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RAF Air Squadron Trophy Competition
Ben Schlossman (Year 13)
I f winning the Air Squadron Trophy Competition in 2013 in my first year on the team was a valuable experience, narrowly missing the prize in two subsequent attempts was even more important. It taught us that improvement is often only possible after learning the hard way and provided the motivation during training to bring home that elusive third win for this generation of Dulwich cadets. After thoroughly hard work involving two weekends away, weekly after-school and lunchtime training sessions, we finally came first in the regional competition. Despite a somewhat questionable performance in fitness and RAF knowledge, we had confidence in our abilities and our capability to win the national competition. By taking home lessons learnt from the Air Cadet Organisation drill competition earlier in the year, and putting in many hours of practice, we were able to refine and perfect a winning drill sequence that made the entire team extremely proud. Hours spent studying a magnitude of different aircraft for air forces around the world in our own simulated tests may have seemed rather boring at the time, but the hard work paid off, with everybody on the team scoring very highly in the aircraft recognition test. The results included three 29/30 scores, an impressive achievement. Our strong performance allowed us to take first place for aircraft recognition. While the leadership challenge in the command task was complex, involving mapping and construction,
we managed to achieve a respectable second place, despite a forgotten map in the briefing room. Leading the task for a second year, the stress and pressure of the event had become somewhat familiar. For shooting, it was a different game. Dulwich has a history with shooting in the past four years, with unfortunate mishaps hindering our progress to a third victory. This time round, with ten hours of practice over two training weekends, the shooters had their points of aim precisely set. With two perfect scores of 20 and no one dropping below 18, the hours put in were vindicated in suitable fashion. First Aid was conducted in a similar manner, providing us with our fourth first-place of the day, even though we were slightly underprepared in comparison to recent years. The fitness round was not as bad as it had been at the regionals, despite a swapping out our team, and provided us with more valuable points. As we stood on the final parade, the team was optimistic that our hard work and dedication would be rewarded. Four events won and two more second-place finishes is the strongest win for any school in recent memory of the competition. I cannot think of a better way to end my cadet career than for my team to be the ‘best in the country’. On behalf of the team, we would like to thank the staff for their unrelenting support in this competition, one in which I hope Dulwich will remain competitive for years to come.
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