Rayleigh and Wickford MP, Mark Francois, who is also Minister of State for the Armed Forces joined one of his local cadet units for a special dinner to celebrate their success at the Chichester Hotel recently.
1474 Squadron of the Air Training Corps are based in Wickford and Mark has already visited them in the past. During the evening, which was also attended by Wing Commander Deborah Robinson, who is the Commander of the Air Training Corps in Essex, they saw a number of awards handed out to Cadets for military proficiency across a range of activities, including shooting, map reading and flying.
The evening was also quite poignant as it was announced that Squadron Leader Steve Gilbey, who has commanded the Squadron for some 13 years, will be transferring to command another ATC Squadron in Southend and he will be replaced by Flight Lieutenant James Stretch.
Commenting on the evening, Mark Francois said:
"I was delighted to attend 1474 Squadron’s dinner wearing two hats, one as the Minister of State for the Armed Forces but also as the local constituency MP. I am a great supporter of the cadet movement and we have two ATC units in my constituency and two Army Cadet Force Units as well. 1474 are a very well run squadron and this was evidenced by the quality of the cadets that I met and the calibre of the awards that they qualified for. I wish Squadron Leader Steve Gilbey all the best of luck in Southend and also Flight Lieutenant James Stretch all good fortune when he takes over the Squadron in the near future."