About Us

What is the Air Cadets?

With more than 40,000 cadets and over 10,000 adult volunteers, the Royal Air Force Air Cadets, better known as simply "the Air Cadets", is a national military-sponsored youth organisation with the goal of delivering fantastic opportunities to young people that they can take into later life, whether or not they decide to join the military.

Through our partnership with the Royal Air Force, we are placed to give you hands-on experience of activities and courses that will challenge and develop your skills to help you succeed in whatever you want to do.

Our Aims

We aim to achieve three things with all our cadets:

1. Promote and encourage a practical interest in aviation and the Royal Air Force among young people 
2. To provide training which will be usefull both in the Services and Civilian Life
3. Encourage the spirit of adventure and develop qualities of leadership and good citizenship 

And there's one more important thing - it's a lot of fun! 

As a cadet you'll have the opportunity to do things that others only dream about. Want real flight experience? No problem. How about heading out on adventurous training and camps, sometimes overseas? Normal for cadets. Competitive sports, drill, shooting, music, abseiling, engineering projects? Our list of activities is long, varied and open to all cadets.

Yes it's a challenge, but that's what life's all about. 

We are not a recruiting organisation for the RAF but if you're thinking about a Service career, cadet membership will put you ahead of the competition. Many cadets go on to great success in the RAF (and the other Services).

Around 40% of officers and 50% of all aircrew (including pilots, navigators and engineers) in the RAF now are ex-cadets. Research shows that they do better in basic training and stay in the Service longer than their colleagues. Likewise, if you chose a civilian career our research proves you can go onto do great things - employers just love the skills and experience that air cadets offer. 

Let's face it - where else would you be given the opportunity to fly solo in a glider or powered aircraft when you're 17? Whatever you do with your life, at the end of your time as a cadet you'll be self-motivated, confident and ready for anything!

Interested in joining our organisation? Want to find out more? Contact us today and we'll get back to you as soon as possible.