I was at the Royal Marine band concert last night with my better half at Liverpool Philharmonic Hall.
The Royal Marine and Sea cadets were there assisting the hall staff and also fundraising for their organisation.
I can only say that their dress uniform which was amazing plus the discipline and deportment were outstanding. The impression given is far superior to the present RAFAC uniform.
In a perfect world, what uniform do you think RAFAC Cadets should have? No.1s?
Always thought the Royal Marine Cadets always had the nicest uniform.
In a perfect world, yes No 1s. There are around 14,000 Sea Cadets/Royal Marine cadets in the UK, but they are a charity and not direct;y funded, but they are assisted by the RN.
Maybe a move into the charitable sector should be direction of travel, therefore the RAFAC has its own control, rather than being totally beholden to the RAF, the provision of flying being a case in point.
I always say that I’m amazed at what they manage to achieve with only charity funding.
Every cadet gets a set of No1s and they are entitled to a replacement annually. Obviously, they are pool items, but none the less… They still replace through wear and tear too.
They also have a system which is eminently more sensible than ours for Officers’ No 1s… They don’t issue them; they provide a good allowance for Officers to purchase their own. They also provide for an allowance to have those altered as well, with a replacement issue at (I think) 5 years.
It makes our ‘Measure… Wait… Eventually get issued a set, which don’t fit… Pay to have them altered by a local tailor… Make sure you never grow more than 2" for the next 40 years, because that’s all you’re getting…’ system look a bit unfit for purpose.
I suspect that they work very hard with an astute team of fund-raisers whereas the RAFAC wait for the money to come down from the MoD through 22 group. They are supported by the RN through ‘funding’ but is that through the provision of time and facilities?
A mate got some mess dress with a pocket sewn in the wrong way.
New (RAF) fabric is gopping.