After three long months of arduous training sessions, the RASTC team made their way to RAF Halton on behalf of Wilson's School CCF, on the 21st November. They competed against 14 other schools, including regular rivals Maidstone Grammar and Dulwich College amongst others.

The Royal Air Squadron Trophy Competition is an annual event where teams of CCF air cadets across the nation compete to outperform each other in a range of disciplines, including: Drill, Command Task, First Aid, Shooting, Micro-heli, RAF Knowledge and Aircraft Recognition.

Upon the cancellation of the 2020/2021 competition, this year's team was eager to bring home the trophy, inspired by Wilson's most recent victory in 2019.

Led by Sgt Dayal, and overseen by Flt Lt Luck and Flying Officer Paschoud, the team consisted of 13 Wilson's and WHSG cadets from Years 10-13, who had made it through the highly-competitive  selection process.

Unfortunately, two reserves were unable to attend due to COVID-19 restrictions but their valiant efforts were valued nonetheless.

I was fortunate enough to be a part of this family and contribute to the victory. It was quite a nerve-wrecking experience considering many of us had never taken part before and I was especially nervous about my First Aid skills.

But the hours and hours of polishing, revising, ironing and marching were rewarded and we secured first place in Drill and First Aid, averaging 2.5th place across each discipline and 14 points clear of Dulwich, the runners-up, who will undoubtedly work hard to close the gap in the national event.

One team member, Lcpl Lakshman, described the competition as his "best experience in the Wilson's School CCF" and "thrilling and amazing to win".

In a couple of weeks, training will recommence for the Nationals stage of the competition on the 8th March and we will be working diligently to prove we are amongst the best in the nation.