 y gallu i gyd yn gwybod i chi i wneud i ddim yn gwneud. A'r next item of business is Members Business debate on motion 10590 i ddweud Alexander Stewart on RAF100, the centenary of the Royal Air Force. The debate will be concluded without any questions being put, and I would ask those who wish to speak in the debate to press the request to speak buttons now. I call on Alexander Stewart to open the debate for around seven minutes, please. I'm delighted and grateful of the privilege of being able to open this historic members' business debate this afternoon. I paid tribute to all who have chosen to attend and support in the public gallery this afternoon. 100 years ago this month, King George V authorised the creation of a new branch of British military, which was formed in response to the growing role of air power in warfare. That was created by merging the aviation branches of the Royal Navy and the British Army together on 1 April 1918 into a single service, which was to be known thereafter as the Royal Air Force. Expanding rapidly from its conception, the world's first truly independent air force, the RAF, brought in and has sought and fought in major issues from the Second World War. It's most famous campaign being the Battle of Britain when, in July to September 1940, the RAF fought off a hugely superior German air force, denying the Luftwaffe air supremacy over Southern England and therefore preventing the German invasion of Britain. In May 1941, the Battle of Britain came to an end. The then Prime Minister Winston Churchill said of RAF pilots, that never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few. By the end of the war in 1945, the strength of the RAF was nearly 1 million personnel. At the start of the Second World War, two of the first-ever Royal Auxiliary Air Force squadrons, 602 City of Glasgow squadron, and I'm delighted that we have a number of current personnel with us this afternoon in the chamber. Also, in squadron 603, the City of Edinburgh resulted in the exceptional skills that they had and the airmanship of 602 and 603 squadrons, because they were instrumental in the RAF's success of ensuring that the Luftwaffe was dealt with. That particularly took place here in Scotland when they dealt with an aircraft over the river forth on 16 October 1939. Scotland was, and still is, considered strategically extremely important for the defence of the United Kingdom. Indeed, the RAF constructed and operated an enormous infrastructure north of the border with RAF Lussiemouth in Murray and also Leukers in Fife. The level of RAF activity in my region of Mid Scotland in Fife during the immediate aftermath of World War 2 was unprecedented and the history of the lasting legacy of the activity should forever be remembered. In 1942, the RAF regiment was formed to protect airfields from airborne troops and at the wartime peak employed around 60,000 personnel. Today, the regiment continues that vital role of defence and also the exceptional training and the humanitarian work that they have done and continue to do, and I pay tribute to them for all that they have done during that time. I am delighted to. Alexander Stewart. I am sorry, Alexander. I cannot stay beyond what is much longer. I have got to meet him at 1 o'clock, but I want to make one point. First of all, my son was in the RAF and it was never a prouder moment for me than when he passed out at RAF Halton a number of years ago. The point of training was that he wanted to pick up, because I think that the training that he received there and the values that were instilled in that young man stood him in great stead for future employment. That is one of the great things that the RAF still do today. I congratulate you for bringing forward this debate today. Alexander Stewart. I would concur with Mr Crawford. As I say, there is no doubt that the exceptional quality of training that is provided gives individuals the opportunity to unlock their potential for future when they are no longer even with the service. The RAF was supported in wartime by the women's auxiliary air force, as well as the Prince's Mary's nursing force. However, the passing of the Army and Air Force Women's Service Act in 1948 created the opportunity for permanent peacetime role for women in the armed forces in recognition of their incredible wartime contribution. That led to the women's royal air force being formed on 1 February 1949, which offered women a full professional career in the air force for the very first time. Since the end of World War 2, the RAF has been involved in many operations that have been vital for the survival, the stability and the peace of many nations and peoples throughout the world. From the Berlin airlift in 4849 through to the huge issues within the Cold War and supporting the Royal Uster Constabulary in Northern Ireland from 69 to 2007, assistance in Belize, Malaysia, conflicts with reference to humanitarian work in the Democratic Republic of Congo, operations and logistics that took place in the Falklands, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Libya and relief flights in Kenya, military intervention in Sierra Leone, Accra, Iraq and Afghanistan. They are endless, but also the evacuation issues that they have dealt with when dealing with Beirut, humanitarian and also the earthquakes in Pakistan. As I said before, they do so much. It is notable that the history and the host historic part of the scenery is to be marked and known as RAF 100, in a programme that will salute the century of RAF forces, a wide range of local, regional and national events