Flight Sergeant Garlick

'As a Flight Sergeant in the Air Training Corps, this has opened many doors for me and I have therefore experienced a wide variety of different activities in comparison to my peers. The cadets have given me great opportunities to travel Europe and work with cadets from the Continent and different areas of the United Kingdom. In October 2008, I was awarded a Gliding Scholarship, after my continuous hard work and dedication to the Corps, eventually flying solo in January 2009.

After receiving confirmation of my Powered Flying Scholarship I hope to complete this within the next year. Participating in the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme is a personal achievement and I am currently working on my Gold Award of which I have recently completed my practise expedition in the Lake District, thoroughly enjoying the challenge and the tough conditions of which I endured during the week. The Cadets have also offered me the opportunity to gain extra qualifications, currently I have achieved a BTEC in Aviation Studies and I am working towards another in Uniformed Services.'

Cadet Gardner

'As a cadet I have experienced a wide range of once in a lifetime activities such as flying, gliding and shooting. During my gliding experiences I have passed all three of my 'GICs' which stands for Gliding Induction Course, taking a practical exam in a glider essential for my GS. I am currenly applying for a Gliding Scholarship where if I pass I will receive a shiny new pair of Blue or even Silver wings which means that I flew a glider solo without a pilot. All of these have expanded my horizons, opening up new paths for my later career.

During October 2009, I was awarded the chance to go to Gibraltar as part of the Cadet Overseas camp. Some of the activities I experienced were caving, Safari in Spain, a Theme Park visit and section visits.

Earlier in the summer of 2009, I participated in my Duke Of Edinborough Bronze final expedition walking a distance of 15 miles in 2 days . Since I have participated in the event, my confidence has doubled and I am looking forward to completing my Silver DofE in the near future, walking a total of 30miles in three days.

One of my favourite events is sport, I have participated in many sports such as Wing football and Wing cross country, sports such as these are known as Inter-Wing events. I recently attended a Wing football event as a goal keeper, passing the first trial with flying colours later getting to the choices and unluckily, not getting through. Earlier on in the year I attended a Wing sports event, and took part in the long jump, relay and the 200m run at athletics.'

'As a Sergeant in the Air Training Corps, I have been involved in many activites and have had a huge variety of opportunities offered to me which have given me a wider outlook on life and my future career in the Royal Air Force.

I have had the chance to travel abroad to different countries such as Gibraltar, Cyprus and Germany on overseas camps as well as sporting events.  I have also attended camps in United Kingdom on RAF bases up and down the country.

As a keen sports woman, Cadets has helped me to advance my abilites as well achieve some noticeable performances resulting in my selection for the Great Britain Cross Country Team in August '09. For the past three years I have been named as the female South and East Midlands sports cadet of the year. I have also been the National champion in Athletics and Cross country for 3 years running. This recently resulted in myself being selected for the ATC National Team to travel to Cyprus in October '09 to compete in the CCU Walk Down Competition. This is a challenging 22 mile cross-country event which starts in the Troodos mountains and finishes in Episkopi. This was the first time a Cadet team had been submitted and fortunatly for myself I was apart of the winning team.

In the ATC I have also had the opportunity to complete a Gliding Scholarship, resulting in being awarded my Blue wings which helped to give me a clear idea of a future career in the RAF.

Cadets has also offered me a wide variety of ways to gain extra qualifications, adding to the ones which I have already achieved. At the moment I am in the process of working towards my BTEC in Public Services which I hope to complete in the near future.'