Situated in the heart of the Vale of the White Horse, 1861 (Wantage) Squadron has been serving the towns of Wantage, Faringdon and the surrounding villages with opportunities and activities for aviation interested young people since 1941.
Marking the 75th anniversary since the formation of the Air Cadet Organisation (ACO) over 75 cadets from across Central and North Sectors in Thames Valley Wing ATC gathered in the Oxford as part of parade and service of remembrance. Continue reading
On Sunday, 29 November 127 cadets and 22 staff arrived at RAF Brize Norton to take part in the annual Wing Ten Pin bowling competition.
With teams on the start line ready to roll Squadrons had the opportunity to enter two teams and also compete for the top male and female spot. As cadets took it turn to line up ready for their strikes perhaps more balls entered the gutters than made it to the centre pin! Continue reading
Commandant’s Air Cadets Commendations of Meritorious Service were given out at this years Thrive Awards, below are the recipients and their citations.
Flying Officer Alex Pye from 211 (Newbury) Squadron has been a member of the Corps serving as a both a Cadet and as a member of staff at 211 (Newbury) Squadron.
A long term supporter and key member of the Squadron he has undertaken all of the duties asked of him with style and is seen as a corner stone of excellence. He is also leading light in bringing archery activities – first to Newbury Squadron through careful negotiation of grant packages – before being an evangelist for the activity Wing-side. Continue reading
Early notice for activities at Region Activities Day 2016 have been announced. The Region Activities Day will affect what happens on Wing Activities Day. Continue reading
The finalists for the Thames Valley Wing Thrive Awards have now been announced. The Awards fall into the following categories and all nominations came from their peers.
Outstanding Civilian Instructor – The person who has made the most outstanding contribution over the past year.
Ambassador – The individual or team who through the virtue of hard work, character and representation have raised the profile of the ATC.
Valiant Volunteer – For consistent and extraordinary efforts in helping others, above and beyond the call of duty.
Unsung Hero – The individual whose contribution often goes unnoticed but without it their Squadron would fail to deliver the effect it achieves.
Top Team Award – awarded to the group (informal or formal) that has achieved the greatest positive impact. Continue reading
The RAF WARMA 2 day march is an annual marching event that consists of a 50 mile march across 2 days, each day being 25 miles or 40km. The event is held at RAF Cosford and this year had 1,500 military participants.
Thames Valley wing team began training for this event way back in Jan 4th January 2015 and has trained every weekend up until the event with a total of 16 training marches being completed by the cadets and staff, leading to team leader Flying officer Jane Wicks (2410 Didcot Squadron) and team 2IC Civilian Instructor Barry Wicks (2410 Didcot Squadron) taking 13 cadets from all across Thames Valley Wing to the march.
The cadets arrived at Edward Brooks Barracks on the Friday evening and spirits were very high across the board and we began to make our way towards RAF Cosford. Upon arriving, we unpacked and prepared for the march in the morning.
All awoke on the Saturday morning at the early hour of 04:15 and headed to breakfast, although a bit tired all were raring to go and couldn’t wait to get onto the road. By at 0710 TVW marched off in the first contingent and officially began day 1, starting the day off by saluting Air Commodore Dawn McCafferty who was the guest VIP for day 1.
TVW marched strong making good times to rest stops 1, 2 and 3 and subsequently were the first team to complete day 1 and therefore met the Commandant Air Cadets for a second time, completing day 1 with a time of 7 hours 35 minutes. It was then time for hot showers, dinner, a coke in the bar and then an early night in preparation for day 2.
Day 2 began very similarly as day 1 however waking 30 minutes later this time at 04:45, however it would appear that teams had decided to wake much earlier than previous years and subsequently TVW were virtually the last team to leave the gates on day 2. However, nobody let this get them down and instead saw it as just another challenge and by reaching rest stop 2 only 6 teams out of 70 were in front of Thames Valley Wing. This was down to the drive of the cadets and the extensive and continuous training that allowed them to continue at an excellent pace when other teams began to struggle. Due to which all 15 from Thames Valley Wing completed the march in 7 hours 20 being the 4th team to complete day 2. This was an excellent outcome and a huge achievement for all considering the position of the team at the start.
Upon completing the march, cadets had their Medals presented by the station commander of RAF Cosford, Group Captain Adam Sansom. A great honour for all team members.
Training now continues with the new goal of TVW being to complete the Nijmegen 100 mile March in July.
I would personally like to thank Flying Officer Wicks and C.I Wicks for the continuous effort they put into training the cadets sacrificing every Sunday since the start of the year. Without their inspirational leadership and efforts the team would not be where it is today.
CWO Goff, 2410 Didcot Sqn.
New and existing staff from around Thames Valley wing attended their Staff Basic induction course and refresher training at RAF Halton.
The Course covers everything that members of the Air Training Corps need to know, including: Continue reading
The finalists for the Thames Valley Wing Thrive Awards have now been announced. The Awards fall into the following categories and all nominations came from their peers.
Outstanding Individual – The person who has made the most outstanding contribution over the past year.
Ambassador – The individual or team who through the virtue of hard work, character and representation have raised the profile of the ATC.
Valiant Volunteer – For consistent and extraordinary efforts in helping others, above and beyond the call of duty.
Unsung Hero – The individual whose contribution often goes unnoticed but without it their Squadron would fail to deliver the effect it achieves.
Top Team Award – awarded to the group (informal or formal) that has achieved the greatest positive impact. Continue reading
The team arrived at RAF Northolt in July after spending every weekend walking fifteen-twenty miles as training for the week long marches. 
Accompanying the cadets went Flt Lt Kisley of Banbury and Fg Off Wicks of Didcot, both of whom having spent nearly every weekend training the team ready for Nijmegen.
From Northolt the team travelled by coach across the channel to Calais and then through Europe to Nijmegen. Continue reading
For the past few years cadets and staff from 1861 (Wantage) and 2410 (Didcot) squadrons have attended a D-Day memorial service at Harwell. This year saw the 70th anniversary to which the cadets were invited to provide a guard of honour for this year’s memorial service.
20 cadets and 7 staff members gather on the Saturday in glorious weather to join the local community in paying their respects to those who took part on the day. Continue reading