that will take place across air shows running from April to September. Indeed, to mark our commemoration here, our own Presiding Officer hosted a fantastic reception in the Parliament recently, and we had Air Chief Marshal Stephen Hillier as the main guest. RAF 100 is also being celebrated in many parts of the country, in many regions of Scotland. The Ancosome Association on Saturday 26 May hosted the RAF baton relay, where they will ensure that the Spitfire Memorial on the former site of RAF Grangemas will be a fly pass and ban take place. The RAF will be holding a fully manned RAF display on the historical situation and have aircraft at the Science Centre in Glasgow, giving people the opportunity once again to view, see and take part. My own contribution is the honour to secure this member's debate today and welcome, as I said, personnel who are here today. I look forward to the contributions from other MSP colleagues here this afternoon who will speak in support of the fantastic, highly professional and tireless work that the RAF has continued to do. In conclusion, the hallmark of this great anniversary will be a Royal Air Force sentinie parade in London on 10 July. I personally congratulate Royal Air Force on reaching this 100-mile stone and operations that they have been involved in, and I will say to everyone in the past, present and future individuals who have endeavoured to ensure that this contribution has maintained and gone forward. I wish the Royal Air Force all the best for at least another 100 years. Thank you. We move to the open debate. May I have speeches of around four minutes, please? Tavish Scott, followed by Richard Lochhead. I thank Alexander Stewart for initiating this debate and share the sentiments of his remarks about the role that the RAF has played in the past and will play undoubtedly in the future. I also apologise to Mr Stewart and the chamber for having to lead this debate. By one of the ironies of life, I have a meeting with one of Mr Brown's colleagues about RAF Saxford, or what used to be RAF Saxford enunciad. It is just one of those things that occasionally happens. I just want to make a couple of reflections about the role that the RAF played in Shetland over the war period and since then. I suppose that the first thing that I should say is that one of the more arduous duties that local members may have played is taking on the speaking responsibilities at the annual Rafa dinner for the battle of Britain. I was told and advised on this prior to the first time that I was asked to do this in Llerwick. It was an occasion when those who had put so much into the role that their Air Force had played in the defence of our country let their hair down to some extent. It would not automatically follow that by the time that I was asked to speak, they would be completely in control of their faculties, which is a great relief to me, never mind to them in getting through that occasion. However, the point of the Rafa club that still does exist in Llerwick is that it is a place of calling for many more younger members of the veterans community from the RAF who still meet to discuss old times and to remember those who are no longer with them. Sulunvo in Shepham was the coastal command squadron airfield for the flying boats in the Second World War. Indeed, I found out the other day that on 4 November 1939, Sulunvo became the first location in the British Isles to be bombed. No damage was formally reported apart, I am told, from the death of a rabbit. That was not a great loss, I can assure you. The complex was added to when a nearby airfield was completed at RAF Scatster, which to this day continues to fly helicopter transfers to the west and east of Shepham for the oil industry. Sulunvo is today known, of course, for the oil terminal rather than for anything else. Two notable events among great acts of heroism and bravery during the Second World War. The first was Flying Officer John Cruikshank, who was awarded a Victoria Cross for a successful attack on German U-boats during the war, despite being injured as he attacked and managing to bring his aircraft home and indeed circling till daylight in order to land and save his crew successfully. The second one is the crash of the RAF Cantolina in the Island of Yell to the north of Sulunvo, when she came back after searching for the Norwegian coast for the turpots. I spilt up on the wings, the weather was pretty awful and the aircraft crashed, mostly all three of the crew survived and the state they were in had some remarkable achievement that they did survive, given that they landed in the middle of Yell, many miles from any house or residence. The only other point I wanted to make is that that goes on. When I was first elected, we still had the Cold War, and RAF Saxford enunced was the radar dome that kept an eye on the Russians. It's coming back. Sir Stephen Hilliart, that Alexander Stewart rightly mentioned, came up to Shetland in January to view the £10 million radar dome that links to both Lossymouth and Collinsby in Lincolnshire and provides both NATO and the RAF with forward warning of the Russian aircraft that are flying close to airspace that is, in this sense, part of the UK's responsibilities under NATO. It is a source of concern, I suppose, to me and to many others, that I thought we had gone from the Cold War period. I didn't think that would ever come back when I was first elected. Here we are now today in circumstances where we are putting back radar and defence to cope with a threat that, in the modern world, I simply thought had