What rank should a cadet be after 2 years?

Cadets Ask the Staff
41

There is another thing to consider that a cadet with 2 years in has only effectively got a 1 year in the tank. The last year will have in effect been marking time or leave at some point as the virtual thing wasn’t doing it for them. The experiences which combine to bring youngsters onto the promotion crosshairs, won’t have existed and there will be an element of almost starting over as they get back into swing of things. Our longest standing cadets, who are still with us are not as they were. Their world has changed and whatever they considered as normal is not there anymore. I’m seeing this in the staff as well, they are just not as they were, but then no one is.

My biggest personal thing is getting back into the habit of doing cadet things. A year away from doing anything like Air Cadets which is all around habit, is not going to be just start again where you left off. With all the measures at the hut it doesn’t feel like the hut. We’ve been back a few weeks and I need to remind myself I’ve got to go out which is bit of a struggle, compared to being told we were standing down last March which I just got into like an old jumper. One of my neighbours has been working from home since last March and now his company is saying time to go back, but he’s got into just being at home.

So do as others have said, just do whatever it is your sqn is doing, get back into the habit and enjoy things, without worrying about some bits of material. However speaking as a parent frankly in your position I would be more concerned about school as whatever you get as GCSEs / A Levels will determine your future much more than any rank you achieve in the Air Cadets. Screw up GCSEs and it directly effects the next step. Teachers at work are saying the grades of those who put the effort in over the last year are about where they expected, both at GCSE and A Level and similarly for younger ones. You will have missed effectively a year of proper schooling that you won’t get back, (not knowing how old you are), you will be sitting real exams (GCSEs or A Levels), unlike the last couple of years of teacher assessments. I’ve had cadets leave as they are having to concentrate on schoolwork, which I completely understand.

42

100%. I’m also CCF, our senior cadet is currently a year 12 student recently promoted to Flight Sergeant. She’s good, and will probably make CWO in short order. But we’re not going to promote until it is warranted (no pun intended). We’ve also got year 9 lance jacks who have spent 90% of their cadet experience to date online. If they’ve shown merit and deserve it, they advance.

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43

a year on @Vespa66 how are you getting on?

have you got the support you have been asking for?
have you been able to progress?
What happened to that FS who was promoted?

and critically have you been promoted yourself?

44

I’ve only just been promoted after nearly 3 years. There’s some cadets who go 5 or 6 years without any promotion.

45

Yeah promotion is weird. There have been cadets promoted Cpl within 9 months of walking through the door, some after 6+ years. In wouldn’t worry right now, especially how COVID has produced a fair bit of inequality in NCO hierarchies between units. Units that kept going on MS Teams generally kept promotions going, so someone who was a Cpl in March 20 could quite reasonably have been a Sgt/FS by the return to Face to Face, and a CWO by now.
Or on the other hand, a Cpl in March 20 at a sqn which for whatever reason did not use MS Teams parade nights over lockdown and thus didn’t promote, is likely to have only made Sergeant by now, if even that.

The last couple years have been crazy and the usual “expectations” regarding the rank structure have slightly gone out the window in some units. Focus on being the best cadet you can be, and don’t stress too much about what bit of fabric you wear on your shoulders.

46

I had three or 4 cadets who I promoted straight after lockdown - reason was they had contributed to, and run, virtual sessions, including reaching out to people for guest speakers etc. I also had two Cpls who came to me after being over taken in promotion asking why they hadn’t been promoted - simple, they hadn’t attended a single 1 of the virtual parades with no good reasons. They said they would leave if I didn’t promote them too - I offered to sign off the 3822s then and there.

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