158 (Braintree & District) Squadron ATC

A few months ago 3 of our cadets took part in 'Exercise Easter Bunny'📡🐰

We are really pleased to announce that they came 2 overall out of all the squadrons in the Royal Air Force Air Cadets and best in Essex Wing Air Cadets 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

A massive congratulations to them all and thank you to CI Wallace for supporting our Radio Cadets!📡👏🏻

Congratulations to Sgt Owen, Cpl Marsh and Cdt Bennett, on achieving their Bronze Wings! A big thank you to 617 AGS for running the course! 👏🏻✈️

On Wednesday we enrolled our latest recruits, they are currently in the training phase of their cadet career, and we look forward to welcoming them into the main squadron soon!📚

We also sadly said goodbye to our Squadron Padre Richard Chand. Rev Chand has been a valuable asset to the squadron, providing support and guidance to cadets and staff.

We wish him the best in his next adventure and look forward to keeping in touch. Thank you again Padre👏🏻

At the weekend our cadets took part in Essex Wing Air Cadets Inter-Sqn Athletics competition!🏃🏃‍♀️

We placed 5th overall, with our U16 girls coming 2nd overall and our U14 coming 3rd overall! 👏🏻👏🏻

As you can see there were lots of medals too! 🥇🥈🥉

Thank you to all the cadets that attended and Sgt Mills who supervised our cadets!👏🏻🏃🏼‍♀️

A big thank you to the wing sports team that organised this event👏🏻🎉

We also had cadets attend a JNCO and SNCO course📚

Well done to Cpl's Hendy, Gleeson and Seck for competing the JNCO course this weekend👏🏻

Well done to Sgt Owen for completing the SNCO course 👏🏻

We are looking forward to seeing the skills you have developed this weekend put into action at the Squadron! 😆

Congratulations to Cadet's Popa and Stuart who attended Essex Wing Air Cadets PNCO course today! 👏🏻

This course has given them an insight into the key skills needed to become a NCO. We look forward to you both bringing these skills to the Sqn!📚

Thank you to the staff that made this event possible 👏🏻

On Monday we had our monthly OC's Parade.

The night involved a uniform inspection and then a planning activity for a project which will be happening over the next few OC parades.

We were also able to recognise the achievements of our cadets over the last few months! The OC handed out certificates and badges to the following cadets:

~Cpl's Marsh, Seck and Gleeson, Cdt's Hendy and Martin for completing their Bronze DofE⛺️

~ Cadet Levine and Cpl Marsh for completing their Bronze Radio📡

~ Cdt's Levine, Bennett, Cheung, Browning and Martin for achieving their Blue Wings✈️

~ Cdt Guppy for Bronze Space and Cdt Bennett for Blue Space🪐

~ Cdt Stuart for achieving Blue Wings, Leadership, First Aid and DofE📚

~ Cdt Cheung for achieving her Blue Music Badge🎶

~ Cdt Mills for achieving her Bronze Leadership badge📖

~ Cdt Bennett for completing his Bronze First Aid⛑️

~ Cdt Woodgate for completing his Blue DofE⛺️

A massive congratulations to all of these cadets for the hard work they have put into achieving these qualifications!👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Essex Wing Air Cadets Wing Warrant Officer - Essex Wing Central & East Region Air Cadets Royal Air Force Air Cadets

Happy International Women's day! There are many outstanding women both within 158 and across the Royal Air Force Air Cadets, from Cadets and NCO’s to Adult Volunteers and Uniformed Staff.

It’s amazing to see women inspiring the next generation of girls✈️👏🏻

Last night we attended Essex Wing Air Cadets Wing Presentation evening.

This was a night to celebrate the successes across the Wing in 2025👏🏻

We were incredibly proud to have placed in the following categories:

- 2nd in the Ferris Trophy which is awarded for the most Progressive training syllabus badges and classification training achieved in the year 🥈📚

- 3rd in the Wing Aircraft recognition competition🥉✈️

- Joint 2nd for the Willis Trophy which is awarded for the most attended Wing events 🥈👏🏻

As a Squadron we have worked incredibly hard to facilitate opportunities for our cadets and encourage participation in activities across the RAFAC syllabus.

Thank you to our amazing Staff Team and our outstanding cadets for their efforts in 2025!👏🏻

Here's to 2026!📚✈️👏🏻

Braintree Air Cadets are now recruiting for new cadets starting in March 2026!✈️

Do you want to be a part of 158 Squadron? We cannot wait to welcome you on our next open evening on Monday 23rd February 2026!

We offer flying, gliding, shooting, sports, academic qualifications, adventure training and a whole lot of fun, to develop children into mature young adults. Minimum age to join is 12 Years old AND in Year 8.

Can't make it? No worries, fill out the form below and we'll email you with other options.

To sign up for the open evening, follow this link: https://forms.office.com/e/2tZTr25zeU

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