THUNDER BAY – Over Ontario’s spring break in April, Thunder Bay Cadets had the opportunity to join their peers across the province for the Cadet Activities Program (CAP). CAP included a range of themed asynchronous activities (including virtual tours, daily challenges and lectures by special guest speakers) in which cadets could participate from the safety and comfort of their homes and local neighbourhoods. Providing a fun, challenging, and meaningful experience for cadets above and beyond what they would receive at the local unit level, CAP afforded a unique and rewarding experience for cadets.
This proved to be especially true for three cadets from Thunder Bay: Air Cadet Reid Daniele and Corporal Jeremy Nelson of 70 Royal Canadian Air Cadet Squadron and Leading Cadet Madelaine Beauparlant of 42 “Vindictive” Royal Canadian Sea Cadet Corps. Daniele, Nelson and Beauparlant each earned gold medals for the quality and quantity of their participation in CAP and will be virtually presented with their medals at a special online meet-and-greet with Lieutenant Colonel Barry Leonard and Chief Warrant Officer Gilles Godbout, the command team of Regional Cadet Support Unit Central which comprises the entire province of Ontario.
This gold medal-winning trio will have another opportunity to participate in exciting training during this summer’s in-person sessions of CAP taking place in Thunder Bay. Currently enrolled cadets, as well as any youth aged 12-14 who join a cadet unit prior to the end of August, will be able to take part in a week-long series of exciting activities — including hiking, marksmanship, mountain biking, STEM activities, socially-distanced sports, tours and more. All of these activities are free, and all are designed to help to meet the goals of the cadet program to develop attributes of good citizenship and leadership, promote physical fitness and stimulate an interest in the sea, army and air activities of the Canadian Armed Forces.