TISDALE 鈥� Mike Benjamin, commanding officer of the #624 Tisdale Royal Canadian Air Cadet Squadron, said they are hopeful for a September in-person cadet season, but whatever it is, it will not look the same.
鈥淚t will be different, I鈥檓 sure it will be different than what we鈥檙e used to but until we find a cure or a vaccine or something it鈥檚 going to have to be like that,鈥� Benjamin said.
鈥淲e鈥檙e hoping September, but it will depend on the situation and what鈥檚 determined safe and what鈥檚 not. We鈥檙e like the rest of the world, adapting to what鈥檚 happening.鈥�
Benjamin said that in March the cadets were required to transition into the virtual world.
鈥淭he bulk of our parade nights were done online, and we had a good response to that. We had some really good training sessions, all of our summer training was cancelled unfortunately, so all the good training overseas exchanges and that kind of stuff were cancelled.鈥�
For the online training sessions, the cadets connected online through social media. Once every cadet checked it, classes started.
鈥淲e do one or two classes per session, and it does involve some interaction between the cadets, a little bit of education and a little bit of just staying in touch with the cadets to keep a formal function going.鈥�
While Benjamin found this presented some unique challenge, as a lot of their training is done in person, it worked so far.
In the place of summer training camps, a virtual training camp was made, which Benjamin said several local cadets are a part of.
Benjamin said another thing they lost out on is their annual ceremonial review, which typically ends each cadet season. Dignitaries that were planned to be there this year to speak to the cadets included
鈥淲e had some high dignitaries coming to speak to the cadets, but they鈥檝e all confirmed they will come again next year if we can do it. Everything has kind of just been put on hold until once we know what鈥檚 happening and how we can plan around it.鈥�
