Air Training Corps
The Air Training Corps is a British volunteer youth organisation; aligned to, and fostering the knowledge and learning of military values, primarily focusing on military aviation. Part of the Royal Air Force Air Cadets, the ATC is sponsored by the Royal Air Force and the wider Ministry of Defence. The majority of Air Training Corps staff are volunteers, though some staff are paid for full-time work; including Commandant RAF Air Cadets, who is a Royal Air Force officer as part of a Full Term Reserve Service commitment. In addition to the Commandant, who is responsible for the organisation’s uniformed activities, RAFAC also has a National Chair, who serves as the senior representative of the trustee pillar; the current incumbent is Mr Stuart Ensor OBE.
Members of the Air Training Corps are known as Air Cadets, which is often interchanged with the term 'ATC cadets'. Although many ATC cadets subsequently go on to join the Royal Air Force, or the other branches of the British Armed Forces, the ATC is not a recruiting organisation for its parent service.
Activities undertaken by the Air Training Corps include sport, adventure training, ceremonial drill, rifle shooting, fieldcraft, air experience flights in both powered aircraft and sail-plane gliders, and other outdoor activities, as well as educational classification training. Week-long trips, or 'camps' to RAF stations, along with other camps offering adventure training or music, allow the opportunity for cadets to gain a taste of military life, and often some flying experience in RAF gliders and RAF training aircraft such as the Grob G 115, an aerobatic-capable elementary flying training aircraft, known in UK military service as the Tutor T1. The Viking T1 glider is used to train cadets on gliding the manufacturer name for the Viking T1 is the Grob G103a Twin II, manufactured by Grob.
File:Grob G 115E EA-3.JPG|thumb|The Tutor T1 is used to provide Air Experience Flights to ATC cadets.|alt=
, the ATC strength is 34,070 cadets and 9,190 adult volunteers.
History
Foundation
Air Commodore Sir John Chamier is affectionately known as the 'father of the air cadet movement'. He joined the Royal Flying Corps, the forerunner of the Royal Air Force, where he served as a pilot in World War I. He transferred to the Royal Air Force upon its formation in 1918. After retiring from the service in 1929, Chamier became Secretary-General of the Air League; an organisation made up of people who wanted to make the British public aware of the importance of military aviation.Air Defence Cadet Corps
The purpose of the Air Defence Cadet Corps, set up in 1938 by Air Commodore Chamier, was to train young men in various aviation-related skills. The ADCC proved popular, with thousands joining up. In February 1941, to provide the means of giving part-time air training to teenagers and young men who might later join the Royal Air Force, the ADCC was formally established as the Air Training Corps by Royal Warrant.Air Training Corps
On, the Air Training Corps was officially established, with King George VI agreeing to be the Air Commodore-in-Chief, and issuing a Royal Warrant setting out the Corps' aims. Within the first month of its existence, the size of the old ADCC, now the ATC, virtually doubled to more than 400 squadrons, and continued to grow thereafter. A new badge was designed for the ATC and, once approved by the King, was distributed in August 1941. The motto 'Venture Adventure', devised by Air Commodore Chamier, was adopted by the ATC and incorporated into the badge.The new ATC squadrons adopted training programmes to prepare young men for entry into the Royal Air Force. Squadrons arranged visits to RAF and Fleet Air Arm stations as part of the cadets' training, where a flight might be a possibility. Such opportunities were not widely available, however, and many cadets were disappointed. One solution was to introduce opportunities for flying, as a way to allow a cadet to get the feel of an aircraft in flight and to handle an aircraft's controls whilst airborne. After the end of the Second World War, gliding lessons became available.
Before the 1980s, females were unable to join the ATC, although they were able to join an attached unit of the Girls Venture Corps which had been formed in the early years of the Second World War, if one was available at their location.
Before May 2008, cadets would spend a lot of time in the classroom before obtaining First Class classification, studying the following subjects: The Air Training Corps, The Royal Air Force, History of Flight, Initial Expedition Training, Basic Communications, and Airmanship I. After many lectures, and when the cadet felt ready, they would take a multiple-choice examination, either on paper or on a computer. Some wings ran courses that would involve the cadet spending a few days learning, and then awarded the appropriate classification if successful in their exams. In May 2008, Headquarters Air Cadets decided to change the training programme for junior and second class cadets, sensing that recruits were being deterred by exams. In March 2016, after a review of the then current training syllabus, the new 'Progressive Training Syllabus' was introduced, which provided for four levels of each badge.
