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28th May 2006

Too Many Cooks

134 (Bedford) Squadron cadets recently participated in a short Duke of Edinburgh preparation weekend. Here is Cdt O'Keefe's account of the weekend.

We started with a lecture from Flt Lt Robinson on the correct procedure for erecting a tent and food in the field. This was concluded by making a very long and interesting list of suitable foods and drinks for a Duke of Edinburgh weekend.

We were then paired up and were then told to erect safely a tent, after several bent pegs and numerous people tripping over guy ropes we all ended with a respectable tent to show for our time. 

Following that was a trip to the local supermarket with a budget of £8 per pair to purchase dinner, desert , breakfast , snacks and drinks. Bearing in mind that all the food had to be cooked on burners in the field, this proved hard for some of the cadets that are used to microwaves and refrigerators. 

Having been to the supermarket for an interesting shop we returned to the squadron to get dinner on the go. There were a variety of different foods cooking, the more experienced opted for a tinned curry and naan bread but for the rest of us it was simple baked beans and super noodles. After filling up on a budget dinner and deserts it was back into the building for the kit check and finally we were given a few handy tips on packing and how to keep certain things to a minimum, before going home for the night.

The next morning we had an early 6am start, we were first asked to make breakfast. Again the breakfast consisted of very different things such as, rice pudding, porridge or cereal with UHT milk. Now we had all had our breakfast and a nice warm drink it was back into the classroom for another lecture with Flt Lt Robinson.

In this lecture we were taught some essential Duke of Edinburgh map reading skills and learnt many map symbols. After taking in lots of new facts about contour lines, time sharing and compass reading it was time to put our new skills into practise and we were tasked to fill out a route card. These are used on a daily basis on a Duke of Edinburgh weekend to plan and help you with your journey. They also have a brief description of what the roads, paths and general surroundings look like to help you along.

Having had an interesting and informative couple of days it was time to leave and I am sure all the skills and tactics we learnt over the short preparation will really prove useful in our future cadet careers