Above and beyond

Every year, there is a special award for the SNCO, WO or CI that goes “above and beyond” and this year, Warrant Officer Alan Wiggs of 378 (Mannock) Squadron was the deserving recipient. 

 

WO Dominic Chisholm, Wing Warrant Officer of South and East Midlands Wing, presented the award to WO Wiggs on Monday (06/11/17) at his unit in front of all the cadets and staff. However, this award is usually present at the SNCO, WO and CI’s annual Dinning in Night held at RAF Cranwell. The Wing Warrant Officer had to award it to Alan at the unit as he sadly missed the dinner this year and this makes part of the reason why he has received the award (not out of sympathy we assure you!). 

 

Last year, Alan had a very hard year. He suffered from an incredibly rare form of stroke and he went through a incredibly hard time, with losing his speech and ability to eat things were very hard for him. However, somehow he bounced back, in less than 2 months he was at the Wing Spring camp at DTE Swynnerton for a long weekend back to his usual self giving people as much grief as possible! So even when this man is down and nearly out, he continued to support and organise. He has helped run and organise the SNCO, WO and CI's dinning in night now for 10 years and couldn’t accept the award at this year’s dinner as he was rushed in to hospital for an emergency hernia operation! However, even after going under the knife he was still helping get everything in place for the dinner this year and making sure that things went as smoothly as possible.

He was able to join the dinner during the speeches via FaceTime on his iPhone so he could (virtually) be presented the award by the Wing Warrant Officer. 

 

Wing WO Dominic Chisholm said “Alan is a remarkable man, even when he has gone through such a testing time as he did last year, he continues to deliver, not just at the unit level, but at the Wing level and being an integral part of our annual celebrations. He has been a part of the Wing for as long as I can remember and he has been a WO for longer than I have been a SNCO. It was the perfect time to show Alan how much he means not just to the SNCO, WO and CI cadre but to the Wing as a whole, its just a shame he wasn’t able to join us on the evening of the 10th Annual Dinning in Night. However, we dialled him in for the speech so he was a virtual part of the night and it was an absolute pleasure and honour to present WO Wiggs with the award at his home unit and in front of one of his son’s who have recently started their Air Cadet career at 378 Mannock Squadron. Well done Wiggsy, you thoroughly deserve the award this year!”