Just wondering, as I want to try my best as I’m really interested in air cadets and all, I’ve been wanting to join for ages and I want to push myself to be the best I can, cheers.
Welcome, both to RAFAC and ACC.
My suggestions:
Get familiar with Cadet Portal.
Have a look around yourself, and ask an NCO to talk you through signing up for events.
Look after your uniform, once you’ve been issued it, and get yourself some parade shoes.
Otherwise, listen carefully to whoever is running your initial training. Ask questions at appropriate times. Watch and learn from those around you.
Cheers, got my DPMs as soon as I joined but swapped it out for military issued MTPs, as I got them free from someone who used to be in the royal engineers, they said my boots were well polished, sadly didn’t get a beret badge on the first day as they didn’t have any, but recently got one so I’m going to try to re-mould my beret, I know quite a bit of drill already as my dad is ex-police and taught me some things about drill, so far so good though.
Sadly not sure about the events on portal as I’m not available to attend most as they either have restrictions or are just on some odd days, was considering signing up for DOFE but my Commanding Officer told me that I’d be better off starting it next year as they’ve already started for most activities, some also say “Must be {RANK} or above.”, which is a bit annoying as I do want to try some events.
There shouldnt been events courses that require a minimum rank etc. There are various blue courses you can go on if not already done at squadron level. You do need to have been enrolled on bader and been upgraded to 2nd class from junior and also have done heat and cold injury training which is easy to do at squadron.
Regarding DofE you can start anytime really hut its ultimately up to whoever is your dofe leader been it we are still at beginning of the year if it was me I wouldn’t have you wait a whole year to start doing no need to really do that.
They said “we’ve already started and you’d have to attend every single event so far to be able to do it” or something.
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Well, it’s a drill training course, it says.
Course Eligibility
Cadets must hold the minimum rank of Cpl.
CFAV must be fully ratified and compliant with ACTO 99. The course is open to all ranks of CFAV personnel.
We will have a minimum of 12 and a maximum of 24 personnel on this course.
All who attend must have a good grasp of basic foot drill (Static, Quick and Slow Time) as well as an ability to interpret AP818, with particular reference to correct words of command and how they are delivered.
Your enthusiasm is great and you should keep it up, but don’t feel like you need to do everything now, you have plenty of time as a cadet.
If you’re not sure where to start, or you have a particular activity you’d like to do but aren’t sure how to build up to it, speak to your Sqn staff and they’ll be able to point you in the right direction.
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Yep this plus 1. A good basic training program by your sqn should get you through basic induction, blue first aid, blue leadership, blue Comms/cyber and your first class within 6 to 12 months. With that and drill/band/shooting/DoE/AT you’ll be busy!
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Cheers, yeah I’m trying my best as I want to do the best as I can as I’m really interested in the RAF and RAFAC, and I answered as many questions as I could when we were doing history of the ATC in the classroom the other day, we finished it early so we moved on to ranks and uniforms, which I already knew alot about, and also the aircrafts that they use for training, and the historical ones.
I have asked for a first class logbook but they haven’t given me one, they said we don’t need them? I thought we did, but thankfully I found an online version, but it’d be nice to have a real one, so I can look through and stuff.
You only need it when you get to the Part 3 subjects for First Class. Flying Ops, map reading, initial expedition training, and basic radio comms.
The parts you’re doing now don’t have anything to fill out in the logbook.
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Hello, welcome to the organisation.
Personally, I would say that hard work will prove the most important thing in the organisation. Staff members spend a lot of time on cadet stuff, and had to jump through many hoops to become part of the organisation, and many once were cadets themselves.
Therefore, they notice your effort more than you realise. When I started as a cadet around five years ago, I remember thinking that I’m never going to do well - there’s 30 other cadets in the room, why should they notice me?
It’s really important to just remember that they may have been in the same shoes as you are now. Just get your head down and pay attention in lectures, work hard at drill and become a perfectionist when it comes to drill, and don’t stress too much about classification or promotion. Collect the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves - same applies at RAFAC.
Finally, spend as many weekends as you can doing cadet stuff. I was really held back because of not being allowed to go on weekend activities - the sooner you can get shown around Cadet Portal and speak to your parents about whether going on weekend courses is viable, the better you could do in the organisation. That said, I am lacking in many areas of my brassard, and yet I am a Flight Sergeant.
TLDR: Work hard, trust that staff will notice you and be willing to speak to NCOs for help. Get on weekend courses. Don’t stress promotions.
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