What do you think the ATC/CCF(RAF)/RAFAC will be like in the next 50 years? What are your predictions?

I also believe this may be the case. As there are essentially 2 air cadets, ATC and CCF(RAF). Which means theres 2 organitations that do bassicly exactly the same things, which sounds kind of pointless. So if one was got rid of 1 then that means all the money can be focused on one cadet corps rather than 2. It also means more consistancy and all volenteers following one set of rules and working on the same things.

My good man - there isn’t consistency between RAF sections, let alone CCF(RAF) and ATC :joy:

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Thats exactly my point, get rid of the ATC and then the lack of consistency would not be a problem. :wink:

Ah I follow you now. Controversial :joy:

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What, like DYER? Never!

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I wouldn’t be so confident that the CCF will be as robust.

Remember that having a CCF is great in many ways, but sometimes it just puts additional barriers in the way of carrying out activities the school can perfectly well do without all the additional admin - such as AT, leadership training, drones, flight simulation, space simulation, STEM…

Of course, it also offers military fullbore semi-automatic shooting, access to military training areas, flying in dedicated training aircraft and in military hardware (e.g. opportunity flying), camps on RAF stations, etc. Currently.

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Plus it’s very reliant on the good will of the senior leadership team. I’ve seen what happens when you have a head teacher that doesn’t really care for cadets and a contingent commander that doesn’t get on with him. The contingent folds.

I’ve also been aware of contingents closing very quickly when a new head arrives at the school who is very anti “child soldiers”.

Generally more of a risk in CEP state schools than in well established schools with a strong “old boy” network who hold the school to account and don’t like change. Sadly most of the new contingents will fall under the former .

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With in my local Squadrons area there are at least 5 senior schools non of which have a C.C.F. Afaik.
As said its down to the head and if they’re "anti"you can’t even go in to recruit let alone set up a C.C.F unit
unless it can be made cost effective to the school or company running the school!

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Someone knows there review history and saw the reference i was making! :nerd_face:

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I think…no believe the ATC has more than ten years left in it.
I predict it will be 5 years/a generation of Cadets before the negative impacts of the pandemic are no longer felt.
For some this maybe simply the return to an established NCO structure which many Squadrons are struggling with having lost most/all of the SNCOs while the JNCOs/JNCOs-in-waiting have 2 years experience of Teams parading and no experience of leadership even in the basic format of a parade night.

I also feel its a similar story for the CFAVs. Some have gone, either quickly entering the pandemic with higher priorities or over time as mandatory training ground them down and so gave up as the red tape was no longer proportional. And the recruitment has been a slower harder process with a backlog created.

So we’re now at 2027 and those stronger Sqns have survived and returned to pre-pandemic status. Those who struggled before now continue more so…but OC Wg is reluctant to close any unit despite the writing clearly on the wall as reducing the size of the Wing looks bad on their “legacy” - at least thats my experience in our Wing.

2027 also sees us with a new CAC or Tony’s second term. If the latter i believe he’d want to continue the post-pandemic bounce back and likely to be pushing the cyber/stem/spac elements having become now “core” activities.
If the former, unless briefed by 22 Grp to reduce footprint of the ATC, i can’t see them deciding to do it themselves.
In much the same way no PM or defense secretary wants to be the one who shuts down the Red Arrows, no RAF AC would want their name to be associated with the cull of the ATC…consider how John Middleton’s name is regarded as an example.

50 years is a long way off…looking backwards that far its 1972…before girls were in the ATC, before any kind of EWOW, we’ve had three versions of No3 since then, and various changes to the syllabus…consider the difference in how brazzards look now to just ten years ago.
Flying and gliding opportunities were as common as ache on the face of Cadets, annual camps saw each unit allocated places in double figures and held on a flying station.
Applying that rate of change looking forward is grim as much of the change sees a decline in most areas…but i am hopeful and optimistic that as long as there is an RAF they’ll be interest in an ATC.
Implying that when (rather than if) the MOD becomes a true purple force then the CF structure will follow suit.
I do however suspect the trend towards self funding/reduced service support will continue and yet a firmer grip by HQAC on how we do them

And besides if the model is to close ATC in favour of CCF what happens to the community Sqn CFAVs? Are they automatically enrolled into the School to act as CCF CFAVs? And will they want to be given CCF parade times are prior to dinner (ie before getting home from work) while ATC parade after…how many CFAVs will be in s position to be on parade at 1600 or earlier?
I can’t see it happening myself

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I’d assume the number of detached flights is shrinking and may become extinct in 10/20/50 years time.

Alsoothers (beside the RAF regiment) partake in feildcraft. While I appreciate the RAF Reg are the most widely known for fieldcraft in the RAF, when I did a camp at RAF lyneham we did a night ex and there wasn’t a single RAF Reg personnel there among the regulars. The aclo and a few regular sergeants from what I can recall.

My point is even if the RAF Reg got disbanded (highly unlikely), the RAF would still do some feildcraft (green related in the wider sense) training, and back when I was a cadet I was told more or less all regulars had an annual refresher.

The one thing regular personell (non regiment) aren’t well known for is infantry styled feildcraft training

Definitely! SERE (survival) training but basic military skills too. Need to be able to set ip a harbour area, sentries etc. You never know when those skills will be needed.

Arguably we don’t teach enough to cadets!

See im half expecting more… Sorta like the ACF model one main sqn with detachments…some noise makers tabling that idea a couple of years ago

It can work. Would need a shift in approach. More weekend training for example, at Company level.

What is the average size of an ACF Det & Coy compared to our Sqn?

I know of at least 2 wing commanders who fetishise over this model of working.

Why in gods name though would a sqn cdr want to pick up the admin etc for an extra 2 or 3 units…for a HOBBY.

Just think of the rank flattening!
FS as Det commanders with one Sqn Ldr looking after an area with a team of 2 or 3 junior officers as Adj, Trg and QM and a few SMEs working for the Wg Cdr and WWO

Soon thin out the Walters’
PDT_Xtremez_24

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Fixed that for you.

No Sqn OC i know of (no right thinking OC) would want to actually run more than 1 sqn.

The individual units would suffer.

Its already too much of a job as it is.

If a FS was in charge of a unit, then the sector commander wouldn’t need to be a Sqn Ldr at all. FL is more than enough, with the FOs being the execs for sign off.

Whats this?

Do you mean Fg Offs.

My version is more relevant to how they’re treated!!

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