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Warrant officer first class of the 819 Skyhawk Squadron in British Columbia, Canada, Kyros Choksey graduated the Air Cadet Program as Top Cadet for 2022, Meher Tarapore informed Parsiana. The Program for those in the 12 to 19 age group is designed by the "Department of National Defence to instill in youth attributes of good citizenship and qualities,” stated Choksey when responding to queries from Parsiana.
Keen to obtain his glider pilot and private pilot licenses, Choksey joined the Program in 2015 on completing his 13th birthday. The first squadron that he joined (513 Hornet) had about 60 cadets attending from the 75 who were registered. As part of the regimen, "the only days that the squadron makes mandatory are weekly training nights once a week (from 6.30 p.m. to 9.30 p.m.) and the occasional ‘tag days’ when cadets go out into public areas of interest and educate others about the Program while collecting donations,” clarified the flying enthusiast. During the week other team events are planned like range (shooting practice), drill (marching practice), marching band, first aid and biathlon (cross-country skiing and rifle sharpshooting).

 

 

 

 

 

 

"The summer camps were the highlight of my cadet career,” stated Choksey. Ranging from two, three or six weeks, at these camps cadets get transported to a cadet training base across Canada and learn about their specific interests like survival, military bank (a bank that primarily focuses on and caters to military personnel), marksmanship, drill among others. Delighted that he had the opportunity to make so many new friends, Choksey referred to the joy of participating in famous parades across Vancouver Island as part of a 120-member band one year and leading the band the next year. Unfortunately, the following year the pandemic led to "the end of several air cadet bases which made me the last drum major of the base I was at for my last two years at camp,” he wrote.
Federal Covid regulations restricted the fun parts of the cadet program. Since his first squadron was too small to permit all cadets to join the weekly training nights in person, they resorted to online training. This prompted Choksey to join the second squadron, 819 Skyhawk, which had 120 registered cadets of whom around 90 attended the sessions. "There I was second in charge right off the bat and got up to my goal in the Air Cadet Program of getting promoted to warrant officer first class which put me at the top of a 100 cadet weekly squadron,” he mentioned in his email.
Pursuing a dream to become a pilot, Choksey has completed 15 of the 45 hours needed to obtain his private pilot’s license. Thereafter he hopes to get his commercial pilot’s license and fly for commercial airlines. "I have several family members who have had a career in aviation and enjoyed every second of it,” says the flying enthusiast who is relieved he was born a Zoroastrian with no compulsions "to only become a doctor or a lawyer.” Appreciating "all the support” he has received from his family and community, Kyros mentioned that his father Ruzaan was an outstanding jockey in India before the family relocated to Canada; mother Mehernaaz has "always been my guide.”
Born in Bombay, Kyros completed his preschool in Poona. Just before his fifth birthday the family migrated to Canada where he started off in kindergarten. Barring one year (in the third grade) when he studied at Vibgyor School in India, the rest of his schooling until grade 12 was completed in Canada. After graduating from school last year he took up a course in automotive service technology while waiting for acceptance to the British Columbia Institute of Technology Aerospace division for the Airline and Flight Operations diploma. This leads to a commercial pilot’s license and an interview with Jazz airlines, the current domestic partner with Air Canada. Kyros acknowledged he has envisaged "only one career path.”