It was a rare opportunity for air cadets from three different southeast communities to come together and demonstrate their different techniques, formations and abilities.
Members of the Wylie-Mitchell Air Cadets from Estevan, the Moose Mountain Air Cadets from Carlyle and the Bow Valley Air Cadets in Oxbow participated in a wing ceremony on April 17 at the Oxbow Memorial Hall.
The wing parade was held in honour of a visit from Lieutenant-Colonel Michelle Claveau, who is based out of Winnipeg and is the commanding officer of the regional cadet support unit for the Northwest region, which includes the provinces of Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Alberta, and the territories of Nunavut, Northwest and Yukon.
“It was a great success,” said Lieutenant Mark Neuman, the commanding officer for the Bow Valley Air Cadet Squadron.
“We had around 60 cadets participate in the wing parade. We had a … military band presentation, a pipe … and drums presentation, followed by a few short speeches from dignitaries.”
The Oxbow branch of the Royal Canadian Legion is the sponsoring branch of the Bow Valley Air Cadets, and the Legion’s president, Roy Wardrope, spoke to the squadrons.
The Saskatchewan Air Cadet League representative, retired Major Pete Garton, addressed the cadets on behalf of the Air Cadet League of Canada. Then Claveau had a short message for the members.
“She explained to them the impact that they make in the community and the impact it will make on their lives, preparing them for life and preparing them to be future leaders of our communities and country,” said Neuman.
A wing parade requires a lot of work to set up and prepare for the parade itself. The cadets form on parade and march into position. The military band, the pipe band and the colour party then marched in. A reviewing party will then conduct an inspection.
“It’s quite a lengthy procedure to get everything done up properly before the inspection,” said Neuman. “Once that’s all done, then the reviewing party will come out, and they will do a general salute to the reviewing officer.”
O Canada was played, and then Claveau carried out her inspection of the military band, the pipe and drums band, the colour party and the squadrons. Once the inspections were finished, the squadrons marched past and paid compliments to the reviewing officer.
Neuman noted the Bow Valley Cadets hosted a wing parade earlier in the year, which also involved Estevan and Carlyle. They were common events when he was a cadet in the 1970s and 1980s, and they typically happened in Estevan.
“It entailed a physical education competition, as well as a drill competition between the squadrons and a marksmanship competition,” he said.
But those events have been rare for the three squadrons since the early 1980s. The Moose Mountain cadets hosted a wing parade in Carlyle a few years ago in honour of their 50th anniversary.
“But this particular wing parade was very, very special with the military band and the pipe and drum as well,” said Neuman.
Since these events haven’t happened very often in recent years, Neuman said it has been nice to have them all come together a couple times this year.