disappeared. For that and for the role that the RAF played, I share Alexander Stewart's sentiments about the continuing role in the world that we live in. I congratulate Alexander Stewart on his speech and for giving Parliament the opportunity to commemorate and celebrate the RAF's centenary and commemorate the service given by thousands and tens of thousands of men and women over the past hundreds of years to defend their country and to participate in many other valuable tasks. Many of whom made the ultimate sacrifice. I also say that this is an opportunity to celebrate the role of the RAF in Scotland and, of course, my own perspective and my constituency of Murray. I should say that I enjoyed the BBC programme RAF 100, which was hosted by my constituent Colin MacGregor, former tornado pilot at the RAF Lossymouth, who continues to live and work in the local community. Some people might say that Elgin has a lesser-known brother, Ewan McGregor, as well. It was good that the two Scots were hosting that programme, because Scotland has had a big influence on the Royal Air Force. We should not forget that it is David Henderson, a Scot, who was set to have written a report in 1917 that went to the UK Government, making the proposal for the Royal Air Force, which was formed in 1918, but it went in the name of course of General Christian Smuts. A Scot, of course, is credited with writing that report, and we should remember that. Today, we have a Scot and a former Kilmarnock Academy pupil, Sir Stephen Hillair, who is currently the air chief marshal and chief of the air staff. The RAF has fulfilled many important duties defending our country and promoting humanitarian effort around the world over the past 100 years. Some, of course, may be controversial due to decisions taken by the political masters, but the service of the men and women has always been characterised by dedication and professionalism, and that can never be questioned. Many of the tasks have been vital, like the Berlin airlift in 1948 and 1949. By 1939, no victory on land or sea could be achieved without superiority in our skies. Of course, the Battle of Britain 1940 is, in many people's minds, what defines the achievements of the RAF and perhaps the service's high point, and, of course, the detailed landings that have not been successful in 1944 without having superiority of air cover as well. In Murray, throughout the generations, over the past 50 years and between 1,500 years, people have been used to seeing the Buccaneers, the Shackleton, the Jaguars, the Tornadoes, the Typhoons, the Nimrods and so on in the skies above our local communities. Many of those planes were part of the navy, but the one constant feature over that time has been the presence of the RAF in Murray. Today, we can still see the abandoned airfields and all the buildings and so on and so forth that places like Dalachai and Milltown that played important roles in the last war. Of course, today, we still have the RAF Lossymouth. We also had the RAF Llyconlos, which closed in 2012 as an RAF base, but today the RAF Lossymouth continues to thrive as Scotland's only operational air base. It also played an important role in the Second World War in various ways, but perhaps most famously, the 29 Lancases that took off from there in November 1944 comprising squadrons 617 and 9 sunk the turpots in Norwegian waters. As I said, the RAF Llyconlos sadly closed in 2012 after 73 years as an RAF base, but the RAF Lossymouth continues to expand. Even today, as we have been speaking, the closure of the ceremony has been taking place at the RAF Lossymouth over the cutting of the turf for the new nine P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft that are going to be based there to join the typhoons that have moved in to take over from the tornadoes, and we are also getting a new squadron soon of the typhoons as well. RAF Lossymouth has continued to play an even greater role in the defence of the country. That brings other benefits as well, such as Boeing, for instance, which is going to be building at RAF Lossymouth and creating new high-skill jobs there, so I am hoping that it will be spilled over for the local economy from that centre of excellence that will be developed over time. In closing, I just want to say that the RAF has helped to find many of Murray's communities. The former personnel, of which there are literally thousands, and the current personnel, of which there are also thousands, play a vital role in the local community, they are part of the local community, they contribute to the local community, and I hope that positive relationship continues in the future. I join other members in wishing the RAF a very happy and prosperous 100th birthday. Liz Smith, followed by David Stewart. I thank my colleague Alexander Stewart for bringing this debate to Parliament on what is undoubtedly a very historic occasion. In the War Museum in Valletta, one of the biggest visitor attractions is a Glouster Gladiator biplane known as Faith. It is the sole survivor of the trio of biplanes, Faith, Hope and Charity, whose pilots, virtually single-handedly against all the odds night after night, hour after hour, defended the tiny island of Malta in some of the darkest days of the Second World War between 1940 and 1942. For me, it is an airplane that symbolises not just the ordeal of the RAF servicemen and the people of Malta who stood courageously against the Axis nations, especially when all looked lost, but also the skill, determination and indomitable spirit, which has been the hallmark of the RAF for the whole