RAF Air Cadets

Royal Air Force Air Cadets
ActiveSince 5 February 1941[1]
Country United Kingdom
Branch Royal Air Force
TypeVolunteer Military Youth Organisation
HeadquartersRAF Cranwell
PatronThe Princess of Wales
Websitewww.raf.mod.uk/aircadets/ Edit this at Wikidata
Commanders
Commandant Air CadetsAir Cdre Tony Keeling[2]
RAFAC WOWO Donna Hall RAFAC
Honorary Ambassadors
RAF Air Cadets marching in a parade

The Royal Air Force Air Cadets (RAFAC) is a volunteer-military youth organisation sponsored by the Royal Air Force that manages both the Air Training Corps and RAF Sections of the Combined Cadet Force.[3] The organisation is headed by a former serving RAF officer, Commandant Air Cadets. The current commandant is Air Commodore Tony Keeling.[4]

Prior to 1 October 2017, the RAFAC was called the Air Cadet Organisation (ACO).[5] As of 1 April 2014, the ACO had a strength of 53,360 cadets and cadet force adult volunteers.[6] Cadets are aged between 12 and 17 on entry to the organisation, and can remain until they are 18, or with special permission, until they are 20.[7]

Organisation

The RAFAC's infrastructure consists of:

  • Headquarters Air Cadets (HQAC) at RAF Cranwell
  • 6 Regional Headquarters
  • 34 Wing Headquarters
  • Two National Air Cadet Adventure Training Centres
  • Over 900 Air Training Corps Squadrons in the UK and overseas[8]
  • Around 200 RAF contingents of the Combined Cadet Force[8]

Regions

Main article: Air Training Corps § Structure and organisation

The six regions consist of:

  1. London and South East Region (LaSER)
  2. South West Region (SW)
  3. Wales and West Region (W&W)
  4. Central and East Region (C&E)
  5. North Region
  6. Scotland and Northern Ireland Region (S&NI)

Each Region is commanded by a "Regional Commandant" (RC), who holds the rank of group captain, and is usually retired regular RAF. The Region is further staffed by a number of cadet forces adult volunteers (CFAV) who maintain the day-to-day operations of each of the regions.[9] Examples of these CFAV posts include Region Staff Officer, Region Training Officer, and Region STEM Officer.[10]

See also

References

  1. ^ "RAFAC timeline: 1941". RAFAC.
  2. ^ Myers, K. "New Commandant for Royal Air Force Air Cadets is announced". RAF Air Cadets.
  3. ^ "Who we are". RAF Air Cadets. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
  4. ^ Myers, K. (5 June 2020). "NEW COMMANDANT FOR RAF AIR CADETS IS ANNOUNCED". RAF Air Cadets. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  5. ^ "HM The Queen Approves New Commission For Cadet Force Volunteers". Air Cadet. Bourne: Warners Midlands plc. Winter 2017. p. 4. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  6. ^ gov.uk MoD – reserves and cadet strengths, table 8a and 8b, page 17-18. April 2014.
  7. ^ "Join as a cadet". RAF Air Cadets. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
  8. ^ a b "ATC & CCF (RAF)". RAF Air Cadets. Archived from the original on 5 July 2017. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
  9. ^ "About Us". Central & East Region Air Cadets. Archived from the original on 25 January 2024. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  10. ^ "Region Staff". Central & East Region Air Cadets. Archived from the original on 25 January 2024. Retrieved 25 January 2024.

External links