Royal Air Force Air Cadets
| Royal Air Force Air Cadets | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Branch | Royal Air Force |
| Type | Volunteer Military Youth Organisation |
| Headquarters | RAF Cranwell |
| Patron | Queen Elizabeth II |
| Commanders | |
| Honorary Air Commodore-in-Chief | HRH The Duchess of Cambridge |
| Commandant Air Cadets | Air Commodore Dawn McCafferty |
The Royal Air Force Air Cadets, officially known as the Air Cadet Organisation (ACO), is the youth organisation sponsored by the Royal Air Force that manages both the Air Training Corps and RAF contingents of the Combined Cadet Force.[1] The organisation is headed by a serving RAF officer, the Commandant Air Cadets. The current commandant is Air Commodore Dawn McCafferty. As of 1 April 2014, the ACO has a strength of 53,360 cadets and cadet force adult volunteers.[2]
Units
The ACO is made up of:
- Headquarters Air Cadets at RAF Cranwell
- Two National Air Cadet Adventure Training Centres
- 1009 Air Training Corps Squadrons in the UK and overseas
- 199 RAF contingents of the Combined Cadet Force
Parade nights
Cadets normally meet once or twice a week; these are called parade nights. Each squadron/detached flight/CCF unit parade on different nights. They have a building for meetings and some squadrons or detached flights are based on active RAF bases. Activities range widely, from shooting to drill.
See also
- Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (Training Branch)
- Air Training Corps
- Combined Cadet Force
- Air Experience Flight
- Volunteer Gliding Squadrons
References
- ↑ Air Cadets - Who We Are, raf.mod.uk, Accessed 7 December 2014
- ↑ gov.uk MoD - reserves and cadet strengths, table 8a and 8b, page 17-18. April 2014.
External links
- Air Cadet Organisation official website (raf.mod.uk)