More than 20 years ago, a Design and Technology teacher encouraged one of her pupils to give cadets a go. Neither of them could have known where that conversation would lead.
This summer, Flt Lt Matthew Wehrle returned to National Air and Space Camp as the RAF’s 2026 Chinook Role Demonstration Captain. Among those he flew was Sqn Ldr (RAFAC) Lisa Diccox, the volunteer who had first encouraged him to join the RAF Section at The Judd School in Tonbridge more than two decades earlier.
For Matthew, it was a chance to thank someone whose decision to volunteer helped change the direction of his life.
“I had no idea how much her guidance and mentorship would influence the entire direction of my life and career,” he said.
“I doubt either of us imagined 20 years ago that I’d be flying her in a Chinook minutes before displaying as the Role Demo Captain!”
An interest becomes an ambition
Matthew already had a keen interest in STEM subjects at school, but it took what he describes as “some gentle persuasion” from Lisa, his Design and Technology teacher, to get him to join the school’s Combined Cadet Force RAF Section, where she volunteered her time.
The experience introduced him to military life and aviation and helped turn an existing interest into something more.
“The CCF offered opportunities and experiences that most teenagers wouldn’t dream of encountering,” Matthew said. “It gave me an early insight into military life and aviation, turning an interest into a genuine ambition.”
Matthew progressed to Cadet Flight Sergeant and, in his final year, was responsible for helping prepare younger cadets to take on leadership roles themselves.
He ran leadership lessons, organised overnight training exercises, taught public speaking and helped manage promotions. Those experiences stayed with him long after he left cadets.
After school, Matthew studied Electronic Engineering with Avionics at the University of York and joined Yorkshire Universities Air Squadron. He joined the Royal Air Force in 2014 and, after completing flying training, qualified as a front-line Chinook pilot in 2022.
Today, he is a Training Captain on 18 Squadron at RAF Odiham and a Qualified Tactics Instructor. His flying career has included operations and exercises in the UK and overseas, including aerial firefighting in Cyprus.
In 2026, he was selected as the RAF’s Chinook Role Demonstration Captain, leading the team which demonstrates the aircraft’s capabilities to the public at airshows and events around the country.
Lessons that started in cadets
For Matthew, the connection between his early cadet experience and his role today isn’t simply about aviation.
“As an aircraft captain, my primary responsibility is the safety of the aircraft and crew,” he said.
“This often requires quick-thinking decision making, managing risks, communication skills and, above all, teamwork. The stakes are obviously rather different, but the underlying leadership principles and foundations are exactly the same.
“Cadets gave me the opportunity to develop those skills early; to make mistakes and learn from them, in a fully supportive environment, long before I was required to apply them professionally.”
For Lisa, volunteering began when she was teaching at The Judd School. During her first year, she saw the school’s Head of Music leading more than 50 cadets on Friday evenings and offered to help.
She was commissioned in January 2003 and has since supported young people through a wide range of roles, including commanding the school’s RAF Section, supporting camps and competitions and escorting cadets to the USA as part of the International Air Cadet Exchange.
She has also been part of the National Air and Space Camp management team for the past nine years.
Yet it is seeing what cadets go on to do that she describes as the greatest reward.
“It has been a huge privilege to experience so many opportunities and support so many amazing young people to develop their skills,” Lisa said.
“The greatest reward is seeing former cadets succeed and knowing that, in some small way, you helped them on that journey.”
A full-circle moment
Their paths came together again at this year’s National Air and Space Camp at RAF Syerston. Matthew returned as Chinook Role Demonstration Captain, giving young people attending the camp an opportunity to see where their own interests could one day take them.
For Matthew, however, there was another reason the visit meant so much.
“Returning to Syerston National Air & Space Camp this year was one of the highlights of my season, a truly special full-circle moment,” he said.
“It was a wonderful opportunity to, hopefully, inspire the next generation, and to thank Sqn Ldr Diccox for her incredible dedication over the years.”
The day carried another personal milestone. Matthew reached 1,000 flying hours.
Looking back, he says he now has a very different appreciation of what Lisa and other cadet volunteers were doing behind the scenes when he was growing up.
“As a cadet you don’t necessarily appreciate that the adults organising your evenings, weekends, exercises and camps are giving up their own free time to make it possible,” he said.
“It’s only now that I can truly appreciate the scale of that commitment.”
More than two decades after she first encouraged him to join, Lisa is still volunteering and helping young people discover opportunities of their own.
That, Matthew says, is something worth celebrating.
“She has inspired and built a positive path for thousands of people over her career in teaching and with the cadets, and I’m extremely grateful she saw something in me worth encouraging.”
Could you make the same difference?
Matthew’s message to anyone considering volunteering is simple: you don’t need to arrive with military experience or specialist knowledge.
“What matters is being willing to give young people your time and encouragement for them to discover what they’re capable of,” he said.
“The confidence, resilience, friendships and leadership skills they develop will serve them well regardless of their future career.
“I suspect most volunteers don’t realise quite how much influence they can have. Something that may seem a small gesture at the time could genuinely change the entire course of a young person’s life for the better, just like mine.”
For Lisa, it all started by offering to stay behind and help on a Friday evening.
Twenty years later, one of those cadets came back in a Chinook.