The Drill Competition is renowned as being the most prestigious competition in the Air Training Corps. There are three stages: Wing, Regional and Corps. Out of the near one thousand squadrons in the UK, only six get through to Corps level each year; one squadron from South West Region, Wales and West Region, Central and East Region, North Region, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and London and South East Region. This year London and South East Region was represented by 261 (Guildford) Squadron, from Surrey Wing.

Up until now, Guildford squadron had never even reached the regional competition (12 squadrons; top two from Surrey, Sussex, Middlesex, Essex, Kent and London), so the drill team was quite simply ecstatic when they came second in the Surrey Wing competition, and considered it a huge achievement just to be attending the regional competition. To then win the regional drill competition was an incredible shock that left everyone buzzing for days afterwards. 261 were the best in London and South East England!

The next step was to go on to the Corps competition on Saturday the 28th of November. With a new confidence from their unexpected, but hard earned, victory, the squad set off bright and early for RAF Halton. When it came to their turn to perform the drill sequence, everybody’s hearts were racing without exception. The seven minute sequence seemed over in a flash but left all the team members completely exhausted. All that was left to do was wait anxiously for the results.

There were three trophies to be won: best uniform, best drill NCO (drill instructor), and of course the overall best drill team. First to be announced was the award for best uniform, won by two teams as their scores were equal, and one of those teams was 261! Next was the best drill NCO. Guildford’s drill instructor, Flight Sergeant Vicky Chelliah, came an extremely close second, by just one point!  Finally then came the most important trophy of all, that would decide the overall national drill champions. The entire parade tensed up and held their breath as the number of the winning squadron was read out – 261 Guildford.  The relatively small squadron has gone this year from having one of the top drill teams in Surrey to being the best in the UK. It is fair to say that the full meaning of this fact still hasn’t sunk in for most of the cadets, it was a day that no Guildford cadet will ever forget!