The students from the first serial of the Greenwood Cadet Training Centre’s advance aviation course had an eventful three weeks at 14 Wing Greenwood this July. The course is designed to prepare students for the glider and power pilot scholarship courses offered to senior Cadets by teaching them the basics of ground school. While pilot training is exciting, Captain Eric Simpson, the program’s course commander, explains how the program helps the Cadets gain valuable life skills for their futures.
“The Cadets, while they’re here, gain lots of leadership opportunities; they’re put in different scenarios where they’re going to build on those skills, they build on their time management skills – this is a very academic course for them. They’re building lots of skills that are going to be valuable as they go along, studying skills which they’ll be able to use when they go off to high school.”
For Course Cadet Amira Hafaiedh, developing her capabilities as a leader is a big part of the draw in the program.
“I’m really glad my mom signed me up, because this has been a really cool experience. Next year, I’m going to be a level 4 Cadet, so I’ll be able to take on more leadership roles. I’ve already started to take on some of them and it’s really, really cool to be in charge and have that position of authority and to see how they listen to you and how they they follow your instructions.”
Course Cadet Neil Wang, like many of his 28 peers, was excited to participate in their first in-person summer program, as the last summer’s sessions were conducted virtually due to pandemic restrictions.
“It’s my first time coming to an in-person summer camp. It’s really fun. I’ve made a lot of new friends here and the training and activities we do are super fun. My favorite activity so far has probably been the wing tour we did yesterday, where we toured 14 Wing, the operational side of the air base. We got to see a lot of the planes and everything that goes on behind the scenes.”
As part of the wing tour, Cadets had the opportunity to breach doors with the Military Police, operate discharge hoses with the firefighters, visit a Hercules aircraft at 413 (Transport and Rescue) Squadron, and even traverse the catwalk at the air traffic control tower.
In addition to the various aviation activities scheduled for the course, such as simulator training, building model planes, and flying remote control aircrafts; July 26, the students also took part in one of the of the Greenwood Military Aviation Museum’s summer tours, which included an inside look at the air park’s C47 Dakota. For Course Cadet Megan Maxwell, this was one of the highlights of the program.
“It’s a lot of fun. I really like all the hands-on stuff: going to the aerodrome yesterday, that was a lot fun. So was going to the museum.”
Before their graduation August 3, the Cadets would also receive a familiarization flight in a Cessna piloted by one of their peers, Course Cadet Staff Ryan Stevens.
