Shawlands Cadet of the Year
Friday 9th June was the annual awards night for 2452 (Shawlands) Squadron. This was being held in Cathcart Parish Church Hall courtesy of the Squadron Padre the Reverend Ian Galbraith who is also the minister of Cathcart Parish Church.
The award ceremony is preceded by a formal inspection of the whole squadron. This year the inspecting officer is the new Regional Commandant for Scotland and Northern Ireland, Group Captain Morag M A Urquart. Of the 53 cadets currently in the squadron over half will receive some award in recognition award for their hard work over the past year. The number of awards reflects the wide range of activities the Air Cadets take part in, and all are fiercely contested within the squadron.
The most prestigious squadron award is the “Cadet of the Year”. This goes to the cadet who has worked the hardest, achieved the most and set the best example in the past year. Quite often this goes to one of the most senior cadets, but this year has been awarded to Cadet Marc Argo, not one of the seniors. Co-incidentally the “Best New Entrant” this year is his younger sister Rebecca and they are both following in the footsteps of their older brother Nick who is a sergeant on the squadron. All three siblings attend Mearns Castle High School. Other awards include trophies for sports, exam results, aircraft recognition and target shooting. There are a large number of certificates presented as well for achievements throughout the year. These include the Duke of Edinburgh Awards, gliding wings and marksmanship badges.
There is one major Scottish trophy presented this year to the cadets of Shawlands squadron. The Scottish Team Full Bore Shooting trophy was won by the team of J Ali, R Addison and brothers Nick and Marc Argo.
There is a special award for three of the cadets. The Army Air Corps have agreed to fly Cadet Marc Argo, the Cadet of the Year, Cadet Rebecca Argo, the Best New Entrant and Cadet F Campbell, who is just recovering from major surgery. They will be flown in Army Gazelle helicopters in August at a date to be arranged.
Not to be outdone some of the staff are also receiving awards. This year the squadron commander Flight Lieutenant Craig Gilmour receives his third clasp to his Cadet Forces Medal, recognising his continual uniformed service to the Air Training Corps since he first joined the squadron as a cadet, many, many years ago. There is also the presentation of the Certificate of Appointment to the squadrons' newest member of staff Mr G Michaluk, who has only been with the squadron a few months.
To coincide with the Cadet of the Year Night, Mr Tom Blackwood of Glasgow the Caring City Charity will present Glasgow and West Scotland Wing with a quaich for all the efforts the Air Cadets in the Wing by raising over £2500 to help the victims of the Asian Tsunami. This money was donated to Glasgow Caring City Charity to aid their work in the area. The Reverend Ian Galbraith who is the minister of Cathcart Parish is also the squadron padre for 2452 (Shawlands) Squadron of the Air Cadets. Ian was to receive the award on behalf of the Wing, but unfortunately has had to fly to Pakistan to solve a problem the charity has over there. The award will be received by the Commanding Officer of Glasgow and West Wing, Wing Commander George Campbell.