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Sponsored for over 70 years by:
The Rotary Club of Oshawa
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Issue # 3
Week of Sept. 23, 2012
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Welcome New Recruits
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This week we have added the email addresses of over 45 new cadets who joined the Squadron this past week. Remember the new recruit course is just getting started so if you know of other youth who may be interested in joining the Squadron now is the time to get them involved.
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Battle of Britain Parade
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The Squadron was out in full force this past weekend for the annual Battle of Britain Ceremony at the Oshawa Airport. The afternoon started off with a brief on Oshawa’s military history with special emphasis on Oshawa’s #20 Elementary Flying School RCAF which trained military pilots here in Oshawa during the war. The briefing was held in the airport’s departure Lounge which last year was named in honour of W/C Lloyd Chadburn. This year we again started the parade off with the entire Squadron marching across the airport and down one of the main runways to the south side of the field. This is the second time that the Squadron has done this and the Airport Manager has now invited the Squadron to continue with the tradition in future years. There are not too many air cadet units that get the opportunity to march across a fully operational airport with their flags flying and their band playing.
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The Last Post
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This parade is an important occasion and a time once again to reflect on the significance of this event and its effect on world history. It is best described through the following comments by Winston Churchill
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“The Debt to Our Airmen”
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“The gratitude of every home in our island, in our Empire, and indeed throughout the world except in the abodes of the guilty goes out to the British airmen who, undaunted by odds, unweakened by their constant challenge and mortal danger, are turning the tide of world war by their prowess and their devotion.
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Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.”
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Winston Churchill
Address to the British Parliament
Wednesday, August 21, 1940
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They shall not grow old as we who are left grow old
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them
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Summer Training
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In last week’s issue we promised to include photos of cadets who had excelled during the summer training period. On the left are two brothers who picked up Silver and bronze medals for their achievements during their summer courses at CFB Borden. In the second photo we would like you to meet two of the Squadron’s newly minted private pilots and a third who was presented with his glider pilot wings. There is actually a third private pilot but she is now off to university.
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Welcome to England and the Royal Air Force
“Now let’s be clear people, over here this is way it’s done!”
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Our cadets had a special welcome when they arrived at the school in Wells. As you might appreciate it was a long tiring journey and the next thing they knew they were getting a blast from the Wing Warrant Officer and a snarly Flight Sargeant both in full No. 1’s, studded boots and pace sticks. It seemed our cadets fall in procedure just did not match the precision that was expected in the UK. Cadets soon found out it was all an act as the Flight Sargeant gave it away with a big grin after viewing the shock on the cadets faces. Then it was welcome to England.
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Here they are!
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HMS Victory Portsmouth, 10 Downing Street London, Stone Henge
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Field Exercises – The Brit Version
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You may notice the odd shirt on some of our cadets that say “I SURVIVED YOXTER” on the back. Yoxter Training Camp is a British Army training area and camp situated on the Mendip Hills in Somerset. It is between the villages of Charterhouse and Priddy. We did our downed pilot and search and recovery exercises on this site after spending the day learning field craft from our hosts. We were very fortunate that so many local squadrons were willing and able to lend a hand with our trip. They have some true Subject Matter Experts, as at least one of them had recently returned from Afghanistan. Like every other day, the food was excellent and well received by our cadets. Our Hosts were also very generous in letting our cadets keep the British Camouflage field uniforms they were issued for the exercise. We will surely have a taste of Britain at our next Ganaraska weekend. In these photos you can see some of the finer touches of field makeup.
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Some Unfinished Business
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As mentioned last week there were a number of things that needed to be done once the Squadron got back in operation. One of these items were promotions and here you can see six new Corporals who were promoted this past week. In the second photo Major Bliss can be seen presenting the Squadron’s drill team commander with a Drill Cane that was presented to the Squadron to recognize the fact that our Squadron had the top Drill with Arms Drill Team, Navy, Army and Air in the Province of Ontario.
