Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson has announced some more new Units within Schools today, out of interest, how do others feel about this?
I think this is something they’ve recycled a few times over the past several years.
You’ll get the usual comments below of “why not support existing units…where are current units going to get their cadets… How are they going to staff them” and a new one: “how can they roll this out while deliberately downsizing the ATC?”
Has anyone seen any of these schemes in action?
Too many times I’ve heard this since some mumblings when John Major was PM,. The only 2 places I’ve heard of new ones, after the initial excitement have struggled to get staff in the schools to do it. Both state schools, one selective the other mainstream.
Yeah there is one in my Sector, it’s within a school where there is already a Squadron based and ACF 10 minutes up the road!
there is now 1 in scotland near to an existing ATC unit.
as I understand it an officer has volunteered from the existing unit to run it and all the cadets
will be under the umbrella of that unit too… like a DF
This is a new Defence Secretary recycling an old policy ready for the “Bring back National Service” wing of the Tory party at their conference next week. The vast majority of cadets, both CCF and ATC/ACF will not see any benefit.
I might be wrong but I don’t think these are all CCF this time round. (Based on rumour mill, to be fair.)
As i have said in other treads here the two in wales will be in Further education colleges. 16 plus. This is not the age group for traditional CCF of cadet open units. The only reason i can see is the Llandarcy campus runs the b-tec in public services. Is it was cheap way of obtaining a military ethos and access to the defence estate?
The Treorchy ATC Sqn was closed down years ago I believe, but I heard a rumour that they were looking into starting a DF there…
Same happened to my unit, CCF RAF section established less than a mile away, Squadron not informed and in fact I suspect information supressed by Wing and Regional officers deliberately. Squadron forced into a co-location within 10 days, 4 miles away by new W/C (not totally upto him, others involved before this within the Wing who told the Sqaudron nothing) who just happens to work for RFCA establishing CCF units. This co-location will be a merger in the end, come October.
I hear another co-location is also happening within the city where I live, I just hope that they handle it far better but I’m not holding my breath.
To all units, keep an eye on school websites and talk to your cadets to tell you if they hear anything.
The CEP has crippled the unit that I am currently helping out with, contrary to promises.
Unfortunately standing units aren’t as photogenic as something new and shiny and in an organisation where the senior management are deeply in love with their egos and SM, like anyone of the ninnies from the celeb world, a new unit in a school will give them hours of thumb action. If they spent as much time doing the job their paid to by the taxpayer as they did on SM, what could they achieve?