Wing News

Cadets Complete in Ten Tors Challenge - posted 10-May-19

The Ten Tors challenge has been an annual event since the 1960s organised by the Army with young participants in teams of six visiting ten tors over a 35, 45 or 55 mile routes across Dartmoor in under two days. Teams have to be self sufficient carrying all their food, clothing and equipment. Plymouth & Cornwall Wing started entering teams of cadets in all three distances in the 1970's. The popularity of the event with the cadets which, sees 2400 participants from different youth groups from across the South West, now involves a dedicated team of staff from across the Wing to safely train and supervise the cadets in navigation and camp craft skills to ensure that they can safely deal with all forms of weather and emergencies. Planning for this year's event started back in August 2018 with the first cadet training in camp skills and navigation theory starting back in October. Since then cadets have been putting the theory into practice with several weekends spent walking and camping on the moors to build up their stamina for the challenge. Historically over the years the event has seen all weather conditions from ice and snow to soaring heat, the cadets are trained to deal with all weather conditions to ensure their safety and success in the event. This year cadets from the Wing are competing in all three distances with the aim of completing their route in the permitted time, starting off at 7am on Saturday. This year will see a cadet age range from 14 years and one month to 17 years and six months from ten Squadrons and one RAF Section of the Combined Cadet Forces taking part and including identical twins from 339 (South Dartmoor) Squadron. The Wing Ten Tors training team, led by Flight Lieutenant Karla Oliver, will be anxiously waiting at the finishing line to see all the cadets back to know their job has been done and mission complete, well for a couple of months at least as planning for Ten Tors 2020 will start soon.