The Royal Air Force Air Cadets is a British youth organisation sponsored by the Ministry of Defence and the Royal Air Force. A Full Time Reserve Service (FTRS) RAF officer serves as Commandant Air Cadets at the rank of Air Commodore.
The Royal Air Force Air Cadets consists of two branches:-
-
The RAF Sections of the Combined Cadet Force, originating from the air sections of the Officer Training Corps in the 1920s and based within schools
-
the Air Training Corps established by warrant in 1941, governed & regulated by AP1919 & based in community run units
Combined Cadet Force(RAF)
The RAF sections of the CCF exist along side the Army & Royal Navy sections within a school contingent. The OC of a section reports to the contingent Cdr who is appointed by the school Headteacher & may be from a different service section. Cadets are pupils at the school.
Staff for the RAF sections are drawn from school employees teaching staff & volunteers registered at the school.
RAFAC supervision chain for the RAF sections is through the same Regional commandants as the ATC but then through OC Cadet training Team.
The Cadet training team are civil servants holding a Cadet Forces Commission, and RAF FTRS SNCOs dedicated to support CCF(RAF) sections. Each section is allocated a CTT NCO similar to an ATC Wing Staff Officer.
Air Training Corps
The Air Training Corps (ATC) are RAF air cadet units based in the local community. The majority of staff are volunteers although some are paid for full-time work. Although many ATC cadets go on to join the RAF or other services, the ATC is no longer set up as a recruiting organisation.
Activities include sport, adventurous training (such as walking and paddle-sports), ceremonial drill, rifle shooting, fieldcraft; powered aircraft and glider flying; and other outdoor activities, as well classification training leading up to a BTEC in Aerospace Studies. Week-long trips to RAF stations, or camps offering adventure training or music, allow the opportunity for cadets to gain a taste of military life and often to gain some flying experience in RAF gliders and RAF training aircraft such as the Grob Tutor.
Cadet membership can begin from the start of school Year 8 (England and Wales), Or equivalent in Scotland and Northern Ireland. New members will join as a junior cadet (probationer) and can earn positions of increasing responsibility in a military rank structure, as well as having increasing skill and competence recognised in a classification scheme (First Class, Leading, Senior, and Master) . Service as a cadet ends no later than the 20th birthday. As of 2024, the ATC numbered 34,070 Cadets and 9,190 Cadet Force Adult Volunteers. In addition, there are approximately 5,000 civilian committee members.
Together with the RAF contingents of the Combined Cadet Force, the ATC form the RAF Air Cadets.
The ATC is part of the Community Cadet Forces.
Headquarters Air Cadets (HQAC) is based at RAF Cranwell in Lincolnshire. There are subordinate headquarters at region and wing levels staffed by officers, warrant officers, or NCO’s of the RAFAC and civil servants. HQAC controls two Air Cadet National Adventure Training Centres – at Llanbedr, Gwynedd, Wales and Windermere, Cumbria, England. These provide a range of adventure training courses and accommodation for squadron and wing expeditions.
Although no longer controlled by HQAC, the ATC is still the primary user of the 10 Volunteer Gliding Squadrons (VGS), and the 13 Air Experience Flights (AEF)
Region
The ATC is divided geographically into six regions (each commanded by a FTRS Group Captain), and each region is sub-divided into a number of wings. There were historically six wings per region, however, as of 2013 there are 34 wings.
Wing
Wings are a further geographic subdivisions, most are named after the one or two counties of the United Kingdom that they operate in. Wing Headquarters (WHQ) is commanded by a RAFAC Cadet Forces Commission Officer in the rank of Wing Commander, with civil servants assisting in the day-to-day operation of the wing. The Wg Cdr, along with Wing Staff Officers (WSO) and Subject Matter Experts (SME) are all unpaid Cadet Forces Adult Volunteers
Squadron
ATC Squadrons are established in most large towns in the United Kingdom. There are also units in Cyprus, Gibraltar and the Channel Islands. In towns not large enough to sustain a squadron of 30 cadets, or as a supplement to an existing squadron in a larger town or city, a Detached Flight (DF) may be formed. A detached flight operates much like any other unit, but is technically a component part of a nearby, larger squadron. As of March 2013 there are over 900 ATC squadrons and 32 detached flights.
Each squadron is commanded by a CFAV, however in certain situations, a Service Instructor (See Rank Glossary) may be appointed as the Officer Commanding . The officer commanding has a good deal of autonomy in running his or her unit, along with the responsibility that goes with it. Where a unit has other members of staff, the officer commanding allocates duties and provides recommendations on appointments, retentions and promotions. An Officer Commanding of an ATC Squadron can appoint Cadets up to the rank of Cadet Flight Sergeant (Cdt FS)without any external influence (Some Wings have policy to the contrary, making it a Sector commander decision). Further Cadet promotion to the rank of Cadet Warrant Officer (CWO) requires recommendation being sent to their WHQ.
The Squadron Warrant Officer (Sqn WO) commonly holds the rank of warrant officer, or may be a senior non-commissioned officer (SNCO) if no warrant officer is available, and will typically have spent many years working within the squadron or at least within the ATC. In the case where no commissioned officers are present, the Sqn WO or SNCO will take charge of the unit. The squadron warrant officer usually has a closer relationship with the cadets than the commanding officer does.
The establishment of officers, WOs, senior NCOs and cadet NCOs is dependent on the size of the squadron or detached flight and this basic structure has many permutations – varying with the number of cadets and staff, accommodation and facilities. A typical small detached flight may consist only of the Officer Commanding and fifteen cadets and is often housed in rented accommodation. At the other end of the scale, a large squadron can consist of 120 cadets or more, four commissioned officers, two non-commissioned officers and a half dozen civilian instructors. Civilian Instructors form the backbone of the RAFAC.
Source: Wikipedia