1406 Stamford Squadron

Welcome to
1406 Spalding Squadron
Royal Air Force Air Cadets

Parade Nights
Every Tuesday at 7.00pm - 9.30pm
Every Thursday at 7.00pm - 9.30pm

Orienteering

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Orienteering

The history of orienteering began in the late 19th century in Sweden; orienteering grew from military training in land navigation into a competitive sport for military officers, then for civilians. The first orienteering competition open to the public was held in Norway in 1897! Orienteering is a competitive navigation sport and whilst it has been a core activity for ACF and CCF cadets, it is relatively new to the Air Cadets.  It is particularly appropriate in demanding in a single activity:  navigational skills, physical stamina and individual decision-making.  As far as is possible short of real airborne operations, it imposes the sort of mental pressures on navigation that are only otherwise found in the air.  Using just a map and compass, it requires competitors to navigate accurately and at speed across unfamiliar terrain between a series of control points.

The ability to navigate accurately whatever the external pressures and distractions has always been a most important skill for the RAF and never more so than when the elite No.8 Group, better known as ‘The Pathfinder Force’, led Bomber Command’s offensive so successfully against Hitler’s Germany in World War II.

1406 Sqn was instrumental in the formation of a new competitive orienteering league for Air Cadet Squadrons, the Pathfinder League.  The Pathfinder Trophy, donated by Rob McNab of 1406 Sqn, pays tribute to those elite navigators of a past generation.

Our squadron has a history of excellent cadet participation in orienteering, our teams and individuals have competed at the very highest levels with some fantastic results over the years.

In 2012 our team brought home an impressive haul of trophies from the Cadet National Orienteering Championships held at Warcop training area, Cumbria. Competing against 150 other entrants from Army Cadet Force and Combined Cadet Force units and navigating their way through courses up to 6km in length across tough Pennine terrain, the team won through against stiff competition to bring back the Air Cadet Senior Boys team trophy, the Air Cadet Senior Girls team trophy and the Air Cadet Junior Boys team trophy.

So if it may be that you’ve never tried orienteering, but we think that if you give it a try you’ll love it!

achievements

National Cadet Orienteering Championships: ATC Champions 2006 through to 2013. Individual Sen Girls Champion 2010 Individual Jun Girls Champion 2006 and 2007 plus a number of individual 2nd and 3rd placing’s

Royal Air Force Sprint Orienteering Championships 2012: 2nd place for 1406 Sqn relay team of Kevin Kirk/Nick Fletcher/Luke Fortune

East Midlands Orienteering Association League: Male Yellow Course winner 2008 Russell Kirk