Aug 03 - UK Based RAF Cadet Visits Gibraltar RAF Base
A 16-year-old Royal Air Force (RAF) Air Cadet, who was on holiday with his family, was delighted to be given a tour of RAF Gibraltar by Station Commander, Wing Commander Greg ‘Vasco’ Smith.
Cpl Joe Kibble, from 384 Mansfield Squadron in Nottingham, joined the Air Cadets in January 2012 as a stepping stone to his future ambition of joining the RAF, he said:“I wanted to join the Air Cadets because I want to go into a career as a pilot in the RAF and I thought it would help me and give me a boost towards my future. I hope to be a fighter pilot if possible, but if not, I don’t really mind flying helicopters or doing anything really, but I would prefer to be a fighter pilot on fast jets.”
This year Joe was proud to be awarded the Non Commissioned Officer’s (NCO’s) Choice Award for his Squadron, he said: “I won the NCO’s Choice Award which basically means the Squadron NCO’s picked who they thought was their best cadet for that year, they chose me, it was nice for people to recognise what you do in the Squadron.”
Joe, a student from Joseph Whitaker School in Mansfield, is also a keen engineer and part of a team of young engineers at school who were awarded a Guinness World Record last year, he explains: “We currently hold the Guinness World Record for the fastest rocket-powered model car, when we tested the speed in October last year we reached a top speed of 533.1 miles per hour.”
Joe’s advice to anyone considering joining the RAF Air Cadets is simple. He said: “I would recommend it to anyone, it’s fun and you learn quite a lot from it, you learn your discipline, flying, field craft and shooting. You also go abroad and visit different places, but the thing I enjoy the most is that everyone knows each other so well, it’s not just friends, it’s more like family.”
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