Gunship
5th Feb 2005, 09:46
:ok:Once faced with closure, Ysterplaat now rakes in the awards
The Ysterplaat Air Force base, threatened with closure just three years ago,
has turned the tables and raked in four major awards at the air force's 85th
birthday celebration in Pretoria on Monday.
Ysterplaat won the award for best air force base, protection unit and air
navigation training unit in the country at the ceremony and celebration of
the retirement of the chief of the air force, General Roelf Beukes.
The base also scooped second place in the Sword of Peace awards for
humanitarian work.
"The aim of the award is to give recognition to the South African Air Force
(SAAF) bases and their lodger units for outstanding performance on
humanitarian grounds, where constant liaison between the base or unit and
its surrounding community is emphasised," the Ysterplaat motivation for the
award reads.
A lodger unit is the term for the individual squadrons, schools and other
units within the structure of the air base.
The services to the community include search and rescue operations conducted
with the Wilderness Search and Rescue and Metro emergency services, mountain
and sea rescue, as well as fire fighting.
Helicopter and ground crews from Ysterplaat have also assisted in SAAF
rescue operations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Madagascar.
The evaluation of air force bases and units was conducted by the
inspectorate of the air force.
Ysterplaat media spokeswoman, Joy Christie, explained yesterday that it was
decided to close down the base in March 2002 because "the Western Cape had
too many air force bases". A year later the decision was reversed as the
redistribution of staff and equipment would have been too expensive, she
said.
Cape Times :ok:
The Ysterplaat Air Force base, threatened with closure just three years ago,
has turned the tables and raked in four major awards at the air force's 85th
birthday celebration in Pretoria on Monday.
Ysterplaat won the award for best air force base, protection unit and air
navigation training unit in the country at the ceremony and celebration of
the retirement of the chief of the air force, General Roelf Beukes.
The base also scooped second place in the Sword of Peace awards for
humanitarian work.
"The aim of the award is to give recognition to the South African Air Force
(SAAF) bases and their lodger units for outstanding performance on
humanitarian grounds, where constant liaison between the base or unit and
its surrounding community is emphasised," the Ysterplaat motivation for the
award reads.
A lodger unit is the term for the individual squadrons, schools and other
units within the structure of the air base.
The services to the community include search and rescue operations conducted
with the Wilderness Search and Rescue and Metro emergency services, mountain
and sea rescue, as well as fire fighting.
Helicopter and ground crews from Ysterplaat have also assisted in SAAF
rescue operations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Madagascar.
The evaluation of air force bases and units was conducted by the
inspectorate of the air force.
Ysterplaat media spokeswoman, Joy Christie, explained yesterday that it was
decided to close down the base in March 2002 because "the Western Cape had
too many air force bases". A year later the decision was reversed as the
redistribution of staff and equipment would have been too expensive, she
said.
Cape Times :ok: