I heard yesterday that the ACF are considering returning to 18+ Cadet service in the same way we have Staff Cadets as their current PI system isn’t working for them…
Both the ACF and SCC are talking about re-introducing it.
There is of course the other side of the coin, indeed the reason that Staff Cadets are allowed to be Cadets and that is the Courses and opportunities that aren’t open to Staff Members.
Staff can’t apply for a Flying Scholarship or any of those top end activities.
As for fuel and mileage allowance so think Squadrons should be making a contribution where the system does no. Don’t get me wrong I’m not saying that Squadrons should be paying Cadets HTD, but if a Staff Cadet is taking Cadets Flying for example the Squadron should be picking up the tab.
I personally think that the alcohol policy is a farce, I appreciate that on RAF Stations it’s out of our hands, but on things like AT where the Cadet could be the qualified person, to ban them from having a drink in the evening is ridiculous.
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I was told the same thing by the CTT. Though they said the pilot had been launched in some areas already. Apparently most people in the CTT are against it.
As an 18 yr old + cadet at annual camp, on the journey onto the station we’d keep a watch for local pubs and it was an unwritten rule, staff would drink in one and suitably aged cadets in another. Just don’t come back drunk was the rule, and we didn’t.
Those of us who did drink, after the Squadron would race to the local pub down the road to the Squadron for a beer before last orders and we’d meet the staff there for a pint. We were well known there.
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One of the probkems is now, so few spaces at camps and so few 18+ wanting to go. I loved that unwritten rule, which all the staff seem to enforce. But, that’s exactly how I remember it, late passes and all that as well. Those were the days.
The number of 18+ at camps is a dying breed, so you may get one, which is bit boring in a pub.
The last few camps I’ve been on we’ve had an off-base social and if we’ve had an 18+ they’ve not drunk alcohol and as a rule and don’t seem to go to pubs. Mind you at £3.80 to £4.50 a pint in our local pubs, I can hardly blame them. I think as well the landlords seem a lot twitchier than in my day about underage imbibers,. Plus there seemed to be more of a culture around going pubs, lunchtime at work or 6th Form were not unusual. Do it now and there’s be something said.
I completely agree with you, I have had the benefit of attending such courses and they are what have made my cadet career a happy experience, unfortunately the Squadron lifestyle had made it a very very unhappy one for quite some time.
But on the other hand what is to stop the Corps for making these courses available at a Pre 18 age? The Junior Leaders Course has changed immensely even since last years course. So what would be the issue in making these courses available for 16 & 17 year olds?
Edit
I understand some of these courses require a person to be 18 years+ but then surely isn’t it more suited for a member of staff to have that qualification?
Do you have a reference for this? I know it says something along the lines of ‘staff cadets can do anything a young CI can within current limitations’ in ACP20 but those limitations aren’t easily found.
They are pretty easily found, as there aren’t many.
PI501, including Annex D (staff cadet agreement) as I recall…
What’s the age of a CI got to do with anything?
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Excellent, thank you!
Very good question…
Comparing eggs with eggs, I guess.
Relatively inexperienced CI would probably be a fairer comparison.
A “relatively inexperienced CI” may still be older, with more life experience, confidence and common sense than an 18-year old. A gross generalisation I know, but I get why they may have worded it that way.
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The problem in ending cadet service at 18 (of which I have been a long time advocate, well since 2003) is that it would expose the fragility of the overall position of the adult staff set up and force HQAC to get their finger out and actually properly address the volunteer staff situation. At the moment reliance is placed on keeping cadet beyond 18. The local ACF det cdr said about the ACFs thinking, but he thinks like me in that something needs to be done to make the whole adult staff experience more appealing, and, not relying on cadets staying around.
Cadets staying over 18, shouldn’t done with all the nonsense that it has become entangled. It should be seamless and only involve doing a DBS and something around safeguarding (to keep the worriers happy), not making them into mini-staff with “mandatory courses” and the absolute BS of “being of worth”.
If the cadets want to stay it should be like it was for as long as staff cadets existed (1967) prior to 2003. I wasn’t pressured to stay past 18, I passed Staff P2 and became a Staff Cadet, was promoted to CWO and then at 20 had the option to remain as a cadet or not. I had mates who weren’t staff cadets but stayed on and left or became staff at 20. This is the trick we are missing. How many cadets stayed without a lanyard and went on to become staff? I can recall at least half a dozen of my mates who did.
Whether we were “high flyers” or not was irrelevant, we were just cadets.
Many have allowed themselves to be taken in by the utter tosh of “being of worth”, which I’ve never understood. Doing BPSS and adult staff courses I feel compounds the feelings they are more than they are and you get people like this young man. Who it seems has been taken in by the hype
You are looking at this with no advantage of hindsight. The 21st Century comment is irrelevant as to what you are, you are still a cadet, the clue’s in the title. The fact that HQAC via its policies over the last 16 years has pimped and pumped up role and to something more than it is. I was a staff cadet a long while ago and like you did things and whether the rest of the staff was doing things was unimportant and I can’t think I ever noticed. I was doing what I was asked to do and things I wasn’t purely for my own self-interest. I’m still like this, do what I have to, but with any eye on doing something to keep the interest going. I am like this now with staff cadets. I’d still rather be busy, which is why I look for things at work, to work on and get in front of cadets and instruct. The office stuff in the ATC is tedious and with the loose exception of activities, not something I use to run the sqn. If those coming along as Staff Cadets are told something different, they are being unashamedly lied to.
We as staff can only officially claim fuel in very, very, very few and limited circumstances. If you are doing any of these as a cadet then your CO is extracting the urine. I wouldn’t ask a cadet to take cadets to any of those, like flying. If you are running cadets around to general things, maybe speak to the CO and see if your CWC will reimburse. Our one does but only on an average MPG vs cost/gallon basis or pre and post tank fill with a receipt, not the mileage rate. Subs why not, yes staff don’t pay subs, but the vast majority of staff spend their money buying odds and sods which they don’t claim back and they pay for socials etc.
What you forget is that you can say no to things if someone asks you to do it. Just because they have a tab on their shoulder, doesn’t mean they own you. They may like to think they do, but cadets and staff alike volunteer and to that end can pick and choose their level of involvement. Although I feel many staff force cadets into a way of doing things that as staff they would object to. Also as a cadet there is the attendance expectation, that just doesn’t exist for adult staff. Which if we lost the nonsense of 18+ cadets and just had adult staff, there wouldn’t be an attendance expectation.
Pulling up a very old threat and my apologies, however I’ve looked everywhere for a reference in policy that confirms this… could you give anymore detail please? 
TIA
PI 501 Para 5
Staff cadets should be given as much supervisory and organisational responsibility as their rank, individual ability, experience, qualifications and personal qualities allow. They can undertake any activity that a young CI can undertake including, within all existing regulations, leading activities and taking sole responsibility for younger cadets without the need for another CFAV to be present. This is only constrained by the following limitations:
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I notice it says ‘without the need for another CFAV to be present’.
I’m well aware staff cadets aren’t CFAVs but the way that is written does somewhat blur the lines.
Introducing, ladies and gentlemen, yet again, the great ACC annual staff cadet debate, sponsored by Cadet Direct!
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