Do you know a teenager who wants to fly a plane? Interested in learning life skills from bushcraft, survival, and first aid to responsibility and citizenship?
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The 325 (City of Goulburn) Squadron Australian Air Force Cadets is accepting applications from 13 - 16 year old boys and girls until the end of March, as part of a national recruiting drive.
The squadron is a youth development organisation that seeks to instill self-confidence, self-discipline and leadership skills, and interest in the aerospace industry, in an aviation-focused, military-like environment.
The squadron is sponsored and administered by the Royal Australian Air Force; it is a Defence Youth Program, like the army or the navy cadets.
"A lot of kids like the friendship - the camaraderie and mateship through wearing a uniform," admin officer Lt Brad Lochrin said. "Everybody is rewarded for effort as they work toward their common goals."
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Today, the Goulburn squadron has 15 members - both male and female - and six instructors.
On Thursday evenings, the cadets parade at the multi-user depot in Auburn Street; learn bushcraft skills, outback survival, weather-reading, camping, and cooking; and are taught how aircraft fly, about the Australian aviation industry, the role of the RAAF.
Cadets also practice camouflage and moving in military formations, radio communication skills, navigating with compasses, and marksmanship and safe weapons handling.
The RAAF also trains cadets to fly gliders and powered aircraft. (Training is free.) Thirteen-year-olds can fly an aircraft supervised by a qualified flying instructor; fifteen-year-olds can learn how to fly glider aircraft solo; and sixteen-year-olds can train to fly a powered aircraft solo - before they're old enough for a car licence.
During school holidays, cadets can attend training camps at air force bases around NSW, and meet pilots and aerospace engineering firms, or even get the chance to represent Australia overseas.
"They get a first-hand experience of what air force life is like, and what it's like to work for an airline or a charter company," Lt Lochrin said.
Cadets will also learn command leadership, decision-making, initiative, self-discipline, time-management, clear thinking, public speaking, and administration - useful skills for finding work.
"We get a lot of kids that come in quite quiet when they begin," Lt Lochrin said. "When we've had them for a few months, they start to come out of their shell; they become more self confident and more self-assured, and develop a bit of resilience and hopefully some leadership that they can take into whatever endeavour they choose to take on."
There is no stipulation for cadets to join the defence force.
"It's simply an experience young people can have that they will take with them for the rest of their lives," Lt Lochrin said.
"I was a cadet in high school. It was one of the best experiences for setting me up in life, even though I didn't necessarily pursue a career in the military."
Lt Lochrin is a paramedic in the ACT Ambulance Service; other trainers are nurses, corrections officers, and teachers. Some are ex-military, some aren't. Most, Lt Lochrin said, are ex-cadets, who want to contribute to an organisation that gave them a positive learning experience growing up.
The squadron also welcomes cadets with disabilities. Past cadets have had cerebral palsy, or been in wheelchairs. These conditions might normally preclude them from activities, Lt Lochrin said, but does not in this case.
"We're more than happy to have them on board," Lt Lochrin said. "If parents out there think their son or daughter might not qualify, that's not necessarily the case. We can always adapt to try to facilitate the same experience for anyone."
The squadron is also open for inquiries from members of the public who would like to become instructors or staff members - particularly female staff.
For more information, email bradley.lochrin@airforcecadets.gov.au.
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