The competitive year for the RAF section started in October, with the Regional Activities Day, which we were very honoured to receive an invitation to, after our success in becoming South West Regional Champions in 2025. Typically, only ATCs (Air Training Corps) go to RAD, so we were the first ever CCF to be invited. We travelled to Little Rissington, an air base nearby, but due to some complications within the event, many of the activities we had been looking forward to (such as first aid and shooting), were cancelled. Instead, we got an opportunity to try out the flight simulators there, which everyone really enjoyed. Thankfully, we were still able to do Drill, allowing us to perform the sequence we had practised meticulously, while looking our best. Our day ended with songs playing on the speaker during our ride back, and lots of naps!

The next event we participated in was the first round of AST: Regionals. We competed in February against 15 teams from the Southwest region, in team activities, such as command tasks, as well as more individual events, such as a Space Quiz on the Blue and Bronze syllabus. To prepare, our team underwent many weeks of training at CCF, as well as spending several hours training in our own time on weekends and evenings. 

Drill is the section that is the most time-consuming to prepare for and the one which teams are the most eager to win. It consists of a drill sequence which we learn in advance, practising every movement until we can all stay perfectly in time. All of this, along with our uniform, is assessed by officers, with each movement being marked out of ten. We performed exceptionally, achieving 1st place in our region.

Across the other events, we placed 2nd in Space, 3rd in First Aid, and relatively highly in the rest, allowing us to secure 1st place overall in the Regionals, continuing our winning streak for the second year in a row, and progressing onto the National competition.

The most recent event we took part in was the National AST, which happened about a month ago. Normally, NAST occurs in March, soon after Regionals, allowing us to keep practising as a team consistently. However, this year, due to there being no available bases to host the many schools for a weekend, Nationals was moved to the weekend after the Year 11s and Year 13s finished their exams, and coincidentally, the day after the Year 13 prom. The timing of this event gave us very little time to practise as a team, as well as causing logistical problems for the 5 Year 13s on our team that were celebrating their exams a 2-hour drive away from the competition, which was set to begin 8 hours later. The rest of the team had a relaxing day before, visiting a museum, called the Shuttleworth Collection, and stayed overnight in the accommodation at RAF Wittering, the location where NAST was happening. The Year 13s, however, joined us in the morning, having driven up overnight and running on very little sleep. Nevertheless, we were reserved to do our best, and competed strongly in the same 6 events as Regionals.

Due to all of these challenges, as we stood with the other teams for the award ceremony, we had very little hope, but strong morale nonetheless. When they announced that we had come 2nd in First Aid, and 1st in Drill, we were overjoyed. Then, when we were told that we had secured 3rd place overall, out of almost 80 teams that had competed, the atmosphere in our team was electric. 

This success was a culmination of countless hours of practice throughout parade evenings, weekends and personal time, which started almost a year ago in August, along with a lot of individual determination. This just goes to show how continued effort and dedication really can make a difference, and lead to great things.

By FSgt. Maya, Sgt. Raenah and Sgt. Prisha