Noticeboard

Cadets cannot attend any activities on NZDF facilities without being fully vaccinated against Covid-19. Evidence of vaccination is required to be uploaded into CadetNet.

If you are fully vaccinated and have not yet sent proof to the Unit, please request a letter from the Ministry of Health here: https://customervoice.microsoft.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=JMfOIyBt0Uuf6dxER-3R-p4xILeWi8ZIqFpxwSrxY19UMlZDRTBBTjA2M1BER0ZXV1JBMURMUENLNy4u and then send your letter to adj@17squadronatc.com once it arrives.

You may have noticed that there are now spaces for you to enter dates for every vaccine on the vaccine schedule into CadetNet. Please do NOT fill these all in, as we are currently focusing on mandatory information only. We only need tetanus and Covid-19 vaccine information at this stage. We will let you know if any other vaccine information is needed.

17 SQN will be joined by the 5 other NZCF units from around Christchurch in a short parade at the Airforce Museum to commemorate the 80th Anniversary of the New Zealand Air Training Corps.
Anniversaries are a great opportunity to celebrate the successes of 17 SQN and the wider ATC while also honouring the service and dedication of all those who came before us. Applications are open on CadetNet and more information can be found on the Forms page.

A recent issue with the generation of confirmation emails after a CadetNet activity application has now been resolved.

Cadets who had applied for an activity, and their NOK not received an email requesting confirmation, are asked to withdraw their application, and reapply.

We apologise for the inconvenience.

All cadets who were awarded a trophy at final parade last year are required to return these ASAP to the Adjutant’s office so they can be engraved for this year’s recipients.

Please note that there will be no parade night on Friday 12 November, due to it being a public holiday.

As Canterbury has not changed alert levels, parade will be on tonight as usual.

We look forward to seeing our Thursday crew tonight, and hopefully our Friday crew tomorrow night.

As you will be aware the program for Addington for this year has had to be severely curtailed. The races will still be going ahead but with no public attendance. Visitors will be limited to  a number of “bubbles”, all prepaid and under very strict conditions to comply with the current rules.

You will also be aware that for a number of years Addington has been our Units principle (or only) fundraiser with the income from our work there covering our operating expenses and keeping costs for activities for our cadets at a low level. We have built up an excellent relationship with Addington but we had expected that we may not have been required at all this year. However now they’re planning is underway they have advised that they would like approximately 25 personnel from 17 Squadron on Cup Day and a lesser number on Show Day. This will mean that we will still get a significant income which is good news.

We should be able to cover these numbers from the Officers and senior NCOs plus USC members but we may still need some assistance from parents depending on the final arrangements.

We would be grateful if you could let us know by email if you would be available on either day to assist if we need to expand our numbers. There will be no rubbish collection as such and the cadets will not be required to do the final clean-up as usual. The duties will be mainly car parking, traffic management and ensuring that visitors are sent to their appropriate bubbles. Timing still have to be confirmed but it looks to be about 09:30 through to 17:00 hours on Tuesday and 10:00 hours to 15:00 hours on Friday. Part days would be quite acceptable if you cannot do the full shift.

Having show week as our fundraiser  has been very successful in the past and we are delighted that we will still have some work this year. To put it bluntly like most organisations we need funding for our activities and having this activity means no raffles, sausage sizzles……

Should you need any further information contact either the Unit Commander, USC President Darryl or USC Secretary Neil Wech.

We had hoped to get back to parading as a whole Unit this term, but as we remain at level two, we will continue to parade in our Thursday and Friday night groups from last term. The exception to this is the Advanced Cadets (4th years), who will parade on a Thursday night only.
As mentioned previously, there is a small margin for swapping your assigned parade night. Please contact us if you wish to do so.
There will be no Friday parade this week, due to Exercise Taiaha. The Friday night group will catch up on missed content during the rest of term four. 
The protocols we had in place last term still stand. This includes:

• All personnel must maintain 1m distancing
• Over 18s must wear a facemask
• We ask parents and guardians to please remain in their vehicles when dropping off/collecting
• Handwashing is encouraged, and anyone feeling unwell should stay at home. 

We look forward to seeing you back in the next couple of weeks.

Exercise Taiaha is on this weekend, a reminder to those going to make sure you arrive at the block by 1800(6:00 pm) having had dinner and with everything listed on the gear list. Most importantly cadets must bring a waterproof rain jacket, warm jersey, sleeping bag and a large water bottle

Due to the NZCF requirements for travel all personnel will be required to bring a facemask to wear while being transported. Facemasks must be worn by over 18 personnel during the Exercise unless participating in physical activity. All personnel must maintain 1m distance from each other and 2m from members of the public.

If you have any questions for camp please email andrew.stopforth@cadetforces.org.nz

We have received a directive from the New Zealand Defence Force stating that from the 1st of November, any personnel attending an activity on an NZDF Base/Camp must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

A number of our camps and activities throughout the year take place on an NZDF establishment, so whilst Cadets do not require vaccination to be part of 17 SQN in general, there will be some camps and activities that they will unfortunately be unable to attend if they are not.

Cadets that wish to be able to attend activities on a Defence Force establishment need to submit a copy of their COVID-19 Vaccination Confirmation letter once they are fully vaccinated. This letter can be requested from the Ministry of health via this link. Please email this letter to us, and we will then upload it to your CadetNet profile. 

If Cadets do not wish to provide this information they will be unable to attend activities on a Defence Force establishment. 

Regarding upcoming activities, vaccination is not required for Exercise Taiaha or Exercise Takahe, as these are not held on a Defence establishment. It will however be required for attendance at Exercise Sparrowhawk (Dec 2-5), and the December and January Aviation courses (Gliding, Navigation, Powered Flying and RNZAF Immersion) that some of you have applied for. Proof of vaccination will need to be submitted before these applications can be advanced. 

I do apologise for any inconvenience and distress this directive may cause. Rest assured there are still a number of camps, experiences and opportunities we can offer if there are any Cadets who remain unvaccinated. 

If you have any questions around the NZDF directive, please get in touch.