THE Lord Lieutenant of Roxburgh, Ettrick and Lauderdale, the Hon Capt Gerald Maitland-Carew, has visited the Air Cadets of 2180 (Galashiels) Squadron.
He was shown the various projects in which the cadets are involved including model building, flight simulation and an engineering project to turn a disused aircraft fuel tank into a small stylised aircraft for recruiting purposes.
The cadets also gave presentations on two aspects of RAF history: the Black Buck Raid on Port Stanley when an Avro Vulcan dropped a string of 1,000lb bombs on the airfield and Argentine defences and Operation Chastise, the famous raid by 617 (Dambusters) Squadron on the Ruhr dams during the Second World War.
After inspecting the parade, the lord lieutenant presented Cpl William Jackson with his Master Air Cadet certificate, one of only three held by cadets at the squadron.
He praised the cadets for their efforts and congratulated the adult staff for the time they gave in providing the range of activities available to squadron members.
The squadron is recruiting and in the coming months a range of activities is scheduled including flying kayaking, rock-climbing, and shooting.
Summer camps will see cadets from the Galashiels squadron spend time at RAF Boulmer, RAF Leuchars, RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, Joint HQ Rheindahlen in Germany and one cadet will spend two weeks in the Netherlands as part of the International Air Cadet Exchange.
Ten cadets are in the process of finalising gliding scholarships during which they will fly solo after a week of intensive training.
The spring and summer also bring a range of sports activities including hockey, rugby, football, athletics, cross country and swimming in which cadets from the squadron will be involved.
Anyone interested in becoming involved as a cadet or member of staff should contact the squadron on 01835 870543.