century of its existence. Indeed, I do not think that there is anything that better exemplifies the distinctive character of the RAF, which prides itself on ensuring that all its personnel pull together as a team in order to deliver effective air power, no matter the challenges or the environment in which the squadrons may find themselves. At the recent centenary event in Holyrood, which many of us had the great privilege to attend, it was very clear that the abiding strength of the RAF, whether it is to be found in the most senior officer or in the most junior cadet, are the strength of its leadership, the expectation and the delivery of the highest professional and personal standards, and the strong strength of tradition. We all owe so much to the RAF, whether that was in the darkest hour of the Second World War, or is it combines today with the other armed services to defend this nation in an increasingly fragile world and to strengthen international peace in its stability. When seeking new recruits, the RAF says that it wants men and women whose personal qualities of integrity and respect reflect the core values of the RAF. It wants men and women who will respond to a demanding way of life, who aspire to excellence, who share a sense of duty and commitment and who recognise that the life of another person may depend on them, as might their life depend on themselves. My own interest in the RAF is as a result of my father's World War 2 service in Malta and laterally in Sicily. He was a corporal in one of the squadrons that faced the ultimate challenge of standing four square against the siege of Malta between 1940 and 1942, including many months with little food or any other comfort, which battled against all the odds to hold off the relentless bombing of Italy's regia aeronautica and then Germany's Luftwaffe. No fewer than 3,000 raids took place on Malta's towns and ports in the course of two years, with 15,000 tonnes of bombs being dropped. It was extraordinary what the RAF and indeed the people of Malta achieved as the unsinkable aircraft carrier, the term that Winston Churchill used to describe the island. Fighting alone against the Italian air force between June and October 1940, just as their colleagues were about to do battle of Britain, the six volunteers who flew the Gladiator biplanes, Faith, Hope and Charity were the epitome of the RAF and all that is meant to this country. As members know, the combined determination of Churchill and the chiefs of the air defence staff in the face of pressure from France to sell out on Malta was the reason that the Allies were subsequently able to defeat the Axis in the Mediterranean that the second battle of El Alamein in November 1942 was successful, which in turn allowed Allied landings in Morocco and Algeria in Operation Torch. Little wonder, then, that the RAF was held in such high, precious regard. In the modern era, RAF officers and their families would be the first to admit that so much is owed by the supportive charities, the RAF Association, the RAF Benevolent Fund, the RAF Charitable Trust and the RAF Museum. I was personally delighted to learn that, thanks to the assistance of those charities in order to mark the centenary, the 14 war memorials dedicated to airmen from the first and second world wars will now have heritage protection, including those that commemorate the most decorated world war one pilot and the first pilot to shoot down a German zeppelin. I was also delighted to learn that, in the centenary year, the RAF is supporting a new programme designed to encourage far more young people into STEM subjects in Scotland. Something that we know from the evidence in schools, colleges and universities is so desperately needed and that, in a very short timescale, I hope that that will happen. The journey from the merger of the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal National Air Service on 1 April 1918, when each had just around 100 aircraft, balloons and airships, to the high-tech service that the RAF is today, is quite remarkable. In the excellent documentary recently presented by Ewan and Colin MacGregor, whose parents live in Persia just a few miles away from me, the 100 years of technical change has been shown in its fullest measure. But so, too, was the dedication, the professionalism and the heroism of RAF veterans who were interviewed. We all owe them so very much. That biplane faith, which stands alone but proudly in Valletta's War Museum, will, for me, remain the enduring symbol of the RAF. It is their courage, their will to win and their spirit, now being passed down through the generations that is the mainstay of the RAF. And indeed, in this country, we must celebrate this centenary. Presiding Officer, I want to congratulate Alexander Stewart for securing this afternoon's debate and for his comprehensive and very thoughtful speech. The message that will resound across the chamber today is that we all owe a debt of gratitude and honour to the RAF and the role that they play in the defence of our nation. I would echo Poppy Scotland's words when they say, we thank all those who have served, are still serving and their families for their service and sacrifice. Presiding Officer, a little more than eight years ago, I brought to the chamber a member's debate to discuss concerns about the possible closure of RAF King loss. The cross-party campaign was supported by all the party leaders at the time, Alex Salmond, Annabelle Goldie, Tavish Scott and Ian Gray. I argued then and I argued today that armed forces personnel have a social covenant