Everything about The Combined Cadet Force totally explained
The
Combined Cadet Force (CCF) is a
Ministry of Defence sponsored youth organisation in the
United Kingdom. Its aim is to "provide a disciplined organisation in a school so that pupils may develop powers of leadership by means of training to promote the qualities of responsibility, self reliance, resourcefulness, endurance and perseverance". It isn't a pre-service organisation, although it acknowledges that one of its objectives is "to encourage those who have an interest in the services to become Officers of the Regular or Reserve Forces", and a significant number of officers have indeed had experience in the CCF. Prior to 1948 cadet forces in schools existed as part of the
Officers' Training Corps framework, but in 1948 the
Labour government founded the Combined Cadet Force as a separate entity on the grounds that the previous name was deemed elitist.
History
The CCF was created on
1 April 1948 by the amalgamation of the Junior Training Corps (formerly the Junior Division of the
Officers Training Corps) and the school contingents of the
Sea Cadet Corps and
Air Training Corps. CCFs are still often referred to as "the Corps".
Contingents
The first school cadet corps was established at
Rossall School in
February 1860, though it was created purely as an army contingent as the
RAF wasn't formed until
1 April 1918. Other corps were formed at several other public schools within months including
Eton College. Today, unit contingents exist in UK
independent schools, some
grammar schools and a handful of
comprehensive schools.
The CCF is distinct from the
Sea Cadet Corps,
Army Cadet Force, and
Air Training Corps.
- The Royal Navy Section wear a distinct CCF Cap Badge.
- Royal Marines sections wear the Royal Marines badge and blue beret.
- The Army Sections wear the cap badge of their associated regiment or corps, or their school badge.
- The RAF Sections of the CCF wear the RAF cap badge.
Pupils normally join around the age of 13 or 14, with both sexes taking part. A school contingent may have any combination of
Royal Navy,
Army,
Royal Air Force sections, and rarely
Royal Marines. The Army Section is almost invariably the largest. There is also a very small 'out-of-school' contingent of the Royal Marines, that meet together. These cadets are from different schools. The contingent was set up due to the lack of many Marine sections in schools, but there's a number limit of 70 and therefore places are highly contested.
Cadets
In 2001, the then Minister of State for Defence replied to a question posed in Parliament about how many CCFs were currently affiliated to the MOD.
In October 2007 the then Under-Secretary of State for Defence and Minister for Veterans in reply to a written question gave details of the total number of CCF sections, and the number in state schools.
Cadets mostly hold standard
non-commissioned ranks, prefixed by "Cadet". The highest ranks are usually Cadet
Coxswain (Royal Navy Section), Cadet
Regimental Sergeant Major (Army and RM Sections) and Cadet
Warrant Officer (RAF Section). These ranks are considered to be equal.
Some contingents may have
Under Officers in the Army, Royal Navy and Royal Marines sections, although the RAF generally don't recognise this rank. To give total parity of ranks among the different sections, the RAF section has a special rank - that doesn't exist in the regular RAF (or in the
Air Training Corps) - of Cadet
Junior Corporal, equivalent to Cadet
Lance Corporal in the Army section.
To become a Junior Under Officer (JUO) in the CCF RN, the cadet must have applied to enter the Royal Navy and have had a successful interview with a Regional Royal Navy Careers Officer, the candidate must have been asked to go to the Admiralty Interview Board (AIB) or to have another interview with an RN Careers Officer. After the successful interview with the Royal Navy, the cadet in question will automatically be promoted to a JUO and will be presented with JUO insignia:
Cadet Under-Officers wear a white linen flash behind the cap/beret badge and a strip of white linen 12 mm wide across each CCF shoulder slide (pips), (the same shoulder slides used by Officer Cadets), just inside the regular RN CCF shoulder slide (which still must be worn). Insignia will be issued by the CCF section that the Cadet belongs to and presented by a regular, reserve or CCF officer.
The reason for this promotion is so they can be recognised by regular RN personnel in military establishments, also to achieve authority and the respect of his/her fellow cadets, so the JUO can exercise leadership to greater affect, which will be vitally important in their future career in the Royal Navy. Under Officers are seen as the Midshipmen of the CCF and are to be addressed as ‘Sir’ by their fellow cadets, but not by Officers who are more senior or Senior Under Officers (SUO), or by any other regular Royal Navy Personnel. JUO’s are still to call CCF Officers, SUO’s and other Regular RN Personnel by their Normal titles (for example Officers – ‘Sir’).
