Angus, one of the problems with staffing at camps is some idiot did a review and cut the number of staff places at blue camps.
The last big camp I ran we took 104 Cadets (not counting CWOās) and 30 Staff (Including CWOās).
We split the cadets into 8 flights (13 to a flight fits nicely into a minibus with 2 staff).
We ran a round robin of 8 activities for the first 4 days, including shooting, obstacle course, climbing, a Nav Ex, drill, raft building. We then ran a competition day on the 5th day, so all of the flights over the obstacle course, a shooting competition, sports competition, drill competition followed by final parade in the Evening. Then on the last day we took the whole camp to a Theme Park folllowed by the Camp Disco in the evening.
I donāt believe in leaving cadets with nothing to do all evening as the devil makes work for idle hands, but at the same time they need some down time or they will be too knackered by the end of the week to enjoy whatās going on, which is why apart from the Night Nav the Evening activities were things like film nights and quiz nights which are still social and get all the cadets into their mess.
The cadets get to do far more at that sort of camp they they ever will on annual camp and you get far more staff willing to come and help and willing to come back again.
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oh i know that, but my experience of watching the ever more frantic emails from WHQ pile up as we get closer and closer to Annual Camp is that reaching the sorry, weāve no more staff places on this years campā¦ point no longer appears to be that much of a problem.
iāve done Annual Camps, and iām afraid iām one of those who will never attend another - the minimal staffing meant that camp was exhausting, and to add insult to injury the camp was utter pump. i donāt mind flogging myself to death if the cadets - and the staff - are having a good time, but iāll be dammed if iām going to do it when everyone on the camp is counting down the days till they can go home.
Sounds like a gripe fest here! I know that some enjoy blues camps, but hereās my pennyworth. For several decades my wing has run a āgreenā type camp each year taking away a couple of hundred cadets and 70-80 staff for a week which I enjoy and attend most years. On this camp I know that I will be run ragged for a 12 hour shift and then have the rest of the ādayā largely to myself. On blue camps as previous posters have said, you never quite know when the day will end until you close your eyes in bed. WRT accomodation on blues camps, I can stay in a shabby transit accomodation in a 1936 expansion period mess at work, so why do it as a āholidayā.
Iām not even going to start with the farce over tented accomodation for the summer camp on station this yearā¦
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Whoever did that had never been on an ATC activity or squadron, where you need at least half as many again as you might think.
Iāve been on camps and AT/DofE where weāve lost two staff where a cadet has been injured and stuck in A&E for as long as it takes and then some transport to pick them up.
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Happy to share details of our wings camp for anyone whoās interested.
Weāve made it progressive with separate programmes depending on the age/experience of the cadets.
So we run 3 levels of training based around AT/Shooting/Fieldcraft/STEM/D&C. With other stuff thrown in for fun.
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Iāll steal a copy if I may?
Just moved Wings so starting to look at what chaos I can cause in 2018!
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Share it please!
STEMā¦ this is a term I hear time and again but we donāt get any information about this. Would like to hear more on what you do at wing level for STEM.
Itās a wide topic is Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and I doubt we are properly funded or resourced to deliver it. It seems to be a big drive in schools with govt pushing as these are areas in practical terms (as apprenticeship became a dirty word) have been neglected for ages and is why they make so much of modern apprenticeships.
Iāve seen it bandied around in Corps emails and wondered how we do it given we see cadets twice a week, probably havenāt got the technical ability widely available and access/linking to employers would be difficult as unlike schools and colleges there wouldnāt be sqn coordinator. There have been STEM camps mentioned but as ever there are access requirements which puts cadets off.
We have engineering managers, sparks and grease monkeyās from work get involved in schools and colleges, to do interest and this is what itās like in practice sessions and we have 4th, 5th year, 6th Form and FE colleges come in occasionally.
Well with todayās announcement that RAF Halton will be closing by 2022 thatās another venue off the Annual Camp list.
Yes please! Drop me a PM, and Iāll send my email.
Just received our Wing allocation, which is 14% of cadets, 25% officers and 7% SNCOs & CIs we have 3 weeks of camp and 140 Cadet places in total.
This is Summer & Autumn, no Easter allocation.
And I bet we will still be getting emails in May from HQAC saying ādoes anyone want this camp as we canāt Staff itā
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Make that July with threats of cancelling the camp.
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Weāve had our allocation through too, one camp 26 Cadets 8 Staff. Thatās it.
How can we deliver the Cadet Experience, how can we persuade new Cadets to join and older ones to stay?
Our No 8ās will be taken off us in three weeks time when they are due for servicing. Flying is once a year for a couple of Cadets if the weather plays the game. Gliding - whatās that? And now Camps!
Iām sorry but I find these comments about lack of Camp places hilarious, blaming HQAC for not giving out appropriate places. Our Wing has worked very hard over the past few years to get additional camps throughout the year, even to the point that some camps were not filled this year due to a lack of interest from cadets. We chase additional camps, even if it is for a few places from another Wing who canāt fill.
As for 2017, our allocation is out. On top of our āannualā Wing green camp for a quarter of the Wing (plus around 80-100 staff), we have a total of 148 cadets and 35 staff on 4 blue camps plus RIAT and the Super Camp allocation.
Yes, we are lucky but itās not without the hard work of the Wing to gain what we do.
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