When did the Air Training Corps die?

Adult Staff The Staff Mess
1

As a mainly passive lurker to these forums I often read and don’t need to voice my opinion as many others already have, however I feel quite strongly about the ‘death’ of the Air Training Corps.

HQAC have re-branded us twice now, the Air Cadet Organisation, taking in the CCF(RAF) and now the RAF Air Cadets. I don’t mind having a HQAC, or having a Commandant Air Cadets as she and her HQ serve both organisations however when I was 15 I joined the Air Training Corps, wore an ATC shoulder badge on my brassard, and was an Air Cadet in the ATC. Yes it is nice we get to use the RAF’s roundel and their corporate identity but why not use that with the Air Training Corp’s title?

The ATC has a long and distinguished history, a Royal Warrant, and if you look at the roll of honour at Runnymede a number of ATC cadets died during WW2 supporting the effort. Are we at the stage when the Air Training Corps will be no more, and soon we will all be serving the RAF Air Cadets?

Am I the only person who is saddened by the shift away from being Air Training Corps?

2

I have mixed views on this. I agree my cadets are members of the Air Training Corps but if I say to someone air cadets they immediately have an idea who we are. If I say air training corps I get the question, what’s that?

3

It’s all about playing to your audience.

“You are now a member of the Air Training Corps”
“Welcome to the Air Cadets, this is what we offer”
“The Royal Air Force Air cadets seeks new volunteers to join the ranks”

Etc

1 Like
4

I joined the Air Training Corps and will remain a member of such.

The management’s requirement to stop calling us the Air Training Corps has been due to mind-numbingly pointless re-branding/re-naming exercises, and, IMO dumbing down (scourge of the 90s) to increase the appeal to an increasingly ill-educated audience who can’t read, pronounce or spell the word Corps correctly. I wish I was given a quid for everytime I’ve heard it pronounced ‘corpse’ or seen it spelt ‘core’.

Re-branding en-masse seem to start to become big money when mission and vision statements came into vogue (couldn’t have a new mission/vision without spending loads on a re-brand/name) and in the last 20 or so years where electronic design/art packages and now digital photography have made changing things much, much easier.

So we end up as Air Cadets. I put Air Cadets on promo stuff and the Sqn HQ, sqn certs etc has mainly Air Training Corps and the crest. I only pay lipservice to our changing logos.

5

I think people are taking the fact that ‘RAF’ and ‘Air Cadets’ appear next to each other on a logo far too seriously…

6

Personally, I think the “new” corporate ACO logo is a very good thing.

Looking from the outside in, the majority of people know us as “Air Cadets” and always have. In the same way as the majority of people refer to the Sea Cadet Corps as “Sea Cadets” and the Army Cadet Force and “Army Cadets”.

So …from this perspective, “Air Cadets” is nothing new. In fact, “Air Cadets” has been written on the side of RAF/Air Cadets gliders since the 1950s, and of course, the ACO as an organisation incorporates two separate Cadet Forces - the ATC and the CCF(RAF). The “ACO” brings us together as a corporate entity.

Op Nimrod hits the nail on the head from my perspective. The ATC is not dead, but more and more aspects of what we do are being implemented within the ACO (i.e. in both the ATC and CCF(RAF)) and jointly across the Cadet Forces as a whole. The corporate identity of the ACO as a whole arguably also makes it easier when dealing with the RAF and MOD, and outside bodies such as the Air League, GAPAN, other Cadet Forces, etc. etc.

The new “RAF Air Cadets” branding brings us in line with the rest of the “RAF family” (e.g. RAF, RAF Careers, “RAF Reserves”, RAFA, RAF Families Federation, etc.) and is good brand association for an external audience. Most people - who are aware of us - know us as Air Cadets, and associate us (correctly) with the RAF …so “RAF Air Cadets” is logical and sensible.

The ATC is not dead, far from it, and it is now - arguably - more widely recognisable …and with greater impact. The brand association with the RAF is powerful for an external audience, and is to our benefit.

It is up to us to make sure that cadets know they are in the ATC and understand what that means, not just the “Air Cadets” or “RAF Air Cadets”.

Cheers
BTI