Page 18 - The Cormorant 2018

International Day 2017
Lieutenant Commander Paul Hegarty
What RAF100 means to me Wing Commander Gareth Taylor
THE RAF’S CENTENARY HAS no relevance. Please don’t get me wrong, history has it place, but as our motto directs, the organisation must ‘Per Ardua ad Astra’;
that is ‘to reach for the stars’. If Lord Trenchard had
been constrained by history his thinking would have been limited to his
training and military experience. Instead he, along with the early founding members of the RAF, such as Hugh Dowding, penned a vision of where the organisation needed to go, and not just by 2018; I would argue even in our centenary year we are yet to fully realise their vision. For me it is essential that the RAF looks forward, and whilst we will develop our doctrine and processes based upon our experiences, we must avoid history limiting our aspirations. It is crucial that, as the junior Service, we continually strive for excellence and superiority, being at the cutting edge of warfare. History is, after all, history. Per ardua.
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AS SUGGESTED BY PABLO Casals in 1963, ‘the love of one’s country is a splendid thing. But why should love stop at the border?’.
International Day 2017 provided all 102 international representatives on ACSC 21, including their UK colleagues, the opportunity
to dissolve any such borders and bring a taste of the world to JSCSC. On 25 November 2017, the College welcomed over 1,800 people and provided the opportunity to experience and enjoy the culture and culinary delights offered by the 55 nations represented at ACSC. This year’s event also welcomed a new cohort to the wider ACSC family, with Barbados, Cameroon, Kosovo, Montenegro and Niger all taking part for the first time.
Performances were provided by dance troupes that entertained the crowds in the central Forum, with guests being entertained by dances from Uganda,
“
...a true
reflection of the multi-cultural
and multi-faceted international community of ACSC 21. ◆◆◆