Proudly Sponsored for over 70 years by:
The Rotary Club of Oshawa
Issue #8
Week of Oct. 27, 2013
Do Not Forget !!!
New Recruit Course Starting December 2
The next recruit course will start on Monday December 2, 2013 with a parent/cadet information night. The evening will start at 7:30 PM with a briefing which will last 1 hour. Parents/New Recruits are asked to be there by 7:15 PM as seating is limited. The session will be held at the Air Cadet Hall, 254 Centre Street South Oshawa. This in on the West Side of Centre just north of Gibb Street. Parking is across the road at Village Union PS, access from Gibb Street.
Cadets must be 12 years of age at time of joining, be a Canadian Citizen or Permanent Resident, be in good health and of good moral character.
The application package can be found on our website :
https://www.chadburn.org/how-to-join/becomeacadet
Please ensure you bring the correct identification documents :
Canadian Birth Certificate
Canadian Passport
Canadian Citizenship Card
Canadian Permanent Resident Card
Please also bring your health card.
If you know someone who is interested in becoming an air cadet please let them know about this meeting.
Rotary Club Luncheon
This past Monday, cadets and staff attended a special noon hour luncheon of the Rotary Club at Oshawa Golf Club. The guest speaker was Wilfrid Wilkinson, a Rotarian from the Trenton Rotary Club. It was a special day for Rotarians as their guest was not only a dedicated and enthusiastic Rotarian, but he had also served as the World President of Rotary International. In that capacity he had literally travelled the world to promote the ideals and programs of the Rotary organization. Rotary is active in many countries around the world and one could not help but be impressed with the progress that Rotary has made in eradicating the scourge of polio and measles for the world’s human population. This has been one of the main programs of Rotary and they are close to achieving their objective. It was an important day for the cadets as they were afforded a rare look into ideals and activities of Rotary, an organization that has been our sponsor since our Squadron’s formation in 1942.
Field Training Ganaraska Forest
Each year the Squadron conducts its annual weekend field training program in the Ganaraska Forest Centre. Few may know that this weekend in the bush has been an annual event since the first outing in 1960. The cadets get a chance to orienteer in the forest, test their navigation skills by navigating through the bush in the dark, learn how to build signal fires and of course participate in the annual romp through the Squadron’s obstacle course. For some cadets it is also the first time they had the opportunity to eat Canadian Forces field rations. This year as per usual it rained and that forced a cancelation of the night navigation trip however as you can see from the following photos the traditional obstacle course was available to challenge the cadet’s stamina and test the leadership abilities of the cadet NCOs.
Royal Order of the Glassy Boot
Honourable Members
F/Sgt K.Katzer, F/Sgt A.Boyden, Cpl F.Chandler, F/Sgt J.Shaw F/Sgt S.Sheppard, F/Sgt A.Ford Williams, F/Sgt R. Bliss
From the Treadmill
As another month ends and we ramp up for our annual year end activities, thoughts are flying as fast as the days go by.
Due to a communication mix-up, the thoughts from last week didn’t show up in the Dispatch and although the UCCMA is a vitally important position within the Squadron, it is not the only thing that filled my brain last week. Looking back through it, the major thing that filled this spot was thanking the staff that gave up their weekend to make our annual ‘Ganny’ weekend another success. There were at least 17 officers and civilian staff members who not only attended the weekend, but who had worked for months in advance making sure everything was prepared. Busses, tents, food, propane, radios and compasses all came up on a regular basis leading to the weekend. Who can drive the truck? Who is going to get the firewood? Where is the best place to do the grocery shopping that comes with this weekend? This is not just another camping trip with the van loaded for the family. 100 cadets and staff do all this and then the training on top that has to meet the military requirements. No matter how many sets of fingers were crossed wishing for good weather, it was not to be; Kudos to all the hearty souls who get to put another Ganny notch in their belts. A job well done.
This last week saw nine Flight Sergeants and two Warrant Officers sit before a Merit Review Board. This is a relatively new system that the military has put in place to ensure transparency in the promotion process. Some nervous faces went in to the board, some smiles came out. Speaking with the board members after a long night of interviews, I came away with a couple things. The future of the Squadron looks bright and we need to broaden the scope of some of our classroom instruction to senior cadets.
I hope those that were interviewed came away with some insight into the promotion process. It is not all about the interview, there was an in depth review of all files, points are given for many things, some are similar to our achievement program and others are specific to this merit system. Summer courses, Monday night Training, participation in Squadron teams and competitions, awards at all levels, and of course the uniform are all looked at, given a mark and then when all the marks are added up a priority list of candidates is given to the me. I will submit my promotion intentions to our Area Cadet Officer and after he looks at them to make sure they are fair and meet the requirements, he will authorize me to promote.
I’d like to thank Ms. Glenyce McDonald from the Rotary Club of Oshawa, Major C. Blight who is our Regional Cadet Advisor and Captain B. Weigel, for participating in the board. It is greatly appreciated.
Finally, on Monday night, a letter will go home regarding our now annual Poinsettia fund-raising opportunity. This is the fourth year that we have done this, and I would like to thank CI Leslie Hurley for heading it up. If you are a Christmas flower kind of person, I can tell you that in past; the plants delivered in this program have been excellent quality and a very good value. The Squadron does get a pretty good percentage of all the money raised back from the garden center. I do ask that if you order plants you keep in mind the pickup date and times, it is a very long day for the staff and if they have to start chasing people to pick up their plants it gets even longer.
That’s all for now.
Stay Safe and Have a Great Week.
Major Bliss
Aviation Photo Of the Week
Canadian Warplane Heritage’s Avro Lancaster
A night time run up and photo opportunity for aviation enthusiasts
One of only two Lancaster Bombers currently flying anywhere in the world today
If you have comments or suggestions on ways to improve our newsletter, our website or if you wish to unsubscribe from this email please notify
151 Chadburn Squadron
Royal Canadian Air Cadets
*** Excelsior per Debere ***Excellence through Endeavour
Proudly Sponsored by the Rotary Club of Oshawa