< 22nd November 2005 - Runaway Success,,

1st December 2005 - Adventure Abounds,, >

< Back to News Archive



24th November 2005

Watch and Shoot

Adult Warrant Officer Oliver Browne has added another string to his bow having qualified as a Basic Range Manager (Air Cadets) Short Range (BRM(AC)SR) after successfully passing two weekend courses at Wattisham Airfield in Suffolk and RAF Cosford in Shropshire.

The qualification means that the 134 (Bedford) Sqn now has two adult staff permitted to run a shooting practise on military short ranges, including the indoor training theatre range at Kempston and the barrack range at DISC Chicksands. With this in mind it is hoped that more shooting practises will be available to the cadets and the option to start participating in dedicated marksmanship training followed by entry into postal shoots.

The first weekend course was run at the Army Air Corps airfield at Wattisham in Sufolk, this included learning how to become an effective marksmanship coach using the No 8 .22 rifle. There was also time during this course to achieve the qCWHT qualification which allows the holder to actually run weapons handling tests for the cadets. The coaching course which involves the students sitting a written exam as well as carrying out a practical examination on the range is a mandatory prerequisite for anyone wishing to continue on to becoming a qualified Range Conducting Officer (RCO) for which the students progress to the second stage, the basic range management course.

The Second course was held at a very chilly RAF Cosford and saw some of the coldest days so far in the year adding to the already tense atmosphere on the range. As with the basic coaching course this course also saw a written exam as well as decent chunk of home work that kept the midnight oil in the various mess’s burning. Sunday consisted of the written exam before making tracks to the range on the airfield to be assessed as an RCO. Having completed both courses successfully AWO Browne commented “It feels really good to have reached this point, It’s a qualification I’ve wanted to achieve as a member of staff since re-joining the corps. I’m now looking forward to getting on the L98 conversion course so that I can offer even more opportunities to the cadets who I work with”.