with our country at times of peace and at times of war. During times of conflict, I always remember the lines from John Maxwell Emmons that are repeated every remembering Sunday across Scotland and beyond. When you go home, tell them of us and say, for their tomorrow we gave our today. The importance of the social covenant was best illustrated to me 26 years ago when the American naval base at Danone closed with the loss of 1500 American personnel. The local community rallied round and set up a dynamic economic committee that received European and government funding support to diversify the economy and provide new jobs. Like most members in the chamber today, my interest in this debate is personal. My father did his national service with the RAF King loss as a fresh-faced 18-year-old over 70 years ago. During my last year of school in the Highlands, I thought seriously about joining the RAF, but instead I chose the less hard-ass conflict zone that comes with clear in politics. However, during my time in Westminster from 1997, I relished the opportunity to serve for the RAF for two terms as part of the armed forces parliamentary scheme. I want to put in record my thanks to my friend Sir Neil Thorn for his initiative in setting up the scheme in Westminster. Of course, I welcome the scheme that we have in the Scottish Parliament, and I hope that members from all sides of the chamber will volunteer to take part in it. During my involvement with the Westminster programme, I had direct experience of RAF King loss and Lossy Mouth, as well as a memorable week in Basra in Iraq, which is still etched in my memory. As part of the scheme, I flew in a Tornado fast jet, a Nimrod Marsheim aircraft and a Sea King search and rescue helicopter. On my last day with the RAF, the Sea King was involved and had to attend an emergency in Glencoe. I vividly remember flying a few hundred feet above Loch Ness on the way to Glencoe and observed at first hand the bravery, expertise and professionalism and the pilots and the windscrew as they saved the life of a young Swiss mountaineer who had fallen and suffered severe facial injuries. My experience was a brief snapshot, but it gave me tremendous admiration for the armed forces and for veterans. We should always remember that people do not stay in the armed forces forever and are responsible to people who have served our country and does not stop when they leave the service. The covenant that we make with those in service community does not stop when they rejoin civilian life. It is also important that we bear in mind that as a country we have invested a great deal of money in training our servicemen and women and that, although we have a duty to ensure that they are looked after, we have a duty to ensure that the investment in skills and training is not lost to society. That is just one reason why it is so important that we ensure a high-quality transition from the services to civilian life. I warmly welcome the debate to mark and salute the centenary of the RAF. The RAF 100 will have a wide-ranging group of community, regional and national events. Let us all unite today and congratulate the RAF and praise the personnel of the past, the present and the future. Thank you. The last of the open debate contributions is from Maurice Corry. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I am delighted to speak in today's debate to mark the 100th anniversary of the armed forces youngest and most prestigious military branch. I reminded of the comment of the RAF representative at the recent Armed Forces and Veterans Community Cross Party group this week, who said that although they are the youngest service branch, they are the best-looking. Being a former British Army officer, I could not possibly agree with such a comment, but, nevertheless, I admire their spirit and determination. Nevertheless, I thank the RAF for the many times that I have flown with them, particularly to and from operational areas and within it, with the RAF support command over the years. Today, I would like to thank my colleague, Alexander Stewart, for bringing forward this member's debate on such an auspicious occasion. It is right that we take a moment to pay our respect to the esteemed organisation of our RAF, our Royal Air Force, and those who have and have the privilege of serving in the ranks. Despite being the youngest service, it does have a proud and a very Scottish record. It is demonstrated from the earliest days of the RAF in having Britain's first operational air station near Montrose and during the Battle of Britain as the RAF stood as a final line of defence against the Nazi invasion led by the Scotsman, Air Chief Marshal Hugh Douding, and in more recent times the RAF's response to the Russian threats against our airspace, which has been based out of Scotland and the RAF Lossimouth. I want to speak a bit more about the modern RAF in Scotland. Of course, it is its main operating base in Lossimouth and Murray, and it is growing with the additional support of the squadron of typhoon fighters on the way alongside the new P-8 Alpha Poseidon aircraft, which is also to be based there. All great news for that part of the country, as it means more investment in jobs than local community, to which Richard Lochhead so rightly referred. I am sure that that will include the new STEM programme, as well, which my colleague Liz Smith referred to earlier on in this debate. Lossimouth is a central part of the defence arrangements for the UK and it is home to the quick reaction alert units, whose job is to defend our airspace from