Which cadet force?

[Farcry66]

Hi,
My son wants to join cadets but he has no idea which one! We have all three on our doorstep. He originally wanted sea cadets but he has got bored with sailing now so I think he might prefer the others. I'm swaying slightly towards army cadets as he loves air rifle shooting and I suspect they might do more of that there.

My background is in girl guiding so I'm totally out of my depth here! Do any of you have children in any of the cadet forces? What kind of activities do they do? What is the general ethos like with regards bullying and the like? He goes to school out of the area and so won't know anyone at all and he is not that confident at making new friends.

The units encourage prospective cadets to come along and have a look, which we will do, but obviously they are not running at the moment due to covid.

I was cadet instructor. They learn to march, field craft, how to handle and fire cadet rifle safely, how to look after themselves and their kit map and compass, pt, outdoor pursuits, team and leadership skills. They go away at weekends when they get to put those lessons into practice and also summer camp for fortnight.some do their d of e. I loved my unit, teenagers from different backgrounds but came together as a team.

How old?

I think they have different ages they start:
Army age 6yo
Sea cadets 10yo
RAF 13yo.

Don't take that as gospel, it's what I remember when ds was looking at it.
I've got plenty of friends whose dc do it. They all love it, and do lots of camps and other activities. It's a very cheap extra curricular!

He turned 12 in May, according to the websites Army and Air take them from when they enter Year 8, sea cadets have a junior cadet force that starts at 10 I think.

Army and RAFAC is 12. Sea Cadets 10. Depends on what his interests are. Nothing to stop him doing a couple of nights with each to understand what each does.

From a personal perspective -RAFAC all the way but I'm biased.

I was in the Air cadets. You get up shoot, you get yo go up in light aircraft (where possible) we went away for full weekends and worked towards our Duke of Edinburgh. We also marched and took part in raising money for rememberance day, the blue uniform was nicer as well.

As for bullying, it could be bad at times, bitchy. As long as you could stand your ground you would be ok.

Air cadets all the way. I had THE best time and experiences with them. I got to shoot, fly, planes and helicopters, glide, do assault courses, camp, abseil, rock climb, work on an air show, go abroad, get qualifications.

I had truly brilliant experiences in army cadets! Lots of camping trips away and shooting etc.

Tell him to join two and then pick which he prefers after.

My son's been an Air Cadet for a year and it's been absolutely brilliant - he loves it. He's mad keen on aviation and wants to be a pilot, so it was a no-brainer for us, but they do loads of different activities, not just plane-focused stuff. Lots of STEM, mountain biking, fieldcraft (which mostly seems to involve lying in ditches in the rain but he absolutely loves it), they've marshalled at our city's marathon, and once he turns 14 (Covid permitting) he'll have the opportunity to fly and will start his Duke of Edinburgh. His is quite a small squadron but there's been no bullying or anything like that. He struggles a bit socially but has had no problems whatsoever with the cadets.

My son loves air cadets although he had only been going a few months before lockdown. He was looking forward to shooting and flying.

Do you have Royal Marine Cadets in your area, a branch of the Sea Cadets. Don't think he could start until he was 13 though.

There is also Police Cadets. DS is a police cadet, they can start Juniors section at 10, seniors at 13