Page 17 - Cadet Review Autumn 2024

AIR CADETS
LORD-
LIEUTENANT
AND MAYOR
HELP MIRFIELD
AIR CADETS
CELEBRATE
THE YEAR SO
FAR
On the first Sunday of July, the Squadron was pleased to welcome Mr Ed Anderson CBE, HM Lord- Lieutenant for West Yorkshire, to their annual Open Day and Presentation Parade, together with the Mayor of Mirfield, Councillor Stuart Naisbett.
After a brief welcome from the Squadron Commander, Flight Lieutenant Peter Doubell, the Lord-Lieutenant opened the presentation with a special award for Civilian Instructor Sue Doubell:
a personal letter of commendation from himself, reflecting her long, varied and impactful involvement with the Squadron and the wider Royal Air Force Air Cadets.
The Lord-Lieutenant undertook the presentation of over 180 certificates, recognising the participation and achievements of cadets and staff in the first half of the year, and these included Cadet classifications (First Class, Leading Senior and Master Cadet), Space awards (Blue and Bronze levels), St John Ambulance First Aid certificates (Essential First Aid, Youth First Aid, Activity First Aid, St John Assessor), Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (Blue Pre-D of E, Bronze and Silver levels), Cadet Leadership (Blue Bronze and Silver levels), together with Radio and Cyber Communications (Blue, Bronze and Silver levels, including iDEA and Open Learn certificates)
The Mayor continued presentations with various trophies for the best individual performances, and the principal ones went to Sam Thompson as Best
Recruit, Jacob Abraham as Best Cadet, Lily Dillon as Best NCO and Joshua Hinchliffe for Esprit de Corps. There was one other trophy, for the winning flight
in the inter-flight competition for the first half of the year, and this was presented to the senior NCO of Whirlwind Flight, Sergeant Emily Richards.
At close of the proceedings some cadet promotions were announced and presented by the Lord-Lieutenant; Harvie Kenny-Greenwood and Ethan Wood were promoted to the rank of Sergeant and three new NCOs were appointed as corporals: Archie Burton, Lexi Foggo and Mya Larder.
After the presentations, cadets gave displays of Band Performance, Continuity Drill and First Aid, and the event was rounded off with a light barbecue lunch and opportunity for guests to mingle and talk to cadets, parents and staff and to participate in a raffle.
This was clearly a big day for the newly promoted Corporal Archie Burton, who also won the Sports trophy and featured in both the Band and First Aid displays; he said “I really enjoyed our Presentation Day at 868 and having guests of Honour such as
the Lord-Lieutenant and the Mayor of Mirfield. The whole day went very smoothly, and I enjoyed doing the Band and First Aid demonstrations. The Drill team’s performance was amazing as well and then to top it off with the barbecue at the end was brilliant!”
CADET REVIEW AUTUMN 2024 17