My son's been promoted!

Some of you may know that my son is in the Air Cadets.  He's been a cadet for just over a year now; joining up the day after his 14th birthday in 2009.

We had his Presentation Evening just before Christmas and he's now been promoted to Corporal.  We were all so proud of him.  Both his grandparents, my sister and brother-in-law as well as our best friends were there with Will, Freya and myself to see him accept his stripes.

Those that know us will also know that we never let the kids have time off school either.  Jacob had been incredibly poorly that week (we've never, in his 15 years seen him so unwell; it was very nearly a trip to the doctors because of his very high temperature!) and he had missed his last day of school before Christmas that day, but point blank refused to miss his Presentation Evening.  He still looked unwell but was determined to take part.

He managed to get through his Continuity Drill but then as they were formed up afterwards he had to be taken out to sit down in the foyer where it was cooler, as he was about to pass out.  He really did look poorly and we ended up outside with him resulting in him missing his first presentation of his Leading Cadet qualification.

Although he started to recover from feeling faint, he still looked unwell and was unable to rejoin his fellow cadets at the front of the hall for the rest of the evening.

He did however, manage to collect his trophy which he was awarded for obtaining the best exam results of the year (he gained a Distinction in his 3 exams to become Leading cadet).  The news of this actually came from RAF Wittering through to his Commanding Officer and he was told on his birthday this year - what a present eh?

When given the opportunity to go and collect his stripes leading to his promotion, the beret was back on again and he managed to march with full pride up to the front of the hall to receive it. (Sorry the photo was blurred, he couldn't march up there quick enough to fetch them!)

Jacob, we are all so incredibly proud of your achievements and continued dedication to your Air Cadet Squadron and fellow Cadets.

Congratulations Corporal Guthrie!

xxxx