I just want to tell my Daughter how proud i was of her today :-)

My eldest daughter Rachel has been a member of 2160 (Sleaford) Squadron Air Training Corps for some time now, and today I took my 6 year old son to see her attend the opening of the new building that has been built to replace their current one which itself was opened in 1962...which makes it even older than I am !.

She, along with her ATC friends did a fantastic job today, and all of them were a great credit to not only the Air training Corps, but also to their obviously proud families. Far too often people are very negative about the young of our country, but I can honestly say that today I saw a great bunch of young people who are a credit too their parents,Sleaford,the ATC and most importantly of all ....themselves.Well done to you all.

I was myself a member of the ATC many years ago, but as my home town was Mansfield, I was a member of 384 Squadron. Standing there today watching the event take place, i thought of my own experiences as a young lad in the Air Cadets all those many years ago, all the friends that I made,the meetings every Wednesday and Friday night, the summer camps,the rifle range and of course the flying experiences..........fantastic !.

Of course after I left the ATC I then went on to join the RAF and served with it for 12 years as an Airframes Technician, but this does not mean that all the young people who join the ATC are destined for the regular air force,but the experience that they gain by simply being part of the organisation is something that they will find invaluable in their future lives.

Anyway, as I said at the start of this blog entry, I just want to tell you Rachel how proud I was of you today, your a great daughter, and made your dad smile today when he saw you march up to receive your awards.well done :-)