2344 (Longbenton) Air Cadet Squadron

Congratulations to Cpl Stutt on winning bronze in the U17 Men category for Durham Northumberland Wing Air Cadets in the North Region - Royal Air Force Air Cadets Cross Country Championships! Good luck at the national Royal Air Force Air Cadets comp! Three of our females helped the U15 Girls to win team bronze too - well done! #TeamLB

We enjoyed celebrating the formation of the Royal Air Force Air Cadets today with our families and community.
In today’s world, perhaps we share a common enemy with those who formed the organisation back in 1941; time. We live in a fast paced life, a life filled with a real sense of action and urgency. For cadets during the war years, though, they waited. They waited whilst exposed to the harsh conditions of a psychological battle and what might be to come.
Our ethos is RISE... - respect, integrity, service (before self) and excellence. Like those cadets of 1941, we serve others. We have our own aims, whether that be to pilot an aircraft, win in the sports arena or achieve qualifications, but others also have aims.
Through helping and serving others we can show respect and enjoy working together over time. If we say we’ll do something, it’s important to do it so that people respect us and have faith in us. The mission is bigger than the person.
#TeamLB #ChallengeMotivateAchieve #BelieveYouCan
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After a much needed two-week break, we enjoyed blowing-off the Christmas cobwebs by getting active in January! We again ran to Gold in the Wing Cross Country Championships and had such fun on the hockey pitch, as part of our Duke of Edinburgh's Award programme, as we also planned our expedition routes and section aims. We’ve reviewed our targets and aim to continue getting out of our comfort zone to challenge ourselves and have chosen our new targets, which we look forward to... helping each other work toward. Meanwhile, our new Aviation Studies took-off and we are flying through the content by taking part in leadership tasks! Our STEM workshops have seen us participate in aerospace, marksmanship, electronics, cyber, media and music and our first aid cohort are almost ready for their assessment. We attended the Gliding School where we gained our bronze flying wings and marksmanship badges on the air rifle! Leadership also seen us look at 1917 and RISE as we take centre stage in the community on ATC Sunday - a great way to kick-off February!
#ChallengeMotivateAchieve #BelieveYouCan #TeamLB
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Congratulations to Cpl Knox on receiving a North Region - Royal Air Force Air Cadets Regional Commandant’s Commendation for performing life-saving first aid on a fitting child, whilst on his way to college! Well done for taking control of the situation during a morning rush hour; we’re exceptionally proud of you!
Commandant Air Cadets Durham Northumberland Wing Air Cadets

Well done to our team who won overall gold in the Durham Northumberland Wing Air Cadets Cross Country Championships for the fourth year running!
Our U15 Girls, U17 Men & Junior Women all took gold too!
#TeamLB ... #BelieveYouCan
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As a new decade begins, we can say the past ten years has been full of surprises, laughter, adventure, learning, exploring, growing and enjoyable experiences! We’ve learnt to fly, climbed the largest mountains in Europe, travelled the UK and visited the USA, Germany, Cyprus, Holland, Gibraltar, France and Hong Kong. We've earned many qualifications, won numerous Durham Northumberland Wing Air Cadets competitions, been recognised as the top performing Royal Air Force Air Cadet...s squadron in the UK, awarded the Freedom of the Borough from North Tyneside Council and greeted The Royal Family at the official opening of Tyne Tunnel 2 and The Alnwick Garden! We took the Air Cadet 75 Flame around the region and welcomed the London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay to Newcastle. We’ve also raised thousands for charities, such as the Royal British Legion. We’ve met and worked with so many amazing, kind and skilful people, who have supported us on our journey and helped us to make small and large steps in our growth in to adulthood; to them we say thank you and look forward to enjoying even more in a new decade.
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December has been a great month at TeamLB! We’ve passed our Aviation Studies’ assessments, took to the tchoukball and dodgeball court and completed our BTEC workbooks to turn our hobby in to a qualification. We also enjoyed the air rifle range, Durham Northumberland Wing Skill at Arms competition, Christmas themed fieldcraft and leadership sessions, whilst our STEM carousel was amazing fun! We welcomed some of our partners and supporters as we celebrated our achievements at o...ur dining-in, as the Elf on the Shelf made a festive appearance throughout our Air Cadets activities!
We’re looking forward to an action-packed 2020; full of new friends, memories and achievements. We wish all of our families, supporters and community a happy New Year!
#ChallengeMotivateAchieve #BelieveYouCan #TeamLB
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After suffering memory loss following a training accident in the pool, Toby Caisley, 16, has worked through his trauma, got back in the pool and became the national Royal Air Force Air Cadets 100m backstroke champion. Thank you Adam Peaty MBE for sending your congrats & signed cap! We’re super proud of you Toby!

