Officer Commanding's Foreword

Welcome to the 2458 (Shipley & Baildon) Squadron website. 

As Officer Commanding I am immensely proud of our Squadron and what better way to show if off than on this website.

Since taking over command of this Squadron in April of this year I have been very impressed with the range of abilities this Squadron has to offer, we have Adventure Training abilities on site which are second to none and flight simulator training which although still in its early stages is more impressive than most Squadrons in the South and West Yorkshire area and is showing amazing potential toward providing flying training for today’s modern Air Cadets in the Shipley and Baildon area.

At 2458 Squadron we, as a Squadron, are ever striving to provide the best training opportunities possible for today’s young people, in an aim to give today’s young men and women the chances for adventure which no other organisation today can provide.

Supported by my hard working members of staff we as a Squadron intend to grow to become to best Squadron in the Air Training Corps by constantly reviewing our operations to keep them up to date and maintaining high levels of training for both Cadets and Staff.

As Officer Commanding I intend to maintain our Squadrons Mission Statement to facilitate a modern, dynamic, sustainable Squadron providing challenging opportunities to develop skills of leadership, teamwork, citizenship and personal strength and to grow and develop each other as a Squadron as cadets and staff. 

I see a bright future for the Squadron including more emphasis on our BTEC qualifications which provide a nationally recognised qualification simply by partaking and enjoying in existing activates and branching out into new activities such as Community Sport Leaders Award and St John Ambulance first aid training. 

Some regular visitors to the website and subscribers to our emailed newsletter might remember from the December and January newsletters our Focus 2008 in which we laid out or aims for the year. I can proudly report that we are well on track with our aims. One of the aims was to actively promote ourselves in the community and build community awareness of our Squadron. The media team is making great headway by getting us into as many local publications as possible and for the first time in 4 years 2458 Squadron had an article published in the Telegraph and Argus.

I encourage all to get involved in 2458 Squadron, even if it just to come out and see us when we partake in local events, also I encourage all cadets parents and friends of the Squadron to watch us on remembrance day parade as we march proudly through the streets of Shipley and Baildon.

2008 is a great year to get involved, if you are 13 years and above, jump at the chance to join the Squadron and enjoy amazing opportunities that can be found in no other walk of live.

Now is the chance to something different, make new friends, create memories and gain skills for life.

Flight Lieutenant E Dibb RAFVR(T)

Officer Commanding 2458 (Shipley & Baildon) Sqn ATC