A dedicated team of 14 Penhold air cadets was given the final salute from judges during the regional drill competition in Red Deer in early March.
The No. 7 Penhold Air Cadet Precision Drill Team took first place in a competition that faced them off against five other Central Alberta teams March 5.
The tri-service competition featured air, army, and navy cadets from Rocky Mountain House, Red Deer, Ponoka, and Penhold who were competing for the chance to move on to the provincial drill competition.
This is only the second year the Penhold Air Cadets have had a drill team and the program is already proving to be successful.
"We did very good. The level of hard work the cadets put in really paid off," said Warrant Officer 1st Class Victor Mahoney, who is the drill team commander.
The team not only won the overall prize but also took first place in all three of the different judging categories, which included top drill team, top drill team commander, and best dressed cadet.
"We took the triple crown so to say," said Mahoney.
Mahoney said that competing with a drill team requires discipline, hard work, and practice and that team did all of those things.
Cpl. Kara Canning, one of the members of the drill team, agreed saying that they did better then she expected.
"We did really good, I went on the team because I thought I could improve my drill and I have," said Canning.
Canning said that she enjoys learning new techniques during drill and is excited to be able to help cadets at lower levels learn them as well.
Fifth year cadet Flight Sergeant Kole Yttri is second in command on the drill team and said that one of the good things about the team is it will get other cadets more interested in improving their drill.
"When we do good it helps other people realize that drill is important and fun and might even get them to join."
Although the cadets are still waiting to hear if they will be moving on to provincials they are continuing to train for their presentation at the Annual Ceremonial Review at the end of the season.
