Now a Flight I/C, Bloggs is very competitive with the other flight in the Squadron. They are competing for points to win the Flight trophy at the end of the year. Bloggs' flight is on top the whole time because of the flights excellent leadership. Bloggs' new Corporal is motivated because he wants to be as good as Bloggs, and Sergeant Bloggs has passed on the knowledge he received when he was trained when he was a Corporal, as it should be and has been for centuries. The old salts pass on the knowledge to those beneath them.

Bloggs has his goals clearly set on the next promotion, Flight Sergeant. The boy wants those crowns. He knows he can do a better job than his Boss can, now all he has to do is show it by continuing with what he is doing, if he can win the Best Flight trophy, then he is golden. Something unexpected happens that Bloggs had not taken into account, his CWO leaves because has reached 22 and joined the RAF Regiment as a Gunner.

This is a major blow for the Squadron as they have lost their top man. The "dead man's boot system" comes into effect. Bloggs' boss, the Flight Sergeant who is 2nd I/C Squadron has been waiting for CWO for a long time (bear in mind the Sqn Classification - 1 CWO for a D1). By the time you get Flight Sergeant, your leadership abilities have been fully recognized, and you are potential CWO material. To get CWO you must be a Staff Cadet (the top Classification in the ATC) and be 18 years or older. FS Smith fore fills all of those requirements and is the natural man for the job. The FS passes his Wing CWO interview board with flying colours and is promoted to Cadet Warrant Officer. CWO is a Corps position and they are technically classed as Wing Staff Officers assigned to a Squadron. Therefore, in theory at least, a CWO can be transferred to another Squadron if the Wing needs him or her there.

CWO's get a number of perks in recognition of their achievements, including being treated like an Adult Staff member and being allowed to wear a peaked hat, something only CWO's are allowed to wear.

Bloggs has only been a Sergeant for six months when this happens. He is far more suited than the other Flight Commander, a Sergeant who has been in the ATC for an eternity but is happy where he is. This suits our hero down to the ground since he wants more. Suddenly CWO crowns seem within his reach. The CO makes a fairly hairy decision and promotes Sgt. Bloggs to Flight Sergeant. Click here for a list of responsibilities for a Flight Sergeant.

Sgt. Bloggs is forced to give up his flight and take over as the 2nd In Command of the Squadron. He hands the reigns over to his Corporal who he has been training. Upset that he has worked so hard to get his flight into a winning position on the Best Flight trophy competition, Bloggs gets stuck into his new job. He now overseas the two flights and ensures that the Flight Commanders are trained properly, and in turn that they are training their Cadets properly. If they are not, he takes appropriate action. He starts to notice that the Adult Staff have started to ask him what he thinks about certain Cadets and courses of action. This is somewhat alien to him, but it is part of his job to tell the Adult Staff about the capabilities of his Cadets. Bloggs is rapidly becoming vital for the Squadrons day to day operations.

Continuing with his Classifications, Bloggs studies for the final hurdle in the system: The Staff Cadet. Getting this award is the hardest out of the five classifications. Not only does it include examinations it also involves an interview with a Wing Staff Officer, but it also includes (in Bloggs' Wing anyway) a presentation in front of the whole Squadron on an Air Cadet related activity. Bloggs passes the exams but struggles on the interview as many do. He fails the interview but it is rescheduled for the following month. After hamming up on the material again, Bloggs takes the interview again and passes with flying colours. His presentation was well received and he makes a good impression on the Wing Staff Officer, something that will work in his favour later on.

The CO asks Bloggs if he would like to go on the International Air Cadet Exchange, he answers yes. So the Boss puts him in for the interview. Bloggs reads up on the qualification process for the exchange, and it turns out that some wings just give the places out, others make you do an interview, Bloggs' Wing is one that interviews. So off he goes to read up on world affairs and on the IACE program in general so he can hold his own in the interview. The interview comes up two weeks later and he watched as a scared looking Sergeant comes out the room full of Wing Staff Officers and Squadron CO's. Slightly freaked out, he enters the interview. Naturally, our hero was amazing and impressed the Board well. He is offered a place to Canada in the Summer, which he accepts gladly.

Flight Sergeants Bloggs' new look - F/Sgt crowns and Staff Cadet Lanyard. Note that there is no classification badge as the Staff lanyard is worn on the left shoulder

The summer comes and he gets shipped off for IACE, starting at RAF Uxbridge. He spends nearly three weeks in Canada and has a great time doing all the stuff that IACE Cadets do, but this is a story about the ATC, not IACE, so we will leave it at that. He returns from IACE just in time to go off again to RAF Waddington, an AWAC's base in the North East of England.

He is young for his rank, there were three Flight Sergeants at this camp, and he was one of them. He is put in Charge of Alpha Flight which is something he hasn't done for a while, so it is good to get back to a grass roots command. He performs extremely well with his Flight coming second in the Drill and winning the shooting competition. He is now very experienced in all aspects of what it is to be a Cadet in the ATC. You can leave him to do something and he will carry out the task to the absolute best of his ability, being reliable is a massively important part of being an NCO. He is ready for the top job on a Squadron, to be a Cadet Warrant Officer.

The summer goes by with our hero spending six weeks working with Cadets on various different camps and activities. He manages to a place on the coveted Germany camps at RAF Bruggen, the last remaining active RAF station in Germany. Things tick along with Bloggs becoming the top dog when the CWO is away, which is starting to happen frequently as the CWO has gone to Univeristy. Bloggs is being groomed by his CO for the top job, but he does not yet know it. He is loyal to his CWO, but still wants to get the top position if he can, it is what he has always wanted in the Cadets. FS Bloggs turns 18 and becomes eligible to apply for the CWO position, even though the Squadron already has one. The rule is that each wing is allowed a CWO per Squadron plus one third. Bloggs is counting on the one third to get him the Crowns and Laurels (the CWO insignia). To get this, he must endure yet another Wing Staff interview which he passes, as the Wing Staff now know him personally and they know of his abilities. The paperwork begins and Bloggs awaits promotion.

It's the summer again, and our hero is off to Bruggen in Germany for a week. He turns up at Wing HQ to be picked up by the bus. Whilst checking the Squadron mailbox at the cunning request of his Commanding Officer (he knew what he would find!) Bloggs finds a Cadet Warrant and a pair of crowns with his name on them! Overjoyed, he stumbles onto the bus to Bruggen. When he gets there is he is put below another CWO who is far more experienced as the 2nd I/C Camp. This is a tough job in a UK camp, but on a foreign camp, the rules are more relaxed, so this is a good way for the new CWO Bloggs to fit into his new role. Click here for a list of responsibilities for a Cadet Warrant Officer.

Being promoted to CWO is very much like getting Corporal. You are now a Junior Manager on the Squadron are a treated as an adult member of staff, yet you are not allowed the privileges of a full Adult staff position. This can be confusing for a CWO as you have to work out again whether or not you are an NCO or an Officer, in a sense you are both. You act as the primary link between the Cadets and Adult Staff. Your opinion is very much wanted and needed, yet sometimes not heeded, sometimes to the deprivation of the Squadron.

Well, its been a long and eventful journey, but we have started off with Joe Bloggs, a spotty horrible little 13 year old urk with nothing more than enthusiasm and energy and turned him into a highly qualified leader of an active ATC Squadron. As a CWO, CWO Bloggs will be responsible for all of the training of NCOs and Cadets, he is a planner, an organizer and most of all a doer. He is committed totally to the Squadron and its Staff. If he were to leave, it would not effect the Squadron as much as you might think, if he has done his job right, there will be someone right below him ready to jump into his dead mans shoes and take over.