As the moderator, don’t like my previous post, here is the post again, without the swear word.
Post on Instagram, from DisAstra page, referring to “What’s for the axe?”
“I have a question RAF man. Why do we still bother paying for a cadet force?”
Yeah, I spotted that one too. Can’t find figures for how much we actually cost the RAF, but I did see that all the various cadet orgs cost the MoD ~£180m/yr.
In the original text, there is a swear word, which PeP has deleted, even when most of the letters were removed… Personally I think the swear word was important, as it highlights just how little that person thinks about the cadets.
I wonder if that is a growing trend across the RAF and a general disinterest in us. It is certainly my experience.
Unfortunately, I feel you have a rose tinted view of what the vast majority of the armed forces think of the cadet forces.
It’s not an opinion that is in the minority sadly.
The financial figures won’t sway AS1 Bloggs from not hating cadets.
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It’s also worth pointing out that there were 20+ replies posted by the account, only one mentioned the cadets.
Additionally, ex-cadets make up somewhere between a third to a half of all member of the RAF.
We’re not going to get binned off.
And, so what if some in the RAF don’t like us / have a skewed vision of what we do? Most of us never see the real RAF. I’ve had cadets go through a full 3 or 4 year stint on our squadron and never interact with the RAF except for some posters sent to us by an AFCO…
They’re being cut back, paid less, and being told to do more operationally, we shouldn’t take it personally that they might not have spare time for a bunch of hobbyists.
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Is it a dislike of specifically Cadets or is it the CFAVs primarily?
It does vary in my experience.
Ive been there for tirades about all sides of the cadets…
But that’s a large thread drift…
I don’t see cadet funding being pulled. I can see the headlines “government stops funding for disadvantaged teens”.
Regardless of some in the forces views, it won’t be cut.
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it has been ever thus and will be ever thus!
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In my experience on both sides of the fence, it’s the general walt-ness of certain CFAV that gives the rest a bad name. Most regulars have little interaction with cadets unless they’re on station for camps - which are few and far between. It’s sadly an entrenched attitude despite the large numbers of ex cadets in the RAF!
This sums it up really well.
The cadet forces are a drop in the ocean funding wise, the cadet forces review from not too long ago shows just how much of a return on investment there is.
C.100K cadets in the organisation, all given a reasonable exposure to the armed forces. Could they ever recruit enough people without the cadets, they struggle enough as it is! And those that don’t join leave, on the whole, as more rounded and developed individuals. Win win.
But when you’re an SAC living in shoddy service accommodation with no heating as the boiler is waiting to be repaired (again) but go to work and see a 20 year old CFAV running around wearing SNCO tapes getting a kick out of shouting at kids it must all seem a little… bemusing, to say the least.
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Agree with this. It happens everywhere.
Special Constabulary: people with much watered down training having the same powers as full timers and whilst there are some very competent people out there, the majority dont meet the expectations placed upon them by Regs. The Regs see the ‘shiny’ stuff and fun bits SCs get to do without the majority of the hard work and paperwork that it takes to do the job. Likewise the Regs also dont see hardwork SCs have to put in and the BS they have to put up with to keep their heads (and their team’s heads) above water.
I am sure this is repeated ad infinitum in every volunteer organisation or at least organisations with volunteers. Certainly from my experiences this is the case.
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What account is that?
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That’s DisAstra memes.
The guy running it is actually quite a good egg. He’s spoken in favour of cadets previously, takes a pragmatic view about it.
I’m not sure those most recent screenshots are, they look like a different account
I think it’s under the pinned stories.
Instagram has a feature where it stores stories on top of the page. Uses a new picture in the thumbnail when viewing it.
Perhaps I’m due an update, but nothing like that is showing for me, and the DisAstra name would be showing in the top left if it was that page.
Edit, never mind, seen what you mean.
I’m 99% certain the ATC mentioned there is Air traffic, not us.
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Yeah, exactly this. @GrandMaster_Flush if you go to disastra_memes page you can see their old (saved) stories at the top. When you look at these, it shows the name of that group of stories in the top left, rather than the page name!
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I was thinking that too.
DE SNCOs… Fair bit of salt.
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And also, if we were used as a more direct recruitment org, I think we’d technically be illegal under international law regarding child soldiers.