Cadets

[Caz]

Thank you, thank you, thank you, NMPeters, for saying that, so I wouldn‘t have to.

I have always instructed my Cadets to pay proper respects to all CF members, including NCMs. If they don‘t, they find themselves in a one-way conversation with myself and the Standards Officer.

As for the Air Cadet wearing Para Wings on his uniform - notwithstanding that he didn‘t do the course, they are not authorized for wear by Air Cadets.

Army Cadets are the only Cadets that attend any form of Para course, and I have no idea what standard they reach on the course anymore.

-R

 

[D-n-A]

Lui, you got some great story‘s

 

[63 Delta]

I notice that a lot of people think very poorly of cadets. I feel (my personal opinion) that you‘ve probably never served or been around a cadets squadron or corps for very long. I am a current serving cadet. In 2001 I was on a leadership course in Cold Lake alberta. While we where there for 6 weeks there was an american bomber squadron using the weapons ranges. There were also an american engineering detchament. There were many high ranking officers (maj. LCol, Col) who we were constantly training near or marching by. The american officers actually thought we were Reg force personal on training. That is how professional we were, and a lot of cadets are that professional. I have seen many reg force and Pres memebers who i look up to for their leadership and proffesionalism. But on the same note i have seen lots of Reg force and Pres who i would choose a cadet over anyday of the week. Just my opinions.

 

[311]

Hey Aurora, maybe we dont respect you cadets because you

1) clog up the line for grub ( personal experience , I was on rifle watch first during supper and when I came back there were so many cadets I only had literaly a minute to eat )

2) your completely unprofessional...lets see...you have these hair cuts that look like you spend the whole morning gelling...you guys have ear rings, nose rings, dog collars, dog chains on.They wear rap shirts and ghetto cloths.

3) You think your better then us, because you have a higher rank..in cadets.This depends on the cadet...

4)You act like real military and screw it up horribly...ill never forget when a cadet came up to me and another pte untrained and saluted him.

 

[63 Delta]

Pte Ferguson you are knocking a group based on a few. Im going to staff a cadet course tommorow and it is quite often that the cadets well leave me minutes to eat as well. Oh well. Next the cadets that i deal with dont wear nose rings, or rap shirts and all have haircuts to regs. I dont know where u pulled this **** out of but maybe where u went they were that undisciplined. All my cadets wear there uniforms or proper civilan atire. I dont think im better than anyone in the reg or res. And i dont think im in the military either. Lots of cadets can tell the difference. And i have seen lots of Res cpls and pte go by CIC officers at camp an never salute. I realize that lots of CIC officers are monkeys, but saluating is to show respect for the rank and commision. And next, about the cadet that saluated you. Maybe he was intimadated by you, maybe he was trying to show hes respect for someone he respected or maybe he just didnt know. All i know is that if i was in your leadership position (and yes a pte untrained is a leader to a young cadet) i would have helped this cadet understand that you only saluate officers, not NCMS. You should remember that this are kids and that there are just as many ****ups in the Reg and Res as there are in Cadets.

 

[D-n-A]

I‘m with Pte. Ferguson on this one

I‘v seen some cadets with long hair, werent clean shavin, an had sloppy uniforms, piercings, dyed hair(un-natural colors)

when your at home or not doing cadet things, fine dress how you want wear your piercings, but when in uniform, they should be clean shavin, short haircuts(not expecting shaved head‘s or crew cuts, just nothing long) an not wearing piercings

an a lot of them call of them call me sir, which is strange, arent cadet‘s taught Ranks? an who to call sir or ma‘am

I know when I was in cadet‘s I did

also, I had a cadet Sgt thought he outranked me, an one cadet talked sh*t cause I‘m a Reservist in a SVC BN, an this cadet was in a cadet unit afiliated with a Infantry Regiment

also, I saw some cadet‘s from a edmonton PPCLI cadet corp, who wear maroon berets, but their not airborne qual, but they think there hardcore airborne infantry soldiers

 

[D-n-A]

But on the same note i have seen lots of Reg force and Pres who i would choose a cadet over anyday of the week.

what‘s that supposed to mean?

pick a cadet over a Reg Force or a PRes for what?

 

[McInnes]

In my experiance, the cadets either dont care about anything to do with the military, or think they are better than most. I have had cadet Sgts think that privates have to show them respect because of their rank, and that they are part of the CF. I have also seen cadets who think they are jump qualified and equal to reg force para.
Altho there are professional cadets out there. Don‘t get me wrong, its just my general impression.

 

[Etown]

You do know they are just kids right?

Now I know that kids should be respectfull, and follow the rules that are set out by their elders, but you can‘t really expect a 14 year old kid to live up to the same standards of the canadian military.

 

[63 Delta]

Cadets are taught ranks. And they are also taught respect. They are not calling you sir because they are ignorant to the CF Rank structure, the are calling you sir because they respect the fact that your an adult and that you serve their country. A lot of cadets look up to you reg and res force members. Dont let them down by bashing them because of a few rotten apples in the cadet organization. And i still dont get where you have seen cadets with sloppy hair cuts and rap shirts and things. Maybe thats because im in BC i dont know. If u still think cadets are unprofessional go to SLC in Cold Lake this summer or come down to my squadron in Septemeber. I think you would be impressed.

 

[311]

Course they are also disrespecting the Queens commision that officers work so hard for.

* posted at 5:34am , leaving 6am for Gagteown *

 

[Ruthless4Life]

I was an Army cadet, and I say 95% of cadets I‘ve met are unmotivated and undeciplined little kids that don‘t know what the military is all about.

