Essential Skills and Abilities:

An Air Cadet based in Cyprus has been given the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to fly with the Red Arrows.

Alex Wishart, currently part of the Paphos ATC Squadron, has been in the cadets for five years and has spent some time with the Red arrows, carrying out work experience in 2009.

During a half-hour sortie, Alex was treated to various tricks and a manoeuvre used in a full display and was even given some hands on flying experience.

Due to go to university later this year, she wants to join the RAF, potentially in the engineering branch.

Source: BFBS

Reporter: Cath Brazier

Two men have been removed from the country following a raid by our officers on a Cheltenham restaurant.

Acting on information received, our officers went to Shezan, Montpellier Street, at around 19:00 on Thursday 26 April and checked the immigration status of the staff present.

Four men were found to be in the UK illegally and arrested. Two Indian men aged 20 and 24 were found to have stayed in the country after their visas expired. A third Indian man, aged 24, and a 31-year-old Bangladeshi man were found to have entered the UK illegally.

The 4 who were working as waiters and kitchen staff were taken to Cheltenham police station for further questioning.

The 2 men who were aged 24 were removed to their home country on 3 and 7 May.

The Bangladeshi man remains in immigration detention awaiting removal, while the 20-year-old Indian man has been bailed to report regularly to a local police station while work continues to remove him from the UK.

Matthew Gregory, immigration inspector, UK Border Agency said:

‘People who decide to flout immigration law should be in no doubt that we will find them and look to remove them from the country.

‘We want the public to get in touch with us if they have any information about suspected illegal immigrants or the businesses employing them.

‘We are sending a simple, clear message to people who are in the country illegally, more raids are planned and you will be caught.’

We are considering whether Shezan will be handed a civil penalty for employing the 4 illegal workers.

The employers have been asked for proof that legally-required checks were made on the men before they were taken on. If the proof is not provided, the employer will face a fine of up to £10,000 for each illegal worker, £40,000 in total.

Every year, we impose civil penalties on hundreds of companies which fail to carry out the correct checks on their staff.

We provide support to employers so they can understand the rules, including visits by staff, a dedicated telephone helpline and website.

Anyone with information about suspected immigration abuse can contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 anonymously.

Source:

Relief Security Officer

Job No: NOI/41534
Employer Reference: 13731
Wage: £6.95 PER HOUR
Hours: 40 hour contract, 10 hour shifts
Location: North Shields, Tyne and Wear, NE29
Duration: Permanent
Date posted: 18 May 2012
Closing date: 15 June 2012

Description

Must be age 18+. DRIVING LICENCE/TRANSPORT ESSENTIAL, Excellent officer required for busy retail store, Must be smart and presentable, Able to wear a hat and have own car and driving licence, 8 – 10 hour shifts, No nights required. The employer has claimed an exception under the Equality Act 2010.

How to apply

You can apply for this job by telephoning 0870 108377 and asking for Recruitment. Applicants please quote ref: 13731 when calling.

Employer

G4S Secure Solutions (UK) Limited.

Security Officer

Job No: ABD/245334
Wage: Competitive rates of pay apply
Hours: 16-24 PER WEEK, FRIDAY TO SUNDAY, BETWEEN 9AM – 3PM
Location: Nigg, Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, AB12
Duration: Permanent
Date posted: 18 May 2012

Description

Must be age 18+. Must have SIA licence. Own transport would be advantageous. Full training given. Uniform is provided. Duties involve supervising a motor bike training ground, opening the building, setting alarms and any other tasks as required. The employer has claimed an exception under the Equality Act 2010.

How to apply

You can apply for this job by telephoning 0773 3080107 and asking for Tony Clark. Alternatively apply by emailing CV to lvsecureconsult@aol.com.

Employer

LV Secure Consultant Ltd

The Olympic flame is due to arrive at the Royal Navy’s Culdrose airfield in Cornwall tonight (Friday) to begin its 8,000-mile odyssey around Britain.

It means some 1,000 personnel based there will be the very first Britons to see the torch on UK soil along with guests at the base near Helston in Cornwall.

After the arrival of the torch, symbol of the Games since the days of the Ancients, it will make the short journey to Lands End where the Olympic relay begins early tomorrow (Saturday), with the first of 8,000 torchbearers carrying the flame to the four corners of the isles.

By the time it reaches the stadium in London on the 27th of July it will have passed within ten miles of 19 in every 20 of the nation’s 62 million inhabitants.

The airfield – home to the Navy’s fleet of Merlin helicopters and eye-in-the-sky Sea Kings which are playing a key role in the fight against the insurgency in Afghanistan – has been chosen as the landing site for a special gold-liveried British Airways Airbus 319, ‘BA2012’.

Captain Willie Entwisle, the airbase’s Commanding Officer, said: “We are honoured that the Olympic Flame will arrive in the UK by landing at Culdrose.

“Our personnel, many of whom are currently supporting the Royal Navy on operations across the globe, are very excited that the build up to the London 2012 Olympic Games will start here. We are delighted to be playing such an important part in this once-in-a-lifetime event.”

Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport, Jeremy Hunt added: “When BA2012 touches down in Cornwall carrying the Olympic torch it will be a hugely exciting moment. This kicks off our incredible torch relay right around the country and I’m sure the torch will spread ‘Olympic fever’ everywhere it goes.”

Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said “I am delighted that Culdrose will be the first to welcome the Olympic flame into the UK. It is a fantastic opportunity for the Armed Forces to be involved in such a unique event, and one they can take pride in for years to come.’”

As the Olympic flame is classified as a symbol it is permitted to be carried on board an aircraft subject to special authorisation from the Civil Aviation Authority.

The flame will travel in a ceremonial lantern that is secured in a specially-designed cradle which is, in turn, firmly fixed to its seat on the plane using a secure holding device. It has been designed so it can burn safely for up to 30 hours.

Source: BFBS

A fishing boat and its three-man crew remained missing today, as coastguards continued to search off the Dorset coast.

The Weymouth-based boat, named the Purbeck Isle, has not been seen since leaving port yesterday morning.

Coastguards launched a search last night after it was reported missing at around 6pm.

A spokeswoman for the the Maritime and Coastguard Agency said the fishing boat is 11m long and used as a “potter”, to catch possibly lobster or crab using pots.

“The search area is 10 miles off the coast of Portland Bill,” she said.

She said searches were being carried out by the coastguard helicopter from Lee-on-Solent, and the Weymouth RNLI lifeboat.

Last night coastguards enlisted the help of Navy warships in the hunt, but the spokeswoman said the search was continuing with the helicopter and lifeboat today.

The three men have been named locally as 37-year-old skipper David McFarland, crewmen Robert Prowse, 23, and Jack Craig, 22.

Secretary of the Weymouth and Portland Fisherman and Licensed Boatman Association Andy Alcock, 59, said they were popular amongst the local community.

“The three lads concerned, Robert, Jack and Dave were very popular lads,” he said.

“Weymouth is a small place and you can walk around this town on any given day and you can look at any boat and you’d know the names of everybody on that boat and these three lads were no different, they were very popular and they’d worked on other vessels in the harbour.”

Mr Alcock added Mr Prowse and Mr McFarland, nicknamed Farley, had young families who have asked for privacy.

Source: BFBS

David Cameron will join other NATO leaders in the US this weekend for a summit that should shape the alliance’s future involvement in Afghanistan.

Commitments to the country beyond the end of the combat mission in 2014 are top of the agenda.

However they will also try to address important questions about NATO’s own future.

As gatherings go it is a rare event – a full NATO summit where national leaders, defence and foreign ministers all meet, with a heavyweight agenda.

NATO leaders are confident their plan to handover to Afghan forces by 2014 is on track. Their focus will be what happens after that date and a commitment to keep supporting Afghanistan, particularly to help keep paying for Afghan forces.

Behind the scenes there could be some difficult conversations about commitments right now after France’s new president said he wanted to bring home his country’s troops this year.

NATO’s new buzz phrase – Smart Defence – will also reverberate around the venue. Put simply, it is more sharing and less duplication so that allied defence capabilities can be improved while individual nations try to cut back their spending.

As part of that the alliance will formally unveil plans for its own fleet of intelligence gathering drones. This will help fill a gap shown by operations in Libya and Afghanistan. The meeting in Chicago we also see the launch of between 20 and 30 other multinational projects to promote better protection, better surveillance and better maintenance.

Another key event is the invitation of Pakistan to the summit as negotiations continue to re-open the NATO supply routes shut down after a US airstrike killed Pakistani troops.

Russia will also reportedly send a high ranking diplomat as tensions over NATO’s planned missile shield continue to run high.

It is an ambitious programme for just two days of meetings in Chicago. Much of the negotiating will already have been done but until leaders are all in a room together it is impossible to know exactly how much progress will actually be made.

Source: BFBS
Reporter: James Hirst

A fledgling charity has begun training injured veterans for a new career as commercial helicopter pilots.

Wings4Warriors hopes to train five ex service personnel a year to work all over the world.

The charity launched just last August and has already trained one pilot. It is now working with two more injured veterans, with a fourth waiting to come through.

Forces News caught up with one veteran at the charity’s headquarters at Goodwood Aerodrome.

If you would like to support Wings4Warriors then please visit their web site.

Source: BFBS
Reporter: Sue Kinnear

Charity: Wings4Warriors

Housed behind Hesco, Patrol Base Wahid is one of more than a dozen PBs and FOBS that ring the green zone.

Providing a base for patrols and security for local Afghans.

Wahid sits right beside the vital Neb Canal and was built around an old Afghan compound. Some of it was demolished but many of the original thick mud walls remain. Wahid is officially an Estonian base, but the majority of troops here are British.

As other bases around the green zone are handed over the Afghan forces British troops will collapse back to other larger bases and Wahid is one of them. It means the PB and the Afghan camp that is attached to it are expanding. Conditions are hard and it is dusty and hot. Despite the relative security there is always the threat of a Taliban attack.

A detachment of Royal Welsh and Royal Anglians are leaving Wahid and heading south to FOB Shahqat. For the engineers, going outside the base to repair a gully means body armour and a mastiff on watch nearby. Many of the troops here are very young. It is their first taste of soldiering in Afghanistan.

It is the small things make a big difference. The satellite phone, TV, computer games or books all provide a chance to escape for a while.

Outside Patrol Base Wahid the war goes on. These small outposts are in many ways a symbol of the stability it is hoped ordinary Afghans will one day enjoy.

Source: BFBS
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