By: Katie Crossley |
With Squadron Leader Cullum away, Pilot Officer Crossley took the lead and challenged the RAF Junior Cadets to a shelter building exercise!
With only four jackets, three pairs of trousers, two ropes and a pair of boots, the cadets had fifteen minutes to build a shelter that would protect them from the harsh British elements (aka Sergeant Easey and a watering can). They started by observing their surroundings, searching for the best location and after choosing to pitch up between two trees they got to building. A bit of cheating occurred when Sergeant Seedy (our Liaison Sergeant) lent a much needed hand to help tighten the rope. With their end time approaching the cadets began to try all sorts of ways to gain extra time… extra time… one smart cadet piped up, “But Miss, I get extra time in exams…” And with that comment I decided to award 25% extra time to her group. It didn’t help much and Sergeant Easey prepared the watering can for test purposes.
The cadets squeezed under their shelter and prepared for the worst. Surprisingly, their uniforms were only mildly damp at the end! But of course, in the RAF we like to learn from our mistakes and try again. So off they went, deciding to try with two closer trees to provide a more taught rope. This was going well and it was looking promising. But when it came to squeezing underneath, they hadn’t quite put their jacket cover on correctly. Result: four very damp cadets and four very amused officers. Overall, we learnt that four jackets and a bit of rope might not provide the best shelter for four cadets but with teamwork and a good sense of humour, anything is possible.
