I’d agree with you there.
That’s also why the Army prefer making someone an Adjt on a different unit to the one they were just on while getting boozy with their peers… 
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I was still a cadet at 19, but I was in charge of a cardio-thoracic surgical ward on night duty as a second year student nurse with a night sister on the end of a ‘bleep’ who came around four to five times a night on rounds or working on a paediatric renal surgery ward in the same year. I had dealt with by that point people who had died or were dying. Or there are young soldiers sailors and airmen going into action in the same age group of 18 to 20 years old.
Is that not an adult mindset?? Each person is different.
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I support the thinking but I don’t think this works - the better route is compulsory CI for six months.
The rationale is that it’s the break from uniform that helps changes the mind set. If you just swap straight with another rank slide they don’t break the mindset & just become a cadet NCO with uniform.
It’s not the individual judgement that is the issue but the context & frame of viewing which is what you need to change in an individual.
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Over 18 cadet joins reserves and comes back as an SI, first round on him in the pub then.
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A cadet SNCO / WO might not want to be a ‘civilian’ (putting aside that cadets and CFAVs are civilians). I certainly didn’t, so i joined the ACF as a Sgt Instructor (and eventually the TA / Army Reserve) instead.
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I think there’s definitely merit in a probationary rank for ex-cadets transitioning while hopefully separated by their peers thanks to attending a new unit for a bit.
I can understand not wanting to be out of uniform, and you need to maintain the pace and feeling of belonging so they don’t start to drift…
I’d love to know what efforts the organisation puts into cadet retention, specifically. Seems an obvious place to focus effort considering the time a timing-out cadet will have put in (while clearly enjoying and developing themselves).
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Really good question. If a cadet has to leave on their 18th birthday because, for example, they’re too busy with school / college for DBS / BPSS / MOI / AVIP then they’re out until they are at least 20.
And off they float…
Yeh, this 18-20 gap is so weird.
Can you imagine if we’d kept that at 22…
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Unless they choose to join the CivCom (whilst they still exist)
They don’t mentally view themselves as adults. Don’t get me wrong, they’ll correct you if you call them a child, but they haven’t developed an adult mindset
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I’d have to disagree, Staff cadets across the org hold vast amounts of responsibility and work harder than a lot of CFAVs i’ve met.
And you mention “professional distance” as part of that issue when it generally is not. it’s common that cadets won’t be all buddy buddy with someone who isn’t in the year above or below at school. so these “childish” new Staff cadets would realistically only keep a contact with those who would also be a staff cadet soon ( in most cases a fellow SNCO)
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Oooof…strong words… staff cadet are you by any chance?
Must confess that when I was a senior cadet, I lived and breathed the organisation because it was awesome.
With the option of staff-like levels of responsibility, I’d have been developed even more as an individual and the organisation, or at least the squadron, would have benefited even more.
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Not yet nor do intend to be but i can see why you’d assume that 
Either i’ve been cursed with underwhelming staff or blessed with spectacular staff cadets, most likely both
To be fair I’ve certainly had U6 cadets who were far more useful than certain CFAVs when it came to delivering the cadet experience, sometimes because they don’t have the responsibilities that older staff have, other times because the particular staff member was a chocolate teapot
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I’ll echo this, one of my current staff cadets is worth more than at least 2 of my current CIs I look forward to retaining them in 18 months time as a new officer.
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I can relate to this. Honestly in retrospect the level of commitment the staff expected of us was almost cult like.
Treat 18 year olds like kids, they will behave like kids.
Treat them like adults they will behave like adults but without the cynicism of us older staff.
Seriously though it was not so long ago that most would leave school at 15 and enter the world of work. I feet that modern society is not preparing young people for adult hood. 17 you are a child and can’t to anything and 18 you are a adult, don’t mess it up.
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You can argue the same for CI’s, many of whom give as much, if not more of their time than uniformed staff. It would be on recommendation of the WSo or WingCo, as I appreciate that some CI’s give a specific amount of time dependant on their skill set/availability.
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