Finnley Sprakes on Air Cadet Leadership Course No. 132

Cadet Sergeant Finnley Sprakes of 1324 (Hawker Blackburn) Squadron travelled to RAF Cranwell last summer, to take up the challenge of the Air Cadet Leadership Course.

At RAF Cranwell, he experienced a challenging week of mixed weather and tough command tasks alongside his allocated team. Facing long days on limited rations, and bracing the elements while sleeping rough, he successfully graduated a week later, earning his gold leadership badge. He was particularly excited about the opportunity this presents for him to help develop other cadets along the leadership syllabus.

Discussing some of the biggest challenges of the week, Finnley mentioned that the weather wasn’t the only hurdle: “I was elected course leader on the first day, which was a baptism of fire - I learnt the need for effective delegation and the value of a supportive team pretty quickly!”

His team, Alpha Flight, also won the final exercise, but it wasn’t an easy feat.

Finnley says he’s looking forward to supporting local training, and urges everyone to take up the challenge.

The Gold ACLC Badge