The Air Training Corps (ATC), commonly known as the Air Cadets, is a cadet organisation based in the United Kingdom. It is a voluntary youth group which is part of the Air Cadet Organisation (ACO) and the Royal Air Force (RAF). It is supported by the Ministry of Defence, with a regular RAF Officer, currently Air Commodore Dawn McCafferty, serving as Commandant Air Cadets (Cmdt AC). The cadets and the majority of staff are civilians and, although a number of its members do go on to join the RAF or other services, the ATC is not set up as a recruiting organisation. The enrolment age for the Air Training Corps is 13 years and 3 months, however cadets can join at the age of 13 and enter as Junior cadets (see junior cadet). When the cadet reaches the age of 18, they are appointed to the position of staff (previously instructor) cadet and are subjected to the same regulations as adult members of staff (including duty of care responsibilities). Service as a cadet ends, at the latest, on the 20th birthday of the cadet, when they become eligible to apply for service as a Civilian Instructor (CI) or an adult NCO (non commissioned officer) (See membership).
The ATC was founded by John Adrian Chamier who first attempted to make the Air Defence Cadet Corps (ADCC)
The ATC has around 35,000 cadets, aged between 13 to 20 years, within 1009 Squadrons. Its cadets are supported by a network of around 10,000 volunteer staff and around 5,000 civilian committee members.
Read more about Air Training Corps: Aims and Motto, The Cadet Promise, Ensign, Organisation, Structure, Cadet Classifications, Adult Staff, Activities, Trophies, Annual Camps, Uniform, Branding
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—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
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“There was nothing to equal it in the whole history of the Corps Diplomatique.”
—James Boswell (1740–1795)