A HAVERFORDWEST air cadet has been shortlisted for a prestigious award due to her hard work and all-rounder ability.

Cadet warrant officer Abigail Beckett has been nominated for the Air Training Corps 75 Sword, one of the highest honours which can be presented to a female member of the air cadets.

At their meeting on Tuesday, May 1, Warrant Officer Beckett gave a presentation to her fellow cadets explaining the award’s history, and how she was nominated for it.

“Personally to me, the Dacre competition is a top achievement in the air cadets,” she said.

“It is something cadets can only achieve if they go beyond their comfort zones.”

Warrant Officer Beckett was also invited to attend the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, but had to chose her duty to the Air Training Corps over the royal occasion of the year.

Warrant Officer Beckett was nominated for the award by the Third Welsh Wing of the cadets, before being chosen as the best candidate in all of the Wales and West region, which includes Liverpool and Birmingham.

On May 19, she will visit the RAF College at Cranwell in Lincolnshire to be interviewed by the Air Commodore and other high ranking RAF officers, alongside cadets from the five other ATC regions.

Squadron Commander Andrew Clerk said praised the warrant officer for her hard work in the cadets, and said she set an example for her peers.

The ATC 75 Sword is presented annually to the female cadet considered to have achieved the most that year.

It replaced the Dacre Brooch in 2016, when the piece of jewellery was given to the Duchess of Cambridge as she became a patron of the ATC.

Its equivalent for male cadets is the Dacre Sword, both are dress swords worn as part of RAF ceremonial uniform.

The Dacre competition is named for Air Commodore George Bentley Dacre, a distinguished airman who fought in the First World War.