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THOUGHTS FROM THE TREADMILL
Maj. Bliss
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I was thinking of calling this little blurb “thoughts from the driver’s seat” and was thinking that anything that came to me during the course of my commuting time might fill some space. Then I thought that quite often while sitting in traffic, my thoughts aren’t necessarily very nice. So I thought of where I try to spend time as much as possible, and that is my trusty old treadmill. I do try to stay in shape and although it seems to be a struggle, the time spent walking to nowhere does give an individual time to reflect on many different topics. Between me and the other staff members, who will occasionally have guest appearances here, this space will be a spot for sharing thoughts on a weekly basis. Sometimes this will be geared towards the parents, sometimes the cadets, and sometimes it might just be a bit of a rant. This little section of the weekly newsletter is one method I will use to communicate with you.
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This week my thoughts ranged from birds to Princes, communication to volunteers and a little bit of other stuff thrown in for good measure.
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Throughout my time as a cadet, then the military and now with a civilian job and working with the cadets again, the same thing keeps coming up as the most important part of all of these organizations. Communication above all else is the key to a successful team. The officer team at the squadron has worked together for a long time, and although quite often it seems like we can read each other’s minds, we still communicate through different methods many times each week. My preferred method of communication is still talking, but email and texting certainly have come a long way. I want every member of the Squadron to remember that a computer not working, or a cell phone that has a dead battery is not an excuse for communication not taking place. Please be prepared to pick up the phone and talk.
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Although we didn’t see it happen, I have a picture in my mind of a poor Harris Hawk being tossed out the window of a truck travelling 65 km/h down the runway at the airport. Although this sounds cruel, the gentleman that was kind enough to talk to the squadron before we marched across the airfield last weekend swears she likes it and it just gives her a needed boost to do her job, this picture has entered my mind several times as I trudge along at a whopping 6 km/h and it brings a smile.
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The Prince in my thoughts is Prince Phillip, The Duke of Edinburgh. As you have all read and will hear on the weekly call, there will be a presentation on Wednesday night at the hall. This will take place at 1930 and will be over no later than 2130. Please show up a few minutes early. I encourage you all to read up a bit about the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Program, this is your chance to participate in a program that will reward you for all the hard work you do at cadets. Parents are welcome to attend. This program is only open to those 14 years of age and older. We will be running it every year, so if you are not old enough now, don’t worry, it will happen again.
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TAGGING will be the subject of many talks this week. Once again we are asking for every cadet’s effort to make this tag day as successful as all the rest. To the parents, I ask your patience when picking up and delivering your cadet to their assigned locations. We have staff covering many locations and they can’t be at all of them at the same time. The last thing I want to talk about this week is one of the very important parts of the machine that is Chadburn Squadron. Volunteers. There is no way that we could possibly offer the program we do without the help of all of our volunteers. I am sure you have all seen the numerous people that seem to be at so many of our activities. They show up early, they leave late, they will most of the time have a Squadron shirt on. Sometimes they are the ones cleaning up after an activity, sometimes providing first aid, sometimes piloting the plane taking the cadets flying. We owe them a debt that is not easily paid off. Having said that, I count myself extremely lucky to have such a large pool of eager and willing volunteers to draw from. A lot of parents have come to me and offered to become a volunteer. There are some things that I look at when looking at a new Civilian Volunteer. Do I have a job to keep them busy? When we have volunteers standing around with no job, we end up with grumpy volunteers. Sometimes we just don’t have enough work to keep all of our staff busy. If this is the case, I may ask a potential volunteer to keep us in mind, but currently we have nothing for them.
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I ask cadets who have parents that want to volunteer if they want their parents there. Most say “of course I do”, but some cadets prefer that it stay their time. Sometimes either one of my staff or I see that the cadet would be better served by having a bit of time without mom or dad there for a while, if this is the case I will explain that as well.
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There may be times throughout the year where we can use the services of parents without having them come down every Monday night. Tag Days are one of them. If you are interested in volunteering for this very important activity, please see OCdt McAteer on Monday night, he will take your name and let you know if there is a need for more people.
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That is probably more than enough for this week. I could go on about England and great opportunities, but I think they will keep me busy another week.
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Aviation Photo of the Week
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Now we do not have a photo this week but we do have a video. It may appear that we are now in the golf business but just be patient and watch.
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Go to http://www.youtube.com/embed/XRIzE_xMqMI
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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 rgilbank@rogers.com
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151 Chadburn Squadron
Royal Canadian Air Cadets
*** Excelsior per Debere ***Excellence through Endeavour
Sponsored by the Rotary Club of Oshawa