Ravi Gill?

by Betty Barton

Ravi Gill is a past warrant officer
first class with the Squadron 747
of the air cadets in Terrace, a
volunteer leader with the 6th Ter-
race Scout troop, a volunteer with
Search & Rescue - Air since the
summer of 1989 (he signed up as
a navigator), and a student at
Northwest Community College.

Ravi and his family moved to
Terrace when he was in Grade 3.
He was born in Brandon, Mani-
toba, where his father was an
electrician.

Ravi decided when he was in

' Grade 4 that someday he would be

an air cadet. He.was playing soc-
cer ‘at E.T. Kenney school one
evening while the air cadets were
holding a rifle guard practise. He
remembers thinking, "I’ll be doing
that some day.” |

Ravi also recalls that he started
wearing camouflage ‘clothing in
Grade 5 and, he jokes, "I could
have been a General by now (if
he’d officially started at the early

age of 10)." Ravi finally joined the

747 Squadron of air cadets in
Terrace on October 5, 1985 when
he was in Grade 9. He already had
schoot friends who were cadets, so
they “took him down". He was
excited and apprehensive at the
same time.

At the time, the 747 squadron
operated out of Clarence Michiel
school. Ravi recalls that the cadets
were lined- up outside and that

?

corporals yelled out commands and | power scholarship (flying school)

expected everyone to conform.
Ravi says, “It was really confus-
ing”. But even then, he was deter-

mined. "I can’t wait "til I get to do-

stuff like that, even yell out com-
mands." Gradually, the new
recruits were initiated into their
ranks. And now Ravi knows it also
entailed a lot of responsibility.

The squadron met once a week
for Parade Nights, drill classes,
leadership skills classes, discipline,
citizenship and physical fitness.
‘They also did fund raising and
sporis activities on weekends. All
the new recruits began as air
cadets. After six months, they
could generally expect to be pro-
moted to leading air cadets.
Because of Ravi Gill’s dedication
to the organization and hard work,
he became a leading air cadet after
only four months.

In January of Ravi’s first year,
he applied for a course of basic
training at the Armed Forces Base
_in Penhold, Alberta (15 kilometres
south of Red Deer). He attended
the course for two weeks in
August, recapping and expanding
on general cadet knowledge in-
cluding leadership, history, citizen-
ship and physical education. Ravi
graduated top of the class in basic
training. And he was recom-
mended to take the Junior Leaders
course the following summer.

‘In 1986, he went to Prince

George for the Royal Visit. Cadets

from all over the province lined
the streets and saluted as the Royal

. vehicle passed by.

In December of 1986, Ravi was

. ‘promoted to Corporal. He explains -
that this -happens at a point where

the leaders see that the cadet has
leadership potential. At Junior
Leaders, Ravi was Room Senior
(oversecing eight roommates) and

‘had to report to the camp warrant

officer. He was also the Colour
Party commander for flag raising
ceremonies at the Junior Leaders
camp.

After JLC, Ravi went back as a
staff cadet the following summer.
They were marked constantly and
Ravi ended up with flight sergeant
rank (senior non-commissioned
officer with. three NCO leaders
under him) and one-commissioned
officer above. It was Ravi’s task to

run the flight (group), ensure that
every cadet was in his place, and
act as liaison between the cadets
and the CO. He motivated, discip-
lined, examined and marked
exams. His first summer intake of
cadets consisted of 44 cadets ages
14 to 18. Ravi turned 17 that sum-
mer. Despite the fact that he was
younger than some of his subordi-
nates, Ravi was awarded top Junior
Leader’s flight.

Ravi attributes Cadets to his
growing interests in many things.
He says he started out “in the
Rambo scene" and even had the
nickname Rambo, instigated by the
special wing commander at his
Junior Leaders course.

As a result of further Air Cadets
training, he "got into the pilot
scene", He finally got accepted for

in the summer of 1989. Scholar-
ships are awarded on the cadet’s

‘community service, schoo] marks

and cadet service. He received his
wings on August 18, 1989 for
single engine aircraft under 4,000
lbs. One of Ravi's career thoughts
is to become a professional pilot,
but because he wears glasses he
can’t become a military pilot. He
is presently at Northwest Commun-
ity College taking university
entrance courses with thoughts of
pursuing aerospace engineering or
aeronautical science.

During his time with the 747
Squadron, Ravi Gill made air
cadets his full-time job. This June,
at age 19, Ravi Gill retired from
air cadets with the rank of Warrant
Officer First Class. He was the
second cadet in the 747 to ever
receive this honour. Trevor
Gleason, the first recipient, is now
in officer training for wings in the
Canadian Armed Forces. Ravi says
he needs some time off, to re-
Broup and concentrate on his
schooling (always emphasized in
cadets). But he is considering
taking on a cadet instructor posi-
tion, possibly next semester.

When asked if he would recom-
mend air cadets to a youngster
"coming of age", Ravi responded
enthusiastically, "Yes. Cadets
inspired me! It’s great, but you
have to be willing to make the
commitment. - There’s lots of
opportunity to travel, to mect new

friends, to get a well-rounded

training in first aid, athletics,
leadership, discipline and technical
courses,. You can’t beat being a

‘Cadet on these courses."

L

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