1344(Cardiff) Squadron Air Cadets

Over the life of our squadron we have been successful and active in target shooting on many occasions, but the real consistency started when Squadron Leader Steve Williams became OC 1344 Squadron 23 years ago.  His love for shooting and his exceptional skills in teaching and coaching lay the foundation upon which our long term shooting success has depended.

This weekend we attended NRA Bisley to compete in a small bore tri-service indoor shooting competition known as the Punch and Shell competition.  The Punch Trophy competition consists of the top 2 squadrons in the Corps working together.  This year it was ourselves and 126 Derby Squadron.  Between us we beat the Army and Sea Cadets to win the Punch Trophy, and for 1344 this is the 22nd year in succession that we have won it!  We also won the Battle of Britain Trophy for the highest scoring ATC Squadron taking part in the Punch competition.  We lost the Shell Trophy to the ACF by one shot after an amazing competition.

 We returned to Cardiff at 9pm Saturday evening, lost an hours sleep due the clock changes, and then we were off again to Shrewsbury at 6.30am on Sunday to take part in the Wales & West Region Inter-Wing small bore competition.  There we won the Region Target Rifle Trophy again for the 21st year in succession.

Click here for more photographs from the Punch & Battle of Britain competition

1344 Squadron is without doubt one of the premier shooting squadron in the Corps, and those who have never been involved in national shooting competitions will not understand the amount of practice and coaching that takes place up to 3 times each week in preparation for high level and inter-service shooting competitions. 

Let me firstly thank Sgt Locke (ATC), CI Winston Lewis and Sgt Golaszewski (ATC) for their time, organisational and coaching skills.  Between them they do a superb job preparing our shooting teams.

Then there are the cadet shooting teams who devote so much time and effort to perfecting their shooting skills and ultimately achieving success.  It takes a lot of time, practice and dedication to reach the top, for which I thank you most sincerely.  You bring great pride to our squadron.

It is amazing to think of the number of cadets who over the past 23 years have been involved in shooting in our squadron, and how many have had the satisfaction of achieving success in shooting competititons.  I am delighted to be part of this success.