Investigation into sexual abuse
In 2012, payouts made to victims of sexual abuse by the MOD, across all Cadet Forces, totalled £1,475,844. The payouts in 2013 totalled £64,782, and £544,213 in 2014.In 2017, a BBC Panorama episode entitled 'Cadet Abuse Cover-Up' highlighted sexual abuse cases in the British Cadet Forces. Through the years 2012 to 2017, there were 134 allegations of sexual abuse made against ATC volunteers, including historical allegations; 96 cases were referred to the Police for investigation, and 9 offenders were dismissed.
Air Cadet Organisation
Until October 2017, advertising material such as leaflets and official websites branded the Air Training Corps and Combined Cadet Force collectively as the Air Cadet Organisation. This term was replaced by the Royal Air Force Air Cadets.Structure and organisation
The United Kingdom is split into six regions, each commanded by a Full-Time Reserve Group Captain in the RAF Reserves, and having a Regional Chairman and Regional Chaplain. Each region is sub-divided into many wings. There were historically six wings per region, however, as of 2013 there were 34 wings, most named after the one or two counties of the United Kingdom that they operate in. Wings are further sub-divided into sectors. Within the sectors lie squadrons, and it is the squadron that is the focal point for the majority of members of the Corps. As of October 2025, there were over 1,000 ATC squadrons.Regions
Wings
Governance
National
Headquarters Royal Air Force Air Cadets is based at RAF Cranwell in Lincolnshire, England. There are subordinate headquarters at region and wing levels, staffed by RAF and RAFAC officers and civil servants. HQ RAFAC controls two National Air Cadet Adventure Training Centres : at Fairbourne, Gwynedd, Wales ; and Windermere, Cumbria, England. These NACATCs provide a range of adventure training courses and accommodation for squadron and wing expeditions. HQ RAFAC also controls twelve Volunteer Gliding Squadrons around the UK, through the Air Cadet Central Gliding School at RAF Syerston.Local
ATC squadrons are established in most large towns in the United Kingdom. There are also ATC units in Cyprus, Germany, Gibraltar, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man. In towns not large enough to sustain a squadron of 30 cadets, or as a supplement to an existing squadron in a larger town or city, a Detached Flight may be formed. A detached flight operates much like any other unit, but is a component part of a nearby, larger squadron., there were over 1,000 ATC squadrons.An Officer Commanding a squadron is typically a flight lieutenant. If a squadron commanded by an SNCO, warrant officer, pilot officer, or flying officer, they are referred to as Officer in Charge . Officers were previously appointed in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve RAFVR, but now receive a Cadet Forces Commission, introduced in 2017.
Civilian committees
In addition to the uniformed command structure, the ATC squadrons are supported by a parallel trustee pillar. A Civilian Committee underpins fundraising and the management of non-public funds used to support activities and equipment that are not provided through central RAF funding beyond core services. Trustees operate at squadron, wing, regional, and national levels. The National Chair, who is the senior representative of the trustee pillar, is Mr Stuart Ensor OBE.As with any charity, three officers are elected at an annual general meeting and then exist as an independent group to raise and manage funds in a lawful manner in accordance with the Charities Act.
A Squadron's Civilian Committee is responsible for overseeing the initial unit formation and direction, and will monitor the welfare of cadets. Trustees are often parents of cadets and friends. Many squadron charities decide to operate against the RAFAC document known as ACP-11, which has been the traditional constitution. However, there is no requirement to do so, as long as the civilian committee establishes a constitution with acceptable charitable object statements; these may be similar to those in ACP-11. The Charity Commission has produced a model constitutions for this purpose.
Culture
Aims and motto
The aims of the Air Training Corps, as set out in the Royal Warrant and approved by King George VI in 1947, are:- To promote and encourage among young men a practical interest in aviation and to fit them to serve their country in Our Air Force, its reserves and auxiliaries, and also in the Air Branch of Our Navy or in Our Army;
- To provide training which will be useful both in the Air Service and in civil life;
- To foster the spirit of adventure, to promote sports and pastimes in healthy rivalry and to develop the qualities of mind and body which go to the making of a leader and a good citizen.