PRESS RELEASE - 11th June 2007
Former Burnely Air Cadet Joines the RAF Regiment

A former cadet of 352 ( Burnley ) Squadron, Air Training Corps (ATC), has recently passed the arduous 18 week Trainee Gunners (TG) Course at RAF Honnington in Suffolk , to earn his coveted Royal Air Force Regiment "mudguards".

The RAF Regiment provides "Force Protection" for the RAF when it is deployed in the field. For example, RAF Regiment Squadrons protect and defend airfields, aircraft, and other RAF assets in Iraq and Afghanistan . They are the soldiers of the RAF, and also provide Tactical Forward Air Control to coordinate airstrikes on ground targets near friendly troops, in addition to the Ground Extraction Force for Combat Search and Rescue operations.

Leading Aircraftsman (LAC) Lee Hargreaves (19) left 352 (Burnley) Sqn as a Cadet Sergeant in October 2006 to join the RAF Regiment, having successfully passed a 3 day Potential Gunners Acquaintance Course. He then moved on to the TG Course, which lasts 18 weeks and is divided into 3 phases; Recruit, Trained Soldier, and Combat Infantry. The course has no less than 10 separate field exercises, and culminates in Exercise OMEGA which includes tactical manoeuvres and the use of live ammunition.

Lee said, "Having been in the ATC has helped me greatly. Not only did it get me interested in the RAF Regiment in the first place, but it has given me the confidence to succeed at the training, and gave me some skills to help me through basic training, such as the ability to do drill and prepare my kit." Lees' former Commanding Officer, Flight Lieutenant Chris Ashworth said, "It gave me a huge amount of pleasure and pride to attend Lees' TG Course graduation parade. I had the privilege of being invited as well as his family, and it was understandably a really emotional moment for them. Lee worked hard in the ATC, and he has worked extremely hard for his "mudguards". We are all very proud of him."

LAC Hargreaves will now return to RAF Honnington for the Field Gunners Course, before moving to RAF Wittering in Cambridgeshire for his first operational posting with 3 Squadron, RAF Regiment.