And? Many people will live closer to an Army base (or possibly naval establishment) than they do an RAF base, so it will help many people. Not only that, but if we include reserve establishments then there’s also a good chance that kit can be collected at times more suitable for volunteers.
And they still need to have the right size for little people
(Subtley brining us back on topic!)
I doubt it, but then does the RAF really give a monkey’s?
I my about 37 years of kitting cadets and always struggling to fit small cadets into uniform, I would say the RAF doesn’t.
Uniform szes have always been a problem luckily my wife is very good at doing alterations for BLUE and MTP recently we had a very small cadet join his shirts were down to his knees so they have been tailored to suit and as he grows out of them they will be retained for future use i insist that all retuned uniform is laundered i then fold it bag it and label it and then put it back in stock ready to be re issued as necessary
We only keep uniform that’s been well looked after and isn’t tatty, but we would love shoes and would like cadets who leave to donate their shoes but they often don’t
I keep very very little from cadets uniforms coming back, normally the jeltex, beret badge and brassard and possibly the jumper if its in top condition. Anything else that has been “next to skin” normally gets binned. Very occasionally they have been issued something brand new within a month of leaving we keep it, but only after getting a thorough wash.
As for shoes, we do have an exchange box of shoes and boots, to be honest we normally throw out half of shoes we get back in. Although all the shoes are cleaned thoroughly inside before re issue.
Im going to try adetdirect.com as I understood there is uniform for 150 cm tall.
https://www.cadetdirect.com/starter-kit-with-beret
Do you think it’s a good website?
Cadet Direct is fine, generally reliable, but also can be at the upper end of the price scale.
Check what your squadron can actually issue you, and look at what you can get for individual items that the sqn can’t do - you should get a beret, you might get a belt, you can probably find cheaper t shirts that are good enough when just starting out. Standard olive cotton tee from most places will suffice.
Looking at individual items, you can better price compare to somewhere else that has the same size (if they do).
You will also need to source a windproof smock if the sqn can’t provide one.
I can’t remember that last time we received more than 50 percent of an order from parent station.
Thank you very much, i will have a look. and check what I can get and where. For a pity, not too many options on Vinted.
We really need to get a new uniform for the Air Cadets. The current No2b dress isn’t fit for purpose: ill-fitting for young people who are still growing, dated looking (I was wearing the same uniform half the ATC’s life ago) and impracticable for any sort of activity that is more active than sitting in a lesson or lecture, being neither warm, wind- or waterproof in the slightest degree.
I suggest a blue-grey PCS uniform as a replacement, with a waterproof suit that actually has a hood to keep rain from flooding down one’s neck, some thermal underwear and a fleece or softie-type jacket. Shooting ranges and airfields are cold, windy and wet places, with climate change making this type of weather the norm; the cadet green and blue uniform issue is inadequate in the face of it. The British Army and ACC regularly mounts formal parades wearing MTP PCS rather than No2 Service Dress, so the argument that we should have the No2a uniform for formal parades is undermined by that practice.
However… why should the RAF supply an organisation which is a third bigger than they are with ‘free’ uniforms? It’s not like they can guarantee a regular supply of recruits in return from the RAFAC, ACO, ATC or whatever we call ourselves this month. I’ve been instructing at my squadron for eleven years, and only one cadet has joined the RAF in that time.
Plus the taxpayer has to kit out older children in RAF uniforms: the University Air Squadrons, which have a similar low level of its members joining the RAF after graduation.
Some would say that blue-uniformed cadet organisations “keep the RAF in the public eye,” so the expense of supplying uniforms and buildings is justified, but that’s done nothing to prevent regular defence cuts.