If the JUO becomes Head of Section he/she is to be automatically promoted to Senior Under Officer (SUO) or promoted if the Commanding Officer sees fit.
Officers
CCF officers are generally teachers from the school, and are not normally eligible to be called up. They hold acting officer ranks up to and including
lieutenant colonel (the highest substantive rank is that of
lieutenant) or its equivalent in the other services, although there are a small number of officers above this rank (This can only occur where the Officer concerned formerly served in the regular forces and has been allowed to retain his/her rank on retiring.) (JSP313, CCF manual). Unlike in the external cadet organisations (ATC/SCC/ACF), all instructors are commissioned, by tradition as instructors are generally teachers and so 'professionally qualified'.
CCF(Army) and CCF(RAF) Officers hold commissions in the reserves of their service. CCF(RN) Officers are 'appointed' and don't hold commissions, albeit their ranks are the same as for RN (and
RNR) officers with the suffix RNR(CCF), their rank braid is 'wavy', the same form as used in the past by the RNR. CCF(Army) officers hold commissions in TA Group 'B' (the same group as
UOTC Officer Cadets), and wear a CCF marking on their rank slides. CCF(RAF) officers' commissions are Volunteer Reserve (Training Branch) (
RAF VR(T)), and they wear a VRT pin on their rank braid to signify this.
The exception to the 'all instructors are officers' rule is the 'SSI' (School Staff Instructor), who is usually an ex-forces SNCO or Warrant Officer. They retain their rank as a courtesy and are employed by the school to instruct and assist in the running of the Contingent. Whilst the majority of the SSIs are SNCOs it's also possible for them to be a commissioned officer. There is usually one SSI per Contingent.
Training
The different sections naturally have different syllabi, but have a certain amount in common. All cadets are trained initially to fire the
.22 Number 8 Rifle or the
L98A1 5.56mm Cadet General Purpose rifle, similar to the regular SA80 but modified so that it's no longer semi or automatic loading. Later there are also opportunities to fire the L86 LSW, the L85A2 rifle, and the L81 Cadet Target rifle. However, around 2009 all contingents will be issued with the
SA80 L85A2 with automatic capability, replacing the Cadet GP. All the sections instruct fieldcraft,
navigation,
drill, leadership and
first aid.
Cadets in the Royal Navy and Royal Marines sections receive instruction in boatwork and other naval subjects (including flying with the
Fleet Air Arm). The Royal Navy also offers many CCF courses such as Royal Marines Amphibious Training and Range Firing which are open to any members of any CCF, regardless of section, though priority is given to those in the naval section.
Army section cadets are able to specialise in various subjects such as signalling and infantry tactics, and are trained accordingly. The Army section also has "special to arm" courses, such as advanced weapons theory, Royal Signals training, and
REME courses. Royal Artillery Adventurous Training courses are often offered to cadets, usually through an Army Liaison Officer. These include parachuting and watersports training. However, 2006 Health and Safety/Child Protection legislation (and fallout from the
Deepcut affair) mandated that cadets must be housed separately by both gender and age (under 18s and over 18s), and as most MOD accommodation can't cope with this and many of these courses have thus been forced to limit applicants to over 18s only.
RAF section cadets are given the opportunity to fly in both power aircraft, most notable the
Grob Tutor and
Vigilant T.1 and in unpowered gliders usch as the
Viking TX.1 and their training and flying courses are identical to those available to members of the
Air Training Corps.
All sections can undertake leadership courses at Frimley Park, Nesscliff or RAF Cranwell (previously at Stafford), as well as adventurous training. There are also other courses available for cadets to enhance their skills, such as Junior and Senior Cadet Instructor Courses (JCIC, SCIC).
Alternative organisations
Some schools recognise that pupils may not wish to participate in CCF activities and so
alternative organisations exist, such as the Community Service Organisation, which allows pupils to
volunteer to help in hospitals, schools, and charity work. . A few other schools make CCF attendance voluntary - this tends to reduce numbers compared to compulsory contingents, but potentially results in a more uniformly dedicated membership that responds well to training.
Further Information
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