24 Red Deer Royal Canadian Air Cadet Squadron at Skywings Aviation at Red Deer Regional Airport during their Annual Ceremonial Review in June, 2019. (Supplied)

By Sheldon Spackman

Graduation Ceremony

24 Red Deer Royal Canadian Air Cadet Squadron to hold 77th Annual Ceremonial Review

Jun 11, 2021 | 3:52 PM

Dozens of local youth will be gathering virtually this weekend to celebrate the 77^th Annual Ceremonial Review (ACR) for the 24 Red Deer Royal Canadian Air Cadet Squadron.

The formal presentations and award ceremony will take place Sunday, June 13, starting at 2:00 p.m. with those interested in attending encouraged to log on by 1:45 p.m.

Click here to view the ceremony.

The event will also feature guest Reviewing Officer (RO) MCpl Michael Barclay (ret’d).

Captain Jolyne Crashley describes the event as a showcase for cadets to display the new skills they’ve acquired over the past season.

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“As well for them to be able to receive any promotions that they’ve earned through the training that they’ve received this year through their instructional, their aviation classes, their leadership classes,” she explains. “It’s basically like a cadet graduation ceremony at the end of the year for them.”

With the past year being mostly online due to the pandemic of course, Captain Crashley points out that it still offered cadets a unique opportunity to build on their learning and leadership skills.

“Our level ones were able to build shelters, so our seniors did a virtual class and level ones literally took their media devices outside and built the shelters, so they were able to still do that hands-on,” says Crashley. “But one thing we really saw was our seniors kind of took the virtual world and ran with it and we were seeing an increase in the level of teaching that they were doing. For example, using YouTube videos that they normally don’t have access to because the Armories doesn’t have that wifi capability, as well as showing the junior cadets how to use their devices.”

Crashley says cadets are often able to parlay those newfound skills into new opportunities, even after graduating from the program.

“The aviation skills that the cadets receive, they’re able to get jobs in those industries,” remarks Crashley. “But also the fact is, we’re teaching them leadership skills and organizational skills and they can take that into any field they’re doing.”

“A lot of the cadets say that once they get to university, they feel they have those skills of being able to plan their day, plan their exams, their tests, whatever they have, because of the skills that they learned,” she continues. “But also, they’re able to express themselves in a better way because we’ve challenged them to go above and beyond what the normal is.”

Crashley says about 65 cadets aged 12-18 took part in their program this year, with two of them poised to graduate on Sunday, and the rest set to move up in levels one through five.

“We would average between 40-50 cadets every Tuesday night, virtually, online,” she recalls. “So we feel pretty good that we’ve sort of maintained a good portion and only lost about 20 per cent. Actually, throughout this training year, we probably gained two cadets a month, so it’s quite interesting that parents are reaching out to us to find things for their cadets.”

“What I’m most proud of is that I was able to offer a program to the youth of our community that has been consistent, and it has drawn in and kept those kids,” concludes Crashley. “I’m just very proud of everybody and all my staff as well just stepping up. Just the versatility that I saw from the parents, my staff, I’m just very proud to be part of this squadron and the job that everybody has done at the end of the year.”