Uniform of The Air Cadet Organisation

Uniform Of The Air Cadet Organisation

The Air Training Corps (ATC), commonly known in the United Kingdom as the Air Cadets, is a British cadet organisation; 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, a regular RAF officer until 2012 serving as Commandant Air Cadets at the rank of Air Commodore when the post was changed as part of the ongoing defence cuts to a Full Time Reserve Service (FTRS) post, also at Air Commodore rank. The cadets and the majority of staff are civilians. Although a number of ATC cadets go on to join the RAF or other services every year, the ATC is no longer set up as a recruiting organisation.

Activities include sport, hill walking, parade drill, rock climbing, rifle shooting, fieldcraft and other outdoor activities, as well as the study of subjects related to aviation, leading to a national vocational diploma (BTEC). Week-long trips to RAF stations, or camps offering adventure training or music, allow the opportunity for cadets to gain a taste of military life and often to gain some flying experience in RAF gliders.

A teenager can join at the age of 13 as a junior cadet and earn positions of increasing responsibility in a military rank structure, as well as having increasing skill and competence recognised in a classification scheme. Service as a cadet ends at the age of 20. In 2012, the ATC had around 41,000 cadets aged between 13 to 20 years, in 1009 squadrons. Its cadets are supported by a network of around 10,000 volunteer staff and around 5,000 civilian committee members.