The Royal Canadian Air Cadets

As a few of you may know, I am an Air Cadet. More specifically, LAC (Leading Air Cadet) Tian of Royal Canadian Air Cadet Squadron 609 Steveston. We are the youngest of the three air cadet squadrons in Richmond, 655 Richmond Sqn, 692BCIT Aerospace Sqn and 609 Steveston Sqn. We have parade nights every Wednesday from 6:00 to 8:45 pm at Walter Lee Elementary School, although we have plans to move to Cambie Secondary sometime during May. To join you simply have to be over twelve (sorry grade 6’s!) and have parental permission (see website for more info).

You may have the stereotype in your mind that cadets is really dull and boring and all we do is drill all day, but if that was true I would have quit a very long time ago. There are four main activities we do: Parade Nights, Teams, Special Events and Summer Camps.

Parade nights are when we learn useful stuff. It may be drill so you won’t get yelled at by the warrant officer during opening and closing parade, the parts of an airplane, the ranks of the cadet program/Royal Canadian Air Force so you know the correct title of the person you are speaking to and other things related to planes, the Royal Canadian Air Force and the cadet program in general.

Teams are where you can learn how to accurately shoot an air rifle, save lives(possibly), play an instrument, speak effectively, and be amazing at drill. If you’re good at the things I just listed, you can compete in regional, provincial and maybe, just maybe, national competitions. I didn’t join any of the teams myself though, so I can’t say much about that.

The most amazing things however aren’t the teams or parade night; they’re the extra fun activities we do. To name the few that I participated in; a trip to Extreme Air Park to jump around for a while, Squadron Potluck with all sorts of delicious food, Squadron Mess Dinner at Sheraton, Cross Country Skiing at Cypress and Gliding. There are many more activities I didn’t go to or didn’t get the chance to yet (like rock climbing at the oval, a trip to the Seattle Museum of Flight and Fam flying) but you get what I mean. Did I mention that the majority of these are free? There is just usually a small deposit that you get back to make sure you actually go to what you signed up for.

Finally, we have summer camps. They range from range instructor to general training to basic aviation, fitness and more. These camps go very in-depth about the subject and as far as I know from the other cadets is my flight they are really great! Cadets has been a great experience for me, and I hope to see some of you the next time we are recruiting! A Posse Ad Esse (From Dream to Reality).

Website for more information: http://www.609steveston.ca/