RAF St Mawgan and Penhale Training Area have been the focus for one the RAF Air Cadets most complex and testing exercises this year. 

Cadets and their adult volunteer instructors from across the South West have descended on the airbase to take part in Exercise Pagan Warrior to test a multitude of personal skills and resilience, in a week long exercise, one of the most complex of its kind anywhere in the UK.  

Exercise Pagan Warrior was carefully designed to provide a series of realistic and immersive training exercises to test the field craft and force protection skills of the cadets involved.

Cadet WO Herman van Rooyen, 19, was one of the junior leaders on the ground. Part way through his apprenticeship as a mechanic with Mercedes Benz, he said; “The management skills and leadership exposure I get as a cadet is really going to help me progress in my career with Mercedes Benz, especially when I move into the team leader role.”  

The whole exercise was co-ordinated and supported with the help of Staff at RAF St Mawgan.

Senior planning officer and cadet force adult volunteer, Squadron Leader Mark Herniman, who has been responsible for the planning and delivery of the event said: “RAF St Mawgan is such a fantastic training venue for the Air Training Corps. It has all the facilities we need and a large training area in the form of the old airfield which is absolutely ideal. It would be really difficult to run this event without their support.”