One of the problems we have is being tied to the figure 30 and it been seen as failure if you donât have that many, I havenât had 30 cadets on the books for 7/8 years. The two nearest squadrons have a much larger population to draw from and still donât have more than 30 cadets. Maybe the Air Cadets isnât offering enough of its USP for kids to get excited about and make it sound really good to their mates.
Iâm still much of the opinion you need to trim the fat off the top first and make that more appropriate for the 21st Century.
I think that the model needs updating, rather than losing squadrons, as losing squadrons will mean losing more cadets and staff than they may have first imagined. While this might suit a costing model itâs not the way forward. It is far too simplistic an idea to just cut / merge squadrons.
It would already seem that now we are losing the only tangible link to the RAF ie VR(T), the whole notion of light blue footprint is beginning to disappear, in favour of a strategic footprint.
Speaking to mates, most older scout units have at most about a dozen kids and there doesnât seem to be an issue.