Page 24 - Cadet ReviewAutumn/Winter 2020

SWY Wing ATC
Because of the time difference, Cal Dippelsmann had got up at 04.30 local time to participate in
the meeting, and his contribution was greatly appreciated: giving a full presentation about Australian Air Force Cadets, and his experiences. Both in Australia and USA the structure of the cadet organisations has squadrons arranged into groups, and groups arranged into wings – the opposite of the UK structure! It seems that Australian squadrons can have much more extensive premises. During 2019 Cal’s unit became home to the visiting IACE contingents for 9 days, with sleeping and eating accommodation and even laundry facilities on site!
A really interesting and stimulating evening, with lively and enthusiastic contributions from the visitors and host cadets, and immense thanks to CWO Baillie for facilitating such an inspiring Virtual Meeting.
This was the second international event the Squadron had hosted in July. Earlier in the month they linked up with Sqn Ldr Kevin March, the United Kingdom Senior National Representative (SNR) to the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training (ENJJPT) programme at Sheppard Air Force Base in Texas. He described his life-long flying career (mostly with the
RAF) and many of the aircraft he had flown, including taking part in the RAF fly-past over Buckingham Palace for the RAF’s centenary in 2018. He finished his presentation with an explanation of his current work at Sheppard Air Force Base and a short question and answer session.
introducing the link with
Sheppard Air Force
Base in Texas
148 (BARNSLEY) SQUADRON HOSTS A SERVING USAF F-15E STRIKE EAGLE PILOT
On Friday 3rd July, cadets from 148 (Barnsley) Squadron were privileged to host an active duty F-15E Strike Eagle pilot from the US Air Force over Microsoft Teams. The pilot spoke in detail about their USAF journey to date, the components of the flying training package and the next steps in their journey. In the second half of the call, cadets had the opportunity to ask questions about their training, military life and various other topics, which were all answered in great detail by our guest.
Also in attendance were cadets and staff from across the Sector and Wing, together with members of the Squadron Civilian Committee. The cadets were joined by Wg Cdr Brian Daniel (OC Wing), Sqn Ldr Barry French (Wing Chief of Staff), and Sqn Ldr Iain Kirk (OC Sector 1).
Over 50 cadets attended the talk and the feedback was very positive, for example:
“I thought it was very interesting and I really enjoyed it” – Cdt Katie Booth
“It was great and very informative, thank you” – Cdt Lewis Sanger
“It was inspiring and exciting to see what a military fighter pilot’s career is like in the USAF” – Cdt Ruby Rushforth
“It was very inspiring and interesting, I really did enjoy listening to the talk. It was exciting to hear about the training and what life is like in the USAF” – Cdt Faith Fiddes
“It was inspirational and an opportunity to speak
I thought
it was very interesting and I really enjoyed it
to a frontline pilot in the USAF to show how cadets can progress in their own lives, they can be anything if they work hard and ‘keep swimming’” – Sqn Ldr Andy Williams
Overall, it was an exciting opportunity for our cadets to speak to someone who is doing a role many of them aspire to be in the RAF, as well as hearing about the courage and resilience it took the speaker to get to where they are today. A very inspiring evening and our thanks go to our honoured guest for joining us.
24 CADET REVIEW AUTUMN/WINTER 2020
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