Members of the 232 Bighorn Squadron participated in their annual Royal Canadian Air Cadets Annual Ceremonial Review this past Sunday at their headquarters in Oliver. Above, members show off their First Aid skills during a live demonstration. Many of the young air cadets go on to obtain their pilot’s licences. (Dan Walton Photo).
Learning to fly is one of the many opportunities teenagers can take advantage of through the Royal Canadian Air Cadets program, but to reach that level, recruits have to demonstrate a shrewd understanding of procedures.
Many cadets from 232 Bighorn Squadron, which operates out of its home base at a hangar in Oliver, are aspiring pilots.
Many took themselves one step closer to defying gravity this past Sunday after the most crucial inspection of the year, the Annual Ceremonial Review.
The Reviewing Officer this year was Town of Oliver Mayor Ron Hovanes.
LAC Logan Thompson from Oliver, 14, signed up for the air cadets last fall along with his brother.
He feels confident that his marching and presentations were well-rehearsed during the annual review, which he hopes will get him promoted to Cpl. Over the next several years, Thompson plans to fast track his pilot license through the program.
“It’s not a pipe dream,” said Hovanes, citing local resident Ron Worth, who launched his career in aviation by becoming an air cadet in the 1940s. Worth eventually became a pilot for Air Canada.
“It started right here,” said Hovanes.
In years past, the cadet program’s constant weekend use of gliders for up to two months of the year caused an individual to issue a complaint to the town.
That led Hovanes to ponder the alternative.
“Would you rather have them hanging out on the street corner or taking advantage of this valuable opportunity in their backyard, all paid for by the Department of National Defence. You’re not going to find that opportunity anywhere else,” he told the cadets.
In his address to the cadets, Hovanes spoke about the value of applying hard work in any environment, particularly as the age of information makes it challenging to set goals that don’t offer instant gratification.
He related that sense of dedication back to the opportunity to become a professional pilot and acknowledged that memorizing drills is not an easy feat, telling the cadets they deserve to be proud of their accomplishments.
Hovanes felt a little outshined by his address, having followed a speech by LAC Anna Mardian, who is from Osoyoos, painted an inspiring picture of her personal growth since she joined cadets in the fall.
“I can’t compete with that talent,” Hovanes said. “She was very good.”
Mardian said that she was nervous about beginning the cadets program after signing up, but her tensions were eased immediately after the first meeting.
She shared the feelings of excitement that came from learning about rifles and getting to fire one, and she especially enjoys the opportunities cadets are given to support community initiatives. She believes that all cadets have the potential to be leaders and said the values learned in the program will reverberate through their entire lives.
Mardian signed up with her younger brother, LAC Garret Mardian.
They were both enticed to join cadets by their father’s encouragement and Garret had always been interested in wrapping his head around military drills and procedures.
“I thought it would be easy turned out to actually be a little complicated,” he said.
Garret plans on remaining a cadet until he turns age 19 (when you must leave the program) and just like many of his counterparts, he also plans on earning his pilot’s licence as a cadet.
Although he already knew some of the squadron through school, Garret made many new friends in the program and said one of his favourite group activities is learning how to survive off the grid.
“We’re all nerds,” he confesses. “I mean that in a good way.”
In closing remarks, ACLC Inspector Penny Doern said the day’s presentation made obvious the squadron’s dedication and commitment.
Knowing that many cadets will be spending much of their summer at camp learning about the outdoors, she hopes they return in the fall to brainstorm and share what they learned.
DAN WALTON
Regional Reporter