incursion, in particular from the Russians. It also plays a part in our responsibility to our NATO allies by being part of the Baltic air policing effort, again deterring operations from the Russian state. Alongside a host of our activities and work, such as providing planes and men for the operations in the Falkland Islands, operation shader in the Middle East as host for exercise joint warrior and also hosting a mountain rescue team in Scotland. There is a lot of happening in just that one location, but Lossimouth is not the only RAF presence in Scotland. It stretches right across the nation. Scotland is home to four of the RAF reserves squadrons, namely the 602 City of Glasgow squadron, 603 City of Edinburgh squadron, 612 County of Aberdeen squadron and 2622 Highlands squadron. They provide a number of vital areas of the RAF emissions support, force protection, police and the RAF regiment and medical support. Of course, as the military comes to rely more and more on the reserves, the importance of those units to the RAF can never be underestimated. Scotland is also the home of number six flying training school, which gives flight training to both the RAF universities air squadrons and the air experience flight, which both give young people the opportunity to learn to fly and give them an insight look into what a career the RAF could entail. Finally, the RAF is also reopening the radar head at Saks of Oil, which my colleague Tavish Scott referred to in the Shetland Islands, which is a welcome investment of £10 million and will keep our country really safe. Having experienced and served up there some years ago in Inside Right, I know fully well what the job it has to carry out, which is extremely important in protecting NATO and our force from the Shetland Islands right through to Turkey. Deputy designing officer, as you can see, the RAF history with Scotland is very deep and meaningful, and the RAF has a very real commitment in Scotland today. I am sure that its future will be well connected very strongly as our country today and as well in the future. I now call Keith Brown to respond to the debate around seven minutes, please, cabinet secretary. I thank you also to Alexander Stewart for tabling the debate. I am delighted that it has been a very supportive and interesting debate in the chamber, which continues to recognise the work of all of our armed forces, but in this case particularly the RAF, both past and present. We are celebrating the formation of the RAF on 1 April 1918, the first independent air force in the world. Also born out of necessity a hundred years ago, the Royal Air Force continues to lead the way, as we have heard, whether that being combating modern threats to our security or delivering humanitarian aid around the world. Essentially, we are in the midst of a terrible conflict, the likes of which is quite difficult to understand and envisage today. Towards the end of the First World War, the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Navy air service were merged to form the Royal Air Force, and during the Second World War, the RAF expanded, as you would expect very quickly, with aerial defence provided, among other things, by the elegant and instantly recognisable aircraft, the Hawker Hurricane and also the Super Marine Spitfire, including of course during the battle of Britain, which has been mentioned by a number of members. Today, the RAF continues to defend our security and airspace through the quick reaction alert capability 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, from RAF Lossymouth and RAF Connings Bay. As well as being the home, though, to the quick reaction alert north, RAF Lossymouth in Murray is also home to three squadrons of typhoons, and I am sure that local communities are looking forward to welcoming more RAF personnel and families with the arrival of a further typhoon squadron, and, as has been mentioned by Maurice Corry, the Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft. The RAF family in Scotland, of course, extendens well beyond the communities in Murray, with the presence maintained at Lucas and Fife, and two Royal Auxiliary Air Force squadrons based in the central bell, all of whom have a warm relationship and close ties to their local communities. During that to 100 years, as you would expect, the RAF has changed a great deal. The women's Royal Air Force was created on 1 April 1918 at the same time as the RAF following the formation of the women's Auxiliary Army Service and the women's Royal Naval Service in 1917. The First World War also saw the formation of separate women's services for the first time, and women, of course, played an integral role during the First World War, and although the three services were subsequently disbanded, they were quickly reformed for the Second World War. In the 1990s, the separate women's services were subsumed into the main services. I mean, I see women work alongside their male counterparts in many very roles. The RAF has now opened all roles to women, the first of the three services to do so. The Royal Navy, of course, has had women's service at sea since 1990, and the army has lifted the ban on women's service in close combat roles. Many of the contributions today have drawn on the personal experience of individual members and at the risk of boring some of those who attended the event that we had with the RAF hosted by the Presiding Officer a couple of weeks ago. I will just recount briefly my experience. I think that if I had three times I have been obliged to hitch a lift with the RAF and the first of