Blairgowrie cadet wins Young Citizen award

BLAIRGOWRIE Army Cadet Corporal Connor Boag (16) has been awarded the 212 Squadron Perth and Kinross Council Young Citizen Award for 2008/09.

The award is presented annually to the young person who is judged to have achieved most over the past year. The award was instigated on the disbanding of 212 RCT Squadron which had been based in Queens Barracks, Perth. A panel of judges headed by the Provost considers all applications before arriving at a decision.

This year the panel had a number of applicants but had decided that Black Watch Army Cadet Connor Boag had made the most achievement and deserved recognition.

Connor was 12 when he joined the army cadet force after taking part in the ACFA Youth and Community Project Outreach Project which was run with Rattray Primary School.

Connor benefited from the team-building and citizenship and went on to join the Blairgowrie Detachment of the Black Watch Battalion Army Cadet Force.

Over the next four years he achieved his Army Proficiency four-star award, Silver Duke of Edinburgh Award and athletics colours. He has represented Scotland at the shot put and has shot at Bisley.

His shooting skills have awarded him a place to Canada next month when he attends a Canadian Cadet Leadership Marksmanship Course held at Connaught near Ottawa. The course takes place between the July 13 and August 23. This in itself is a great achievement for Connor as only 14 cadets from the UK are selected for this course and he is the only cadet selected from Scotland.

The Young Citizen Award was presented by Provost John Hulbert in the council chambers. He was also presented with a certificate by Duncan Forbes, vice-chairman of the Perth RASC and RCT Association. Also among those at the presentation were Connor's parents, John and Denise Boag, Major Douglas Pover, Korea Company commander, who had nominated Connor for the award, and fellow cadets from the Blairgowrie Detachment.