All the fun of 2394 d/f! (Air Training Corps (ATC))

Member Name: Boonoiy

Product:	Air Training Corps (ATC)
Date:	22/08/02 (379 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Action and adventure, all sorts of great activities to take part in, a stepping stone in the decision to join, or not to join, the RAF

Disadvantages: Not all fun and games

If you remember these days you will be an old hand at the world of the cadets.

What I'm about to undertake is a call back to a time of innocence, a link to York and not Scarborough, a time of fun, action, excitement and adventure, often involving live rounds in the gun of the Boon (well, not really my gun but, well, you'll see soon enough).

What is the ATC?
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Well, as you can see from the little bit of blurb at the top of this page, it stands for Air Training Corps, either a precursor to the RAF (on go on, you know what that means, don't you?) or simply a version of the Scouts that allows you to use guns, aeroplanes and knowledge of certain low level segments of the Official Secrets Act. You can be a member from the age of 13 and (depending on circumstance) remain a member until the age of 22.

The country is broken up into sections - to try and explain my title I'll go from the lowest to the highest point in the country (yep - we were at the bottom of the scale):

2394 (Whitby) d/f (Detached Flight)

is a part of...

2394 (York) sqn (Squadron) - we became part of 739 (Scarborough) Sqn later on but I don't like to think about it

which is part of...

Central and East Yorkshire Wing

in turn...

Northern Region

Which is then part of...

The United Kingdom - and there we have the top of the tree.

Probably done that the wrong way around but there you go. Each Sqn has its own number which is then passed on to its d/f if it has one.

The life of the Air Cadet:
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Joining - simple as you like. Just find the nearest centre (quite often in a TA hall) and ask to join, you'll get a few forms to fill in and a trip to the stores for a uniform and BINGO, you're an air cadet of the lowest level, bedecked in all your airforce blue splendour and ready to face the world with
a smart stamp of your feet and a sharp salute for Queen and Country.

OK, maybe not as far as all that but you've got your start in a club that can take you all over the world and allow you to meet a great many new friends.

Training in the cadets is conducted in a classroom setting - you'll learn a lot about the RAF, the founding of the cadets and such things as radio operation, flying, gliding or rifle shooting. Now, this may sound dull, could be thought of as being unnecessary additional work in an out of school environment but in truth it's great, you learn stuff that you can use and you take exams to increase your standing in the cadets - from 1st Class Cadet to Leading Cadet, via Senior Cadet to the top - Staff Cadet. Each grade has a different badge until the Staff Cadet stage where you get a yellow lanyard to wear on the left shoulder and each allows different privileges - for example, you need to attain Leading Cadet status to go on an overseas camp, Senior cadets and above get to go for the flying courses and staff cadets alone can reach the rank of Warrant Officer in the cadets.

This brings us on to the ranks - they're simple enough things, beginning at "Cadet" you can get promoted to Corporal, then on to Sergeant, Flight Sergeant and then Warrant Officer - courses need to be taken for you to retain your rank, there's an NCO (non commissioned officer) course which needs to be taken in the 6 months from your promotion to corporal and a Senior NCO course which must be taken in the 6 months following promotion to Sergeant. Once you're promoted you will have additional duties in your sqn or d/f, these include the taking of drill (great fun) and the teaching of some of the classes. Warrant Officers get to stay in the cadets until the age of 22 - all other ranks have to leave at 20.

Drill - very important to the life of the cadets, our group met twice a week for 2 hours and at least half a
n hour of each meeting was taken up with drill - simple stuff like marching up and down the square (Monty python reference intentional). Once you've learned this you will be able to go to any of the summer camps and fit in perfectly.

Camps:
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Each year the wings go away, you apply to go on the camp and then, on the appointed day you turn up and have your week away with the cadets. The NCOs keep their rank at these events and become even more powerful, the camp is generally split into a couple of squads with a Sergeant being in control of each, the Flight Sergeants will be in charge of these and then the Warrant Officer will rule supreme. There are usually enough Sergeants to cut the power of the Corporals to a minimum.

On the camps you will usually get a chance of a flight in a Chipmunk (now replaced by the Bulldog) plane, a go on the rifles at the range, a lot of food in the mess and a load of socialising with the other members of your wing. This is where you really get to know the life of the cadets and an idea of what life in the RAF would be like; you live on an RAF base, you visit the various sections - the police dog section, a flying squadron, the guard house, etc. and have a load of fun all round.

Additional stuff:
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Gliding - BGT, AGT and Pilot are the 3 grades that you can attain here, BGT = basic glider training, AGT = advanced and Pilot is a license to fly anywhere in the glider you were trained in. You get a shiny badge to put on your uniform for each level (as you go up the levels you replace the old one). After the BGT you will have a solo flight under your belt and hopefully will have your appetite whetted to go on for the rest.

Flying Scholarship - OK, it's an RAF thing but I came across it via the cadets. You get half a Private Pilots License with this, 20 of the 40 hours are paid for by the RAF and you can pay for the rest if you so wish. This is
a great scheme and you get a great badge to gloat over throughout the cadet world. With 4 hours solo experience involved it is an intense course and you learn a lot of very interesting and exciting stuff here.

By the way - I was the first member of Whitby's cadets to ever get this! Hurrah!

Radio Operator - learn all about the different ways of communicating and get a certificate with it.

Band - Drummer, flute (fife?), Brass. You get to play all the military classics (great to march to - nothing like a strong booming bass drum to get the squad in time). If you're a band member you get the special privileges on camp, practise times on meeting nights and a shiny silver badge to show off.

Sports - inter-wing and then inter-region sports events are held for games like rugby, netball and football, there's usually an inter-wing then inter-region swimming gala and a load of chances to travel around and meet new folks.

Many squadrons participate in the Duke Of Edinburgh scheme.

Overall:
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I was a member of the cadets for about 5 years, in that time I went from pleb to Sergeant (the highest you can be in a d/f as the squadron can only have one Flight Sergeant and one Warrant Officer), achieved the Senior Cadet classification (never got round to taking the Staff Cadet exam) and did both the Flying Scholarship and the BGT. I went over to Germany twice at RAF Brüggen and had a bit of a jolly to Cyprus (would have been good for the duty frees - if only I'd been old enough...), I visited many RAF bases in the UK and stayed at 4 of them for a week's camp. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in the cadets and, at the time, was very keen to join the RAF and gained a great idea of what that life would be like through the cadets - the experience sets you up that little advantage over non-cadets when it comes to the selection process for the RAF proper.

If you're keen to learn stu
ff, eager for a great time and mature enough you will have a great time in the ATC. It's not all fun but the more you learn, the more you'll get out of it.

A club with a LOT more than the norm. And a smart uniform to boot!

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