those was returning from the Fault in Darn's Conflict in 1982, when we got a lift back from Ascension Island to RAF Lookers. I do remember as a shy, modest retiring marine not wanting to mention the fact that the chairs were all facing the wrong way on the aircraft, but there was very good reason for that for health and safety reasons. At the second time, I was on a trip to Norway again from RAF Lookers, and what struck me at the time—perhaps it's unremarkable for the RAF—was the ability to land the Hercules aircraft on a completely snow-bound airport, the skill that that involved was remarkable. The last and perhaps most memorable time was to have a chance to go into a tornado, as Dave Stewart had done, which followed on from the RAF coming to the Parliament here, having an open day and winning a ballot to be the person in the MSP that got to go up in the tornado. To my extreme disappointment, I passed a medical with flying colours, which meant that the pilot could do whatever he wanted, having to observe the 200m floor, but everything else was open. Usually, the next question that follows is followed by the answer three times, and I will not go into that any more. However, what struck me at the event was the modest, understated manner and very evident competence of the pilot, professionalism of that pilot, the way that he did various things in there without really thinking about it to any great extent. Such was the level of training and practice that had been experienced both over the North Sea and on mainland Scotland. It is very impressive, the personnel that is being produced by the RAF. Building on the success that we have seen, we have now Eric Fraser in the role as Veterans Commissioner here in Scotland. A number of members have mentioned, in particular, Dave Stewart, the need to capitalise on the skills the investment that the country makes and the skills and the competencies of our service personnel, particularly the RAF. Going back to the points that were made by Richard Lochhead, I was struck by two RAF personnel who left the RAF but stayed in Lossiemouth, developed a product that was then able to go into the American defence market and have created a business there. Maurice Corry and I have talked about this on a number of occasions. We really have to do much more of that to keep that huge level of concentration of skills, keep it in the local area for the benefit of the local area. The RAF, along with the other services, provides career opportunities for engineers, aircrew, medics and many other professions. Service personnel gain a variety of transferable skills during their military careers. Often, some of our job, and I know that this is true for Maurice Corry as well, is trying to tell some service personnel how experienced, how capable and how useful the skills are that they have gained, how relevant they are to Civvie Street. Many of those skills are in very high demand in commercial organisations throughout Scotland, perhaps even more so for RAF personnel than other personnel. I am keen for every part that the Scottish—yes, of all the years. Whilst you are on the subject of skills gained, would you join me in congratulating the RAF on the work that it does with young people? We actually have the biggest air cadet organisation in the world and I was fortunate to serve as a flight attendant as a squadron commander with the air training corps. I have to say that the RAF does a superb job in supporting young people. In this year of the young people, I think that it is particularly fitting that we celebrate RAF 100 and the year of the young people that same time. Keith Brown I would certainly agree and point out that I am wearing the year of the young people badge today, but I could also say that my twin nieces both served with the air cadets. Not with any intention of actually going on for a military career, but they got a fantastic amount of experience that they had, so we are certainly joining the commendation of what the cadet service does. For my part, I am very keen that the Scottish Government continues to focus to help people leaving the armed forces, put those valuable skills into practice, and to succeed in their chosen career. As we mentioned already, I think by Alexander Stewart, that on 10 July, in London, the RAF will be on show for a centenary parade and flypast, and I am sure that there will be an excellent celebration and a fitting testament to all serving personnel taking part and to the many RAF veterans who will turn out in support. Many events are also planned for Scotland, including the Scottish National Air Show, an RAF family's garden party, and many STEM events, science, technology, engineering and maths for young Scots, to encourage the take-up of those subjects in their schools. For my part, I am very pleased that I have been provided with the opportunity to pay tribute to the many women of the Royal Air Force in this centenary year. It will be for them a busy and exciting time with many events, both official and unofficial. I would imagine that most fun has to be had at those unofficial events, some of which Tavish Scott referred to, and they will stoke up many memories for the years to come. I would encourage all those who are able to do so to become involved in those events and to enjoy the well-deserved spotlight on the RAF. I hope that the chamber will join me in congratulating the RAF on reaching its centenary and to wish it, as Alexander Stewart has done, to continue success for the next 100 years. That concludes the debate, and the meeting is suspended until half-past 2.