The reason why I wanted to joined the cadets is that I want to prepare myself for the military, and he11 did I realize I was wrong. Kids go to training once a week and just stand around and talk about what games they‘ve been playing online and a bunch of bull. During my time at cadets, I certainly DID NOT fit in.

Of course, there is certainly the other 5% that are motivated, but by no means are they considered "professional." There is no such thing as a "professional" cadet, unless he/she is in a military academy like in the US. I have respect for cadets, it‘s just that most of them are by no means military material. "Pofessionalism" isn‘t the right word. The key word is "motivation."

About those cadets that‘s been chewed up by instructors, they deserve to be if they are cocky. Reservists sometimes get chewed up either. An ex-reservist once said he was chewed up for letting his instructor know he was in the Reserves when he was training to be in the reg force, and the instructor had different standards for him. So, my piece of advice is, if you are training for anything, don‘t let anyone know your past experiences.

 

[Jarnhamar]

I was an Army cadet, and I say 95% of cadets I‘ve met are unmotivated and undeciplined little kids that don‘t know what the military is all about.

And why should they know what the military is about? They aren‘t joining the army. Their joining a civilian organization thats set up to mimic some components of the military.
You‘ll find unmotivated and undisiplined people everywhere. For a bunch of "kids" to give up one night a week or some week-ends and not be paid for it is something worth mentioning i think. How can you as an adult even compare yourself or another adult to a 13 year old. "oh my god, all they did was talk about games". Imagine that, what an odd bunch of kids.

 

[63 Delta]

I totally disaygree with the comments you have made Ruthless Randy. A lot of Cadets are professional at what they do, how they do it and what they teach. Cadets is a program promotes citizenship, physical fitness and the element associated with that branch of cadets. And one more thing. I was on a multi-squadron survival exercise that was totally run by the cadets. I personnally was NCOIC of the leadership portion. That exercise would have given lots of Res exercieses a run for their money. Every single thing was planned for and done by the cadets. The officers were only there to sign ppr work and be the overall responsible persons.

 

[MikeM]

The cadets who have passed the jump course are just as qualified as the reg‘s and reserves for that respect. It‘s a CF Course, its taught the same way as it always it.

 

[D-n-A]

1.) I dont think a cadet FTX could ever put a rsv FTX a run for it‘s money


2.) I have see some good cadet‘s, when I was in my RSM, he was extremly good at it, an he got his Jump Wing‘s as a cadet, I think he‘s in his last year of RMC or he graduated this year


if a cadet call‘s me sir or salute‘s me, I dont bash them, I just correct them, an I dont yell at them

the cadet‘s that I mentioned above for being sloppy, etc were in the age group of 16-18, I know that 14 year olds are kid‘s, so I dont expect as much from them as the older ones

 

[GGHG_Cadet]

Its true that there are a number of cadets who are slobs and look like $hit in uniform but then thats only a small number of cadets I happen to know some great cadets who take pride in all they do as a cadet they are always present at all activities we do. My RSM is an example he is 16, doing the maple leaf exchange with britain, doing his para next year and had the best mark in Ontario on his National Gold Star.

 

[combat_medic]

Been reading this thread for a while and feel the need to contribute my 2 cents.

1. Cadet rank means something to other cadets, and means nothing to anyone else. As a corporal, I‘ve been tasked to instruct cadet Sgts, up to CWOs and it means nothing.

2. CIC rank means something to cadets and other CICs, and is just another commision to everyone else. Most CIC captains I wouldn‘t even trust with writing a memorandum, let alone leading real troops that aren‘t children. The time it took for me to complete basic would be about the equivalent time in training to become a CIC LCol. Yes, I have to salute them because technically they do hold the Queen‘s Commission, but they are in no way allowed to give me orders, or do they have any clout outside of the cadet world.

3. Rank, medals, and badges are earned, period! Last summer, I worked with a PRes private who had FAILED a cadet jump course, but was walking around wearing an "Airborne" t-shirt, and talking about how he was a paratrooper, when he had failed before even exiting an aircraft. Now I‘m not even Para qualified, but I still laid into the kid. He didn‘t earn the right to wear it, and if I ran into some kid wearing wings he hadn‘t earned, or ANYTHING he hadn‘t earned, I‘d have him remove them publicly, and write a letter of apology to the cadet corps, and the jump school who he insulted by his actions.

4. I worked at an air cadet camp MIR all last summer. Trust me that I win for horror stories! I was occasionally tasked with "piercing removal" not to mention doling out chits for regimental showers, pregnancy tests, post-abortion counselling, STD screening, and some of the most horrible stuff you can imagine! Don‘t play this game with a medic, we‘ll always win!

5. If you were a CIC or cadet and join the PRes or Reg Force, your rank and training do not transfer over. The only exception to this being the basic para course.

Yes, I have encountered several cadets who are pretty switched on, and have their sh|t wired pretty tight, and they‘re usually the gold star cadets, the ones going on exchanges, doing flight school, basic para and so on. The rest are just kids. Yeah, they‘re obsessed with video games, sex, and their own amusement... THEY‘RE KIDS! We‘d all like to expect more from them, but it‘s the super switched on ones that make the whole program worthwhile.

 

[combat_medic]

NO, the point I was making is that the cadets who are switched on are usually the ones who make it to gold star, para or flight school. They are usually successful in the things they set out to do, and get the skookum courses because of it.

If you‘re only 12 or 13, then obviously you won‘t have had the chance to do any of that, but if you‘re still successful at what you‘re doing, then eventually you‘ll get that same chance to prove yourself, and won‘t end up in my MIR complaining that it burns to pee

 

[D-n-A]

tasked with "piercing removal"

Combat_Medic, what do you mean by that? couldent the cadet‘s remove their own piercings?