Page 64 - The Cormorant 2018
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Cormorant Club Membership
THE CORMORANT CLUB IS open to all graduates and staff of the Advanced Command and Staff Course (Regular and Reserve) and Higher Command and Staff Course at Joint Services Command and Staff College and its predecessors. It aims to build and support alumni networks and contribute to conversation and debate on defence-related topics.
The Club was founded in 1947 by the members
of the first Joint Services Staff College course, to maintain contact between those officers who had passed through the College, including US and Commonwealth officers. When the JSSC closed, the Cormorant Club continued as the alumni association for the National Defence College and the Joint
Services Defence College. The Club now has well over 7,000 members worldwide.
The Cormorant Club holds a Spring Reunion at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) each May
and an Autumn Reunion that is planned to allow Cormorants to join current ACSC members at the Taranto Night Dinner at JSCSC each November. On 29 May 18, on the occasion of the RAF 100 JSCSC Mess Dinner, the Club presented to the College a painting it commissioned by the well-known military artist, David Rowlands, of a JSCSC Dinner Night. The painting was presented to the Commandant and a representative of ACSC 21 by Col Audrey Smith of National Defence College Course 08, who is one of the longest-serving active Cormorants.
 Further details are available on the Defence Academy website at www.da.mod.uk/alumni/the-cormorant-club
You can contact the Club Secretary at cormorantclubsecretary.jscsc@da.mod.uk
 What RAF100 means to me Wing Commander Neil Atkins
I GRADUATED FROM THE RAF College Cranwell in April 1998, just a few days after the RAF celebrated its 80th anniversary. I envisaged that I might still be serving at the centenary, but I could not imagine what an exciting and
transformative period the next 20 years would be. When I joined, there were few clues as to the tumultuous world events that would soon follow, and of
the enduring operations that the RAF would mount in the Middle East and Afghanistan as a result. It has given me immense pride to see our Service deliver all that it has on operations, and to play my own small part in it. My grandfather served as an aircraft technician in North Africa during World War II, and my uncle piloted Vulcan bombers at the height of the Cold War; however, it was the RAF’s technological edge that attracted me in particular. The last 2 decades have certainly not disappointed in this respect; not only do we look forward to the arrival of F-35 Lightning in the UK this year, but the Service continues to lead and develop within the exciting space and cyber domains. It is astounding to consider our journey from biplanes to the fifth-generation force of today. Here’s to the next 100 years; one can only wonder what they will bring!
     




















































































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