Cadet - Military Context

Military Context

See also: Officer Cadet and Officer Candidate

In Commonwealth countries, including United Kingdom, a cadet is a member of one of the cadet forces. In the United Kingdom these are the Combined Cadet Force, the Sea/Royal Marine Cadets, Army Cadets and the Air Training Corps. Military officers in training are called officer cadets.

In Canada, the term "cadet" refers to an officer in training, with the official rank names as Officer Cadet for the Air Force and Army and Naval Cadet for the Navy. It also refers to any member of the Royal Canadian Army Cadets, Royal Canadian Air Cadets or Royal Canadian Sea Cadets. These three organizations are volunteer youth groups administered by the Department of National Defence.

In Germany, the rank Cadet (German: Seekadett) only exists in the German Navy for officers in training. In the Army and the Luftwaffe, officers in training usually have the rank of a Fahnenjunker or Ensign (German: Fähnrich) before they are promoted into the rank of a Lieutenant.

In the Philippines, the term cadet is used in mostly military attached organizations, but it is more distinctive in the service academies of the Philippines, such as these are the Philippine Military Academy (PMA), the Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA), and Philippine Merchant Marine Academy (PMMA). Graduates of these service academies, are automatically given officer commission in the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the Philippine National Police, Philippine Coast Guard, the Bureau of Fire Protection, and Bureau Of Jail Management and Penology. Graduates of PMMA are given reserve officer status in the Philippine Navy and mostly go to private shipping firms. The term cadet is also applicable to the enrollees of Citizen's Army Training (for high school) and Reserve Officer Training Corps (for college). Service academy cadets are thought to be between the NCO and Officers ranks, and NCO consider cadets as rank higher to them.

In Ireland, Cadet is a pupil of the Military College, which carries out officer training for the Air Corps, Army and Naval Service. Training takes two years and the Cadets are split into Senior and Junior Grades and Classes.

In Norway, a "cadet" is a pupil of either of the three the Krigsskolen ("war schools"), which educate commanding officers for either the Army, the Navy or to the Air Force.

In the United States, cadet refers to a full-time college student who is concurrently in training to become a commissioned officer of the armed forces. Students at the United States Military Academy, the United States Air Force Academy, and the United States Coast Guard Academy respectively hold the rank of Cadet, United States Army; Cadet, United States Air Force; and Cadet, United States Coast Guard, while students in the (Army's) Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) and the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (AFROTC) respectively hold the rank of Cadet, United States Army Reserve; and Cadet, United States Air Force Reserve. Students at the United States Merchant Marine Academy and the preponderance of students at the Maine Maritime Academy, the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, the California Maritime Academy and the State University of New York Maritime College, though called cadets at their respective institutions, actually hold the rank of Midshipman, United States Merchant Marine Reserve, United States Naval Reserve. Some state-sponsored military colleges, including The Citadel, Virginia Military Institute (VMI) and private military college, Norwich University (NU), refer to their students as cadets.

In Australia Cadet also refers to an officer in training. The official rank is Officer Cadet (OCDT for members of the Australian Regular Army and OFFCDT for members of the Royal Australian Air Force) however OCDT's in the Royal Military College—Duntroon are referred to as Staff Cadet (Scdt) for historical reasons.