Hello there, just want some outside opinions on whether I’m doing well in the cadets for the time that I’ve been here so far since I’m not too sure at the moment.
I joined in August 2024 (according to my cdt portal since i can’t remember exactly myself) and got blue uniform around 2 months ago. So far I have EFA, Blue Radio (and am working on my 1st class cadet classification), apparently my now Sgt said I’m supposed to have a blue bell lyre badge too from participating in the band for remembrance parade though i dont have this yet, i’ve completed IWT on the L98 and I’ve actually managed to win an award for “most improved cadet of the year”. Is this good progress, or should I be striving for more? Also curious to know when I could become an NCO at this rate and how to work towards it, although this understandably is way too early to tell at the moment. Much appreciated!
That’s a pretty exceptional rate to be honest, just try not to rush things too much. Most squadrons can only deliver badges at the blue level on squadron, with maybe one or two bronze level badges too. I’m sure your training officer will keep on top of this, but if you have years left to go until you age out or leave, you want to make sure you don’t do everything immediately and leave yourself with nothing to do later on.
Promotion will take some time, most squadrons are reverting back to the pre-covid norm of cadets doing 2 years before promotion to Corporal, and it’s worth noting that promotion is not a right or an entitlement. As an officer I’ve seen too many cadets see promotion as the be all and end all, and get disappointed when they’re not chosen. The cadet experience is far more than just badges and rankslides, focus on the experience.
I admire the enthusiasm, but if you have years left to go, there’s no harm in taking things one step at a time.
Yeah yeah, absolutely, its not necessarily about the promotion, for me its about doing well and still enjoying myself (which I most definitely am!). Somehow the dates for badges/other events have lined up very well for me, most likely due to the time that i joined in, so im not overstressing myself trying to get them all at once.
I’m not even sure how long ill be staying within the cadets really😂, but either way i’m there much more for the fun and opportunities than having some chevrons on my epaulette.
Cheers though!
That’s great progression for the first four months!
In terms of promotion, I would speak to your Sqn SNCO or whoever oversees your Cdt NCO team for some feedback. It’s not just about the things that are easily measurable, you have to have some of the right qualities and soft skills needed for the role.
There also is no minimum time served/age/classification requirement for promotion, though lots of squadrons will use these as a guide/indicator for how much experience you have, alongside your achievements and what you’ve attended.
I don’t have access to the Defence taxonomy database right now, but off the top of my head I think LS is landing ship. In DW, you can’t just make up your own abbreviations: as they’re probably already used for something else.
I think they mean defence writing, but given this is a forum and we don’t use defence writing (and also arguably don’t need to for actual cadet stuff seeing as we’re not in the military), who knows.
At least if there was a précis of Defence Writing, there might be better standardisation with RAFAC.
Just on using different format / abbreviated / non-abbreviated dates - “11th of January” (really grates when I see someone lay out dates like this!!) for example - should be 11 Jan.
I didn’t like having to do ISS “Individual Staff Studies” orficers reeding & righting cse, but looking at the benefits of how to compose / structure / formulate different types of military correspondence / papers, it was invaluable for later life. Met up in my CAA job with a consultant who was an ISS instructor, gave me great delight to pick him up on errors!
I ran the Office Simulator for a while at Cranditz, got it all standardised so that everyone covered all the main types of correspondence & interviews. Great fun!! Loads of war stories.
