Back in my day, we called them probationers.
I’ve seen them referred to as other things on the forum, such as “recruit”.
Just wondering what the official terminology is these days, and what y’all call the flight you put them in. That last bit is probably the biggest change since I was a cadet, because I joined alone!
I think officially we would call them junior cadets. But day-to-day I use the term ‘recruits’ or ‘the new recruits’.
We give ours the term ‘probationer’…during their probationary period before they get added to the system and start paying subs. Then we refer to them as the new recruits.
We add them basically from day one. IMO they aren’t probationary, as we aren’t going to turn around and disallow them to stay. It’s not like probationary staff, where if you don’t do the required course, you get turned back into a CI. (or removed from the org)
We always tended to refer to ours as newbies.
We called them recruits to their faces, until they were enrolled.
It’s more to see if we are what they want and if they decide they want to stick with us.
They can still leave after being added though. It was my understanding they needed a 3822A returned, and added to SMS as soon as they start attending, at least regularly.
Speak for yourself, I’ve had more than 1 I’ve had to tell the parents we won’t be allowing to join after a parade night or three.
We give them the, ‘Try before you pay’ month. Adding them to sms after they have filled out the 3822A on the first night, is not my job.
Damn, thankfully never had to do that. We’ve had some tricky recruits. But we’ve either managed to change their ways, or they have realised them selves it’s not for them!
We normally do a similar thing. But they still get added straight away!
I get what you are saying. Adding to sms straight away isn’t a 2 minute job. The amount of newbies we get fluctuates each week. I’m glad I’m not the one doing that for them not to come back after the first or second night. As long as we have the paper copy of the 3822A which we give to parents on the first night, then that will do us.
We don’t do this anymore at all. In fact, this is advised against given the new form is designed to be filled out digitally.
On the open night or similar they all get given a bit of paper with links/QR codes to the latest 3822A/H along with some information of what is needed, and an email address to send it too! Keeps it all digital, as it should be now. Then once it’s been added to their profile, the emails are deleted.
This also means not having to try and read very bad hand writing!
Not to be that guy, but is there anything written that states that, as I’ve not been made aware of it?
Yes. In 2021 there was a complete re-issue to all current cadets of the 3822A/H. This was when we moved to the new form. We were told to destroy all paper copies of the form, and that the new form should be sent in via email and uploaded to the cadets account. A lot of this information can be found in IBN 13-2021.
Completed forms for each cadet in the ATC are to be returned to local units (DF or Sqn) (ideally digitally via email – but hard copy versions are acceptable, in extremis)
I think this is an area where digital can improve things further.
Imagine being able to send out a 1-time link to parents who, after clicking the link, are able to complete the info themselves and it be automatically added to Units (as SMS is being phased out), so just needs a CFAV to sense-check it instead of manually entering the details.
Imagine how much volunteer time that would save.
We call them recruits. The parents / guardians complete 3822s electronically and email in before our intake evening. If recruit comes back after intake they get added to SMS after the first week and 3822s are uploaded.
Main reason for early addition to SMS is for access to the Cadet Portal and the training programme.
Each of the two flights are named after ex cadets who sadly made the ultimate sacrifice for the country. We have had representatives of the families award the best recruit on enrolment night.
I’m pretty sure this is the plan! Join for cadets essentially. 
Use of a QR code on paper is a good idea - saves on initial admin for sqn staff if parents are tech savvy enough. I imagine filling out a 3822A/H on a mobile phone is a painful experience otherwise.
I’ve seen sqns using an initial record form on the induction night with the cadet’s name, parent name and parent email address completed by parent on the night (so you know it’s coming from the parent and not the cadet ‘forging’ parent consent). this doubles as an attendance register for the night too.
Reference to Junior Cadet is in ACTO 1 and requirement for cadet records is in ACTO 4 though, interestingly this was never updated to match the IBN above.
Is this not why we have a 2024 pause to fix things like this
