RAAF News
RAAF Drone racing Team Visit
On the 27th of May MGC hosted a spectacular showcase by the RAAF Drone Racing Team in the gym. We helped the team set up for the night and directed guests from outside MGC to the showcase, where the drone racing team displayed their drones and what they do.
Along with their day jobs in the RAAF, they fly high performance drones. They use STEAM skills to help maintain and build the drones, as well as helping them understand how the drones fly. The team explained that the drones could be used for a number of purposes, and showed us a demo of them flying some of the drones. It was really exciting seeing the first-person perspective of the drone speeding through the air. They then allowed us to take a closer look at the drones, try out their flying simulators, and have conversations with them about relative careers.
Overall, it was an extremely enjoyable night where we learned about a fun engaging side of the defence force and saw really incredible technology.
- CCPL Alexandra Pilepich
Wing Competition
On Sunday the 29th, our squadron sent a team of three cadets to compete in a shooting competition. Spending the day at the Melbourne International Shooting club, we improved our precision and accuracy in the sport. Competing against other squadrons from all over Victoria (4 Wing), we placed fourth overall! As a team we had an amazing day out on the range, and it was even better that our efforts achieved us such a great score. We are looking forward to further improve in later shooting days, and do our squadron proud again at next years competition!
- CCPL Maya Garrett
4 Wing Bivouac
Over the Queen's Birthday long weekend, many cadets from all over Victoria gathered at Rowallan Scout Camp to take part in the Wing Bivouac. With the scenario being that we were part of the Australian Space Service, cadets and NCOs got to take part in a range of activities ranging from archery, camouflage and concealment, flying drones, navigation and field engineering. We received ration packs and cooked our own food every meal and at night, worked together to move around undetected. It was also a fantastic weekend for everyone to practice their leadership and communication skills.
For everyone, it was an opportunity to learn something new, whether that be building a fire, setting up a tent, reading a map, using a radio or figuring out how long to cook tinned spaghetti! We are very grateful for all the staff and cadet staff who gave up their time to run the activities and ensure we had everything we needed to be set for the very chilly but action packed and FUN weekend. It was great to meet so many other cadets from all over Victoria and participate is such a thrilling activity!
CCPL Cayenne Lim
Gallipoli Lone Pine Planting at Government House
Thursday 2nd of June, SGT(AAFC) Slater and I were invited down to the government house to celebrate Queen Elisabeth’s Platinum Jubilee, held to honour 70 years of reign. We had an incredible opportunity to have tea with Her Excellency the Honourable Linda Dessau, Governor of Victoria along with her husband Mr Anthony Howard and representatives from the RAAF, Army and Navy.
To honour this occasion 7 lone pine seedlings were planted at the government house, however, these weren’t just any lone pine seedlings; they are the grandchildren of the lone pine that stands in the centre of the 400 plateau in Gallipoli. As the battle between the ANZACs and the Ottoman Empire on the 400 plateau ends, an Australian soldier collects a single pinecone. This pinecone would go on to germinate 4 lone pine saplings that would be planted at Wattle Park, the Soldier’s Memorial Hall, Warrnambool, and the Shrine of Remembrance. The seedlings were grown by the community group Friends of Warrnambool Botanic Gardens and donated to Government House. The parent tree of the seedlings is the Warrnambool Lone Pine, which is the direct descendant of the Lone Pine, from Lone Pine Ridge, Gallipoli. As the Warrnambool pine is no longer producing cones for seed propagation, the seedlings were among the last ones available from this tree.
This was a fantastic opportunity for not only me and SGT(AAFC) Slater but the whole AAFC.
CWOFF Saige Harrison