The Royal Air Force Air Cadets (RAFAC) is the combined volunteer-military youth organisation sponsored by the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

, which is formed by both the

Air Training Corps The Air Training Corps (ATC) is a British Youth organisations in the United Kingdom, volunteer youth organisation; aligned to, and fostering the knowledge and learning of military values, primarily focusing on military aviation. Part of the ...

and RAF Sections of the

Combined Cadet Force The Combined Cadet Force (CCF) is a youth organisation in the United Kingdom, sponsored by the Ministry of Defence (MOD), which operates in schools, sub divided into Royal Navy, Royal Marines, Army and Royal Air Force sections. Its aim is to ...

. The organisation is headed by a serving RAF officer,

Commandant Air Cadets Commandant Air Cadets is the title given to the Royal Air Force officer who is responsible for running the Royal Air Force Air Cadets, embracing the Air Training Corps (ATC) and the RAF Sections of the Combined Cadet Force (CCF RAF). The curre ...

. The current commandant is

Air Commodore Air commodore (Air Cdre or Air Cmde) is an air officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is also used by the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence and it is sometimes ...

Al Lewis. Prior to 1 October 2017, the RAFAC was called the Air Cadet Organisation (ACO). As of 1 April 2023, the RAFAC had a strength of 42,190 cadets and 10,070 cadet force adult volunteers. Cadets are aged between 12 and 17 on entry to the organisation, and can remain until they are 18, or with special permission, until they are 20.

Organisation

The RAFAC consists of: * Headquarters RAF Air Cadets (HQRAFAC) at

RAF Cranwell Royal Air Force Cranwell or more simply RAF Cranwell is a Royal Air Force List of Royal Air Force stations, station in Lincolnshire, England, close to the village of Cranwell, near Sleaford. Among other functions, it is home to the RAF Colleg ...

* 6 Regional Headquarters * 34

Wing A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...

Headquarters * Two National Air Cadet Adventure Training Centres, at

Windermere Windermere (historically Winder Mere) is a ribbon lake in Cumbria, England, and part of the Lake District. It is the largest lake in England by length, area, and volume, but considerably smaller than the List of lakes and lochs of the United Ki ...

(in the Lake District) and in Wales * Over 900 Air Training Corps Squadrons in the UK and overseas * Around 200 RAF contingents of the

Regions

The six regions are: # London and South East Region (LaSER) # South West Region (SW) # Wales and West Region (W&W) # Central and East Region (C&E) # North Region # Scotland and Northern Ireland Region (S&NI) Each Region is commanded by a "Regional Commandant" (RC), who holds the rank of

group captain Group captain (Gp Capt or G/C) is a senior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many Commonwealth of Nations, countries that have historical British influence. Group cap ...

, and is usually retired regular RAF. The Region is further staffed by a number of cadet forces adult volunteers (CFAV) who maintain the day-to-day operations of each of the regions. Examples of these CFAV posts include Region Staff Officer, Region Training Officer, and Region STEM Officer.

RAFAC Sections of the CCF

Air Cadet sections within the

usually follow their own chain of command within their school's unit. Above their school unit, they diverge into the same chain of command as the Air Training Corps, which is usually their Wing or Region.

Activities

Air Cadet activities vary greatly, but commonly include: *First aid *Radio *NavEx (Navigational Exercise) *Physical activities *Drill and discipline *Band and music *Camps *Leadership There are also less frequent, but enriching, activities. Examples include: *Gliding, at a

Volunteer Gliding Squadron A Volunteer Gliding Squadron (VGS) is an aircraft squadron of the Royal Air Force (RAF) which provides flying training in glider aircraft for Royal Air Force Air Cadets. All current operational Volunteer Gliding Squadrons operate a sole type ...

*Flying (on an RAF base) *RAF base visits *Shooting *International trips, such as visits to

RAF Akrotiri Royal Air Force Akrotiri, commonly abbreviated RAF Akrotiri (; ) is a large Royal Air Force (RAF) military airbase on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. It is located in the Western Sovereign Base Area, one of two areas which comprise Akroti ...

International Air Cadet Exchange The International Air Cadet Exchange is an annual student exchange program designed to promote character, good-will, and cooperation among the world's civilian auxiliaries, auxiliary aviation programs. Participants come from organizations such ...

, an exchange programme within the cadets of other air forces *

The Duke of Edinburgh's Award The Duke of Edinburgh's Award (commonly abbreviated DofE) is a youth awards programme founded in the United Kingdom in 1956 by the Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, which has since expanded to 144 nations. The awards recognise adolescents and ...

References

External links