Where do Civilian Committee's Fit Into The 30 by 30 Plan?

Civilian Committee
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I’m surprised this hasn’t been put forward in this category but I’ll detail a few concerns I have as a current CivCom Chair, surrounding this years announcement of the

New ‘30 by 30’ drive to increase cadets by 30% by 2030 backed with £70 million as Government delivers on Strategic Defence Review.

It does nod slightly I suppose, where it says “Increasing adult volunteers: streamlining the process for becoming an adult Cadet volunteer and a new fast-track opportunity for veterans to become volunteers.” [1] yet that is of course a broad spread as far as I am concerned. I do apprreciate that it is somewhat early days. Personally I believe that there is enough of a difference between CFAV’s who become CI’s, and those who join a CivCom.

Now from experience, I would say that CivCom’s, especially the x3 Officer Roles need to put a heck of a lot more time in than the advertised few hours a week, well… if one wishes to do the role and the OC/Cadets/Staff justice that is. Most definitely when taking over a CivCom as we had to do in it’s entirety and all that entailed rising from effectively scratch.

This is not about importance though, not a chance with my post, as other CFAV’s such as CI’s/SI’s are equally critical to the Cadets/OC’s exeperiences, as CivCom’s just in different ways.

As we know, Sqn’s cannot function without a functional CivCom, just as Sqn’s cannot function without a depth of CI’s/SI’s.

However, my concern here is whether CivCom’s are going to gain any depth of thought from this embryonic stage of the 30 by 30 drive, because it is incredibly difficult to find CivCom replacements when required as it is - I’m not teaching any ducks how to suck eggs here - as it seems to also be for maybe differing reasons, to attract a required number of CI/SI’s and to not just attract them but retain the majority for a decent chunk of time.

If the CivCom structure as it is now doesn’t have a voice from said embryonic stage - such as having a working group maybe, then I fear that our collective-countrywide-roles will just get swamped when this gets further down the road and closer to being live launched in practice and reality. At present it is based from a desire, and a plan but isn’t yet being felt through the RAFAC Sqn’s, other than the incredible volunteering stresses and impacts of those, on all connected with a squadron.

Are the Army Cadets quickest out of the gate too, with [2] beginning the drive to get the word out there about the 30 by 30 plan, and the need to recruit so many additional brand new volunteers but looking for the most direct section of society who could really help?

I am aware from some basic research that Army Cadets have seemed to be pro-active in their recruiting for Volunteer’s over many years from such as Veteran’s, so I’m not sure how it’s going to work out with the Blue side of the fence.

Ultimately, what this comes down to in my mind, is how long it will take before we on current CivCom’s begin to hear and then see solid evidence that we are included nearer the beginning, rather than near the end… as the latter would really not do UK wide CivCom ‘recruitment’ morale any good, that is for sure.

If I have missed anything specific from within the RAFAC structure, SharePoint etc, I’ll gladly accept being signposted. :slight_smile: and I do look forward to hearing from anybody else to this thread, especially if you currently sit on a CivCom, whether in one of the x3 Officer Roles, or as an Ordinary Member - what are your thoughts?

Regards,

Sources:
[1] ‘30 by 30’ - New funding to boost cadet force by over 40,000 by 2030 - GOV.UK

[2] Veterans wanted to volunteer with Army Cadets amid shortage warning ahead of £70m boost | UK | News | Express.co.uk

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Thanks for not forgetting us SIs, but many sqns operate without any of us at all.

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Sea cadets have been quickest with their growth & development strategy growing out of covid & the rest playing catch up.

They have also been proactive in growing the Civcom/UMT pillar- something the air cadets should take notice of.

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I wonder whether my attempts to get SIs the Cadet Forces Medal could be worth another go with all this renewed focus on attracting volunteers…

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CAC did say he’d look into it.

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Oh really? I must have missed that after my ASTRA was declined.

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It was on his first town hall. Probably needs following up though.

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This is where the whole planning stage has been missed by RAFAC. Like everything, things are pushed out without no planning assumptions behind them, limited resources to allow for improvements. Don’t rely on funding for new buildings or refurbishments, the £70M budget quoted across all CFs won’t go far when a refurb costs over £1M start to finish.

You can’t increase the cadet numbers without direct improvement/investment across the other pillars of CFAVs, Civ Comm, Padres, infrastructure, publicity, recruitment, etc.

I know that ACF are already earmarking detachments in our area by looking at the 30% against building capacity (both physical and fire/HSE limitations), staffing, parade nights, etc. What impact is likely to happen when two CFs want to increase and develop and a single location, who takes the lead; will it be the ACF in JCC. Why hasn’t there been tripartite discussions are County/Wing level to review all of this!! If all 3 CFs go ahead on their own, it will be a train crash before we start!!

And interestingly I heard that this may not be a 30% increase at every squadron/detachment, there is the likelihood that it will be a targeted approach at low socio-economic areas across the country. So the more affluent areas, towns, cities, may be left to their own devices, whereas more effort/funding will be pushed into those lower areas.

But to ask the original question “where do Civ Comm fit into the 30 by 30 plan”, they are key because, as stated, a squadron can’t perform without a Civ Comm, and visa versa. There needs to be more discussions on developing the Civ Comm pillar, explaining what they do to prospective members and developing the role of a trustee; maybe that’s what the Corps/Region level Chairs should be looking at as a priority.

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Definitely an advantage for the brown jobs - there are about 3 times more personnel in the British Army than the RAF & RN = percentage-wise, a better chance of recruiting CFAVs.

There are so many inter-locking factors that will all have to come together for the 30 by 30 plan to even begin to work. This is by no means an exhaustive list.

Building capacity
Geographical / demographical recruitment area
Transport options
CivComm
CFAV recruitment & associated trg / support
Experience value - pointless recruiting cadets if you can’t provide this (might also need an increased range of SNCO / NCO cadets with MOI experience - also needs input / trg resources)
Major activities - need to guarantee augmented participation in camps, stn visits, shooting, flying, DofE, road-marching, whatever. All need staff + trg + qualifications = more resources needed.

If your sqn is near / at building capacity, then the only way to recruit more cadets = run additional parade evenings = more CFAV needed, etc. Need to ensure that the cadet experience isn’t diluted, etc.

That will bring some different issues, not least the requirement for suitable building + facilities if not already in place. That’'ll eat away at the dosh very quickly.

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And will no doubt mean units not in those areas who have infrastructure issues will continue to be neglected.

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I’d encourage you to attend the Comdt Town Hall next week which is focused on this topic as I understand - Cadet Expansion - An Update (October 2025)

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