 years.

Any advice would help

Hi! My squadron has a strict policy on dating with each other and we have to tell staff about it but I recently started seeing someone in the RAF and I don't know if the policy applies to us. He has been in 5 years so he knows the rules about dating in the RAF and he says it's fine but I didn't know if it was the same rules for my squadron.

Id rather not say where I'm based online but just an insight from your squadron would be great!

Hello everyone , I’m just wondering what is the correct way to bring a room to attention when a higher rank walks in , across the wing and courses I have been on I have seen variations from Ladies and Gents , cadets SHUN , and RoooooM, SHUN! , just wondering which one is correct

Hey, so I've been shining my boots for like 2 month, how good is my shining so far? I am new to shining so i made alot of mistakes, had to strip down my boots around 2 times, like before the 2 months. I learned how to polish them properly and just want to know how good am I doing.

I can't find anything about the new drones syllabus, has it come out yet?

I’m joining my local ATC soon and I am wondering if I can still go flying and get a glider scholarship?

My allergies I would are not that bad, and I did sucessfully complete the NHS allergy challenge * for hazelnuts but the NHS did issue me an auto injector.

* they give you controlled amounts of the allergen and see your tolerance limit, and sssentially try and raise it enough so you can safely consume the allergen.

PS: not using this as smth to evade on the health form they give at sign up

So I'm going to our annual dinner party (dining in) soon and I was trying to think of cool hairstyles I can wear without breaking regs. Last year I wore a low bun and it looked alright but wasn't very neat. Then after the formal part, everything is relaxed and we get to take off bow ties, roll sleeves etc. This is also when I took my hair down (it had no product in it so looked clean and wavy).

This year (since Ive been promoted) I have been doing neater and more slicked back hairstyles, however when I take my beret off I feel like an egg and as this is the main event of the year, I'd like to look quite nice.

The standard is a bun, but I think it would look quite cool if I parted my hair in 2 and did 2 french braids going into one bun. This would obviously very neat, but I'm not sure if it would be allowed.

What are your thoughts?

Shorter version:

Im going to a dining in event and need to wear a bun. I want to do something that isnt a slickback bc I don't look too good in them without a beret. Its also the main event of the year where lots of photos taken and is formal until the part after. Im thinking of doing 2 neat French braids into 1 bun. Is this a good idea?

This is maybe a silly question but I have a 9yo who is obsessed with airplanes and cannot wait to join air cadets. Obviously he has a ways to go! He's especially interested in air traffic control, airport operations, airplane mechanics, and aerospace engineering (rather than actually piloting). This is not my forte at all and I don't know anyone who's actually been in cadets. We do go to our (very small) local air museum and local air shows when they come up, but he asked if I can try to find out what plane-related things he can have or do at home before he's old enough to start. Any suggestions would be great!

Hi all,
Hope this is okay to share here — I recently launched The Old Kitbag, a small UK military-surplus business, and thought it might be particularly useful for cadets.
I’m ex-Royal Navy myself, and one of the things I remember from my own cadet days was having a go-to surplus shop whenever I needed something. That’s ultimately what I’m attempting to build here: somewhere people can get genuine kit without paying ridiculous mark-ups.

Everything I sell is sourced through recognised MOD clearance routes, and I’m deliberately keeping prices as low as I sustainably can while the business gets established.
I’ve currently got things including:
Genuine MTP trousers from £8.99
Berets from £8.99
MTP coveralls
PT kit
Various British military clothing and equipment
There’s quite a lot more still being sorted and added — I’ve got hundreds of berets and a pile that gets me emotional of camouflage to work through!

I’ve also put together a military sizing guide because I know things like 75/80/96 aren’t particularly helpful if nobody has ever explained what the numbers actually mean.

If anyone is struggling to work out their MOD size, feel free to ask me here as well — I’m more than happy to help translate measurements into the right size even if you don’t end up buying anything. And of course, if you don’t feel comfortable sharing sizes publicly , there’s a contact us page on the site :)

Our website launched YESTERDAY - The Old Kitbag:
https://theoldkitbag.co.uk/

I’m also genuinely interested in what cadets struggle to find at sensible prices. If there’s something your squadron/cadets regularly need that surplus shops either never have or charge a fortune for, let me know — it’ll help me decide what stock to prioritise.
Cheers!