Merry Christmas ya filthy animal!

We had a great dining-in to celebrate the end of the decade. We've enjoyed the present in 2019; here's to chasing the happiness in 2020!

Despite November being a long, dark and wet month, it’s been full of variety, laughs and opportunity! We were proud to lead the community in marking Remembrance events, present at the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) about our Alps adventure, and represent Durham Northumberland Wing Air Cadets in rugby and on the climbing wall. We began our DofE - we assessed our current fitness, learnt to coppice hazel, lay steps and prevent flooding and also visited a local residential... care home. Our workshops encompass marksmanship, cyber, media, music, first aid and electronics and our activity carousel included archery, leadership, STEM and aerospace! Meanwhile, our newest cadets have made excellent progress through their initial training and are looking forward to being enrolled very soon! We completed our latest aviation studies sessions and are now looking forward to seeing what December presents!
#ChallengeMotivateAchieve #BelieveYouCan #TeamLB
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We're delighted to have finished a very close second in the Royal Air Force Air Cadets Shackleton Trophy 2019 for our Alpine Rose 2019 expedition. Our presentation at the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) went down really well, thankfully! We had a great time in The Royal Air Force Club, visiting Buckingham Palace, but HM wasn't in and paying our respects and saying thank you at the Bomber Command memorial. See our video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgD1L2WJF SM

The things that were once part of the present and the future, speak all too loudly of the past. Today, our armistice wreath was placed at the Jigsaw War Memorial in Killingworth. #WeWillRememberThem

Today, we remembered the triumph of human courage; those who paid the ultimate scarifice in the defence of what they believed right showed a unity that bound all of different morals and views.
We thank all who cared for dignity and freedom - even in their darkest hour. Their welding, unflinching and mighty confidence makes them all heroes.

Well, October was as varied as ever here at TeamLB! Our Aviation Studies are in full swing as we go about the practical challenges that see us progress through the classification subjects. We also planned for our Remembrance tribute with English and art lectures from Northumbria University; our pieces will be seen next weekend. Leadership took on a ghoulish focus while sports seen us participate in an energetic and lively rock-it ball session as well as represent Durham Nort...humberland Wing in football and netball. Our new workshops began with some very interesting sessions planned - we can’t wait to see where they take us! The Wing multi-activity camp was amazing; we enjoyed target shooting, obstacle courses, sports, leadership and fieldcraft, to name but a few! Our life-skills were also developed as we began our Red-Breast carousel of archery, climbing, STEM and brain-power activities. As November looks a very exciting month, dear followers, we’ll keep you posted!
#TeamLB #ChallengeMotivateAchieve #BelieveYouCan
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Congratulations to Cpl Knox who’s been awarded Durham Northumberland Wing Air Cadets sportsman of the year! Not only has he competed in every sporting event for the Sqn and Wing this year, he also captained volleyball and rugby teams and led sport sessions for us too. We’re super proud! #TeamLB

There may be no golden grand piano, but here’s our hidden treasure chest; the music box keeps singing on and the song you won't forget, the song you won't forget…
George Ezra