Sqn Ldr Stephen New, Deputy Wing Commander for Thames Valley Wing Air Training Corps, has been presented with an MBE by HRH Prince of Wales at Buckingham Palace. Sqn Ldr New's state award was promulgated in the Queens Birthdays Honours List.

Although he has served the Corps for some 34 years he is still incredibly active managing 6 Squadrons in the West of Thames Valley Wing and has also voluntarily undertaken a number of other key initiatives in support of the Wing. These include taking on the role of Wing Bandmaster, resurrecting the annual Wing Dinner and, for the last 4 years, has acted as the Nijmegen Wing Team Manager and organised the selection and administration of the Thames Valley Wing Team all of which successfully completed the course.

He has also been a highly successful Wing Flying and Gliding Liaison Officer, building exceptional working relationships with both 612 Volunteer Gliding Squadron (VGS) based at Dalton Barracks, Abingdon and 6 Air Experience Flight based at RAF Benson. Through his hard work Air Cadets in the Thames Valley have achieved many flying opportunities which have led in turn to record numbers of Flying Scholarships and Gliding Scholarships.

A Wing spokesperson said "We are incredibly proud of the award of an MBE to Sqn Ldr New - he is an inspiration to not only every single cadet and staff member Wing-wide but also to wider community."

Original article: http://challengeyourself.org/tvw/news.html?id=29