On today's Armed Forces Day, I want to say thank you to all the men and women in our Armed Forces community, from those currently serving, to our veterans, cadets, reservists and service families for all that you do and have done to keep our country and citizens safe. The work of our Armed Forces community is so important and very much appreciated, so on today's day of celebration and thanks giving I hope that all in the community take a moment of much deserved rest.
Above the 'usual' work of promoting peace, delivering aid, tackling drug smugglers, providing security and fighting terrorism, over the past year our Armed Forces community has done even more to keep UK citizens safe, which really is worthy of respect and support. This past year, our Armed Forces community has stepped up to take on the challenges that the pandemic has brought. During the pandemic, members of the Armed Forces have been assisting with the vaccine rollout across the UK, delivering vaccine doses across the world, supporting our testing capacity and testing centres, and working with scientists in their fight against Covid-19 (along with much more!). This work has been hugely significant in our fight against Covid-19, further reiterating the importance of today as a day for giving thanks.
Over this past year, I have been honoured to meet many members of our Armed Forces community that have continued their valuable work. This has included the Wrexham Cadet Detachment, and in particular the Commander James Heyward who was one of my 'Covid Community Champions'; Wrexham's veterans at our Remembrance Day Service last year and the D-Day Memorial event earlier this month; Royal Navy personnel preparing for the UK's Carrier Strike Group deployment; members of the British Army preparing to head off to Mali as part of Operation Newcombe, the UN peacekeeping mission; and many female military personnel and veterans as part of my Defence Select Committee Sub-Committee.
Having the opportunity to meet, thank, support and learn from so many in our Armed Forces community is one of the best parts of my job and I want to take this moment to applaud you and thank you for all that you do! This week, I was also honoured to be able to speak at the Armed Forces Day ceremony in Westminster Hall in the Houses of Parliament to give further thanks and praise to our Armed Forces community.
Happy Armed Forces Day to our Armed Forces community!
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