Sea cadets and air cadets anyone had experience with their dc?

[Tmoto]

Has anyone’s dc done either of these? Wondering which one to try

My child has been in air cadets for about 6 months. He loves it. He has been very interested in aeroplanes for years.

Does your DC have a particular interest in either?

Yes he has done some sailing and really enjoys that. Also loves paddle boarding.
He like going on aeroplanes and the excitement of travel. But not really interested in cars so I wonder if he isn’t going to be that interested in planes.
just read some old threads on here which said they both involve really strict marching ?? I don’t know much about this, apparently it’s quite intense?

Swimming is his only regular pastime at present

Also have the option to do explorer scouts. He has been through all the other scouts levels but I wondered if sea cadets or air cadets may offer more activities

I would heartily recommend scouts - lots of amazing opportunities for friendship and activities; maybe sea scouts could be a good compromise if there is one near you?

Unfortunately no sea scouts

My dc is in air cadets.. I would say you don't nerd to have an intense love of aviation to join, and probably applicable to army cadets or sea cadets.

There is drill, which is marching, turns etc but that is something that is practiced as a squadron so they rehearse usually at each session.

I can't recommend it enough - there is structure, they are encouraged to try new things, they have so many opportunities and they learn how to recognise staff g structures, dress each other formally, yet there is, at the right squadron, a really good sense of community.

If your child isn't into what I find the dominant out of school groups such as football or rugby, then these are perfect, lots of learning, chance to do DoE, lots of hands on and desk based learning.

Def give it a go, would recommend any of the three.

Both my dc have done sea cadets. It is a real commitment but they get fantastic opportunities. The winter is less exciting for them but loads of courses and opportunities to go away. Spring oneards is sailing , kayaking, rowing and they can gain qualifications in all. They do competitions including in swimming, football, drill etc. Elder ds did the flying course at 16. Younger ds got a btec aged 14. They can do offshore sailing as well and courses are cheap. I think that it was very good for them but they have to show up and it is twice a week so it can be a lot if they do other things. Both dc loved it.

Yes I feel scouts/cadets is definitely suited to him. Just so hard to choose which. He would know nobody at either cadets. But have a few acquaintances at scouts

The sea cadets here is once a week but air cadets twice. I wonder if sea cadets provides more exercise than air cadets though?

Army cadets here.
Loving it. He compares what his scouting friends do (we are still on the waitlist 4 years after moving house) and thinks there are similar activities, but the cadets is aimed at older kids, so they do slightly more adventurous versions.

Yes, there is drill most weeks, but it's not a major part - and is required at events like the Rememberace Day Service.

Highly recommend - and I assume Sea or Air would be similar.

My son who is 12 started Air cadets in October last year. Didnt love it at first, lots of drill/marching but once he got his First Class Cadet badge in January, he started to enjoy it more. He has been doing leadership skills & next weekend is going to learn to use an air rifle.
The only downside is that its 2 nights a week 7pm to 9:30pm, luckily we are lidt sharing as its 9 miles each way from us. Overall though, its been positive & I would recommend.

Thanks for all the replies

I did air cadets, had no interest in planes but my friends did it. My experiences through cadets completely shaped who I am today. I flew planes and gliders, I had friends with their Pilots license before they had their drivers licence. Yes there is drill but that is no bad thing, it teaches order and following instructions and gives those giving the commands a chance to lead and build confidence. I learnt to shoot a rifle which teaches you how to respect equipment. I've roughed it in tents with no gadgets (not that there were many in the early 00s).

I did camps in the UK and overseas, I did adventurous activities camps and went on to becomee an outdoor activity instructor for a while.

It gave me lots of experience to pull on for interviews and my personal statement. I learnt first aid really robustly (not just a 3 day course) and won first aid competitions and have put that in to practice in the real world many times.

We took part in sports competitions in swimming and athletics, Doe.

Whilst many cadets go on to join the air force, most of my friends from cadets are public servicely minded and work for the Police, fire and rescue, paramedics and Environment Agency as they loved the outdoors aspect. Those who really loved planes went on to become pilots and engineers.

Any cadet group will teach your child great skills and give them great opportunity's in any of the services you need to find the right one for your child as each has their own ethos and culture. I think air cadets is fantastic for quieter and introverted teens but arrange to visit a couple and see which your child likes best.

Air cadets when I did it had a Blues night (RAF shirt and trousers uniform) which was learning for your different badges and a theory night. The more qualifications you had the more you were able to do so a newbie couldn't go on camps if they didn't have their First Class badge as they wouldnt know enough drill,, how to use a radio or shooting skills etc but normally they got it within 6 months with the other badges taking roughly 12 months to learn. When I did it once you had achieved all the badges you had earnt a BTEC in Aviation studies - I'm not sure they still do that but it was certainly a talking point at many interviews in my younger years.

And a greens night (camou stuff) when we did messy things and team building.

DS2 did air cadets. He did have an interest in planes, anyway, but he had opportunities to do some wonderful things. It teaches them leadership skills, too, and gave him lots to talk about and put on his CV. He's not in the RAF but lots of his fellow cadets did go on to join. He's is working in aeronautics, though. He and I would both highly recommend it. It is twice a week, though.

DS does Air Cadets and it’s been really beneficial to both his mental and physical health. Drill has really increased his stamina and he’s much fitter.

There are so many opportunities, I can really recommend it. He might prefer Sea Cadets if already into water sports.

How old is he, OP?
DS at Air cadets, one of the other lads there is literally member of 3 different cadet groups: Air, Army &... police maybe. Something else, anyway. The kids are allowed to be members of multiple, they can also usually go along for some taster sessions without even paying, too. Ours costs £9/month which honestly is amazing value; I'd let DS join 2 groups at same time if he asked.

Some squadrons are much more sporty than others (DS is not at the sporty one now, but his big brother attended the extremely sporty one 10 miles away).

Where do you live? We have so many sea/water sport activities in my area (not just cadets and sea scouts, but many others too), if you ask around, maybe a lot more than you knew about.

A lot depends on the individual group-the other kids and the leaders. I really suggest he goes for a couple of sessions to test it out. Cadets tend to be much more prescriptive and "military" than Scouts, which suited me and my kids.

He is 13.5. Thanks I will relay this info to him. I think we will maybe do a trial night at both

My daughter joined air cadets in January recruitment this year. It's very intense, 5h a week, 2 evenings, finishing at 9:30. She enjoys it so far, however before they even completed their uniform they had field exercise in darkness in mud and on couple of occasions she came home soaking wet and covered in mud top to bottom, smiling though 🙈. So far they did lots of marching drills, some first aid training, generally learning about airforce and navigation. I was shocked with how many pieces of uniform they have to get, literally need extra wardrobe lol. My daughter is a bit nerdy perfectionist so I guess it suits her well. I initially suggested sea cadets as we have sea and army cadets are in my town, but she insisted on air cadets. I suppose if you have son, army cadets is good choice, just a bit too physical for girl.

@Moni81 did you have to add the sexist part at the end?