Inspiring the Next Generation, Transform Your Future: Why You Should Become a Cadet Force Adult Volunteer

Are you looking for a purpose driven way to spend your spare time? Do you want to develop professional skills that will make your CV stand out, all while giving back to your local community? Becoming a Cadet Force Adult Volunteer in the UK offers a unique blend of personal growth, adventure, and community impact that few other volunteering roles can match.

The UK Cadet Forces, comprising the Sea Cadets, Army Cadets, Royal Air Force Air Cadets, and the Combined Cadet Force, rely on a dedicated network of adult volunteers. These volunteers come from all walks of life, including teachers, retail workers, engineers, and stay at home parents. Crucially, you do not need any prior military experience to join. The Cadet Forces provide full, structured training to ensure you feel confident, capable, and safe in your role.

Gain Nationally Recognised Qualifications

One of the most significant, tangible benefits of becoming a volunteer is the access to funded, civilian recognised qualifications. Through partnerships with organisations like CVQO and the Institute of Leadership, volunteers can earn certificates and diplomas in leadership, peer mentoring, and team management.

If your passions lie in the great outdoors, you can train to become a qualified instructor in adventurous activities. The Cadet Forces fund certifications in mountain leadership, kayaking, rock climbing, target shooting, and Duke of Edinburgh Award assessment. These qualifications, which would cost thousands of pounds in the civilian sector, are offered to volunteers for free. They prove to current and future employers that you possess verified leadership capabilities, risk management skills, and emotional intelligence.

A Vibrant Social Network and Adventure

Volunteering is also a fantastic way to break out of your daily routine and meet like minded people. You will join a supportive, tight knit community of fellow adult volunteers who share your values of camaraderie, discipline, and fun. From mess dinners and social events to overseas expeditions and annual camps, the social side of being a volunteer is vibrant and lifelong.

One Cadet Force Adult Volunteer’s Story

What follows is the story of Flight Sergeant Currie.

In the early 1990s, and because his friends were joining, he took the daunting steps over the boundaries of his local Air Training Corps (ATC) Huyton Squadron, on Merseyside Wing.

What he’d joined he now describes as ‘something amazing, not just the organisation but the people, and I made new friends, friends for life.’

The leadership and mentoring from the volunteering staff has stayed with him all his life, and proved life-changing.

Huyton had a winning mentality, the cadets competed in everything and were the team to beat, especially when it came to drill.

Fast forward twenty years and Flight Sergeant Currie found himself a kinship carer, and his wife insisted he needed a hobby and something for himself.

So he popped along to his now local RAFAC squadron, still with that winning mentality and passion for drill.

Flight Sergeant Currie says ‘it was like I was a missing piece at 874 Sherborne Squadron. I was buzzing to get going in uniform, and within two years became a drill instructor.’

Building on his passion and the competitive drive acquired as a cadet, the Squadron entered a drill competition for the first time in fourteen years, narrowly missing out on first place.

He now pushes the squadron to help the community, in particular donating food at Christmas time to the local food bank, something they’ve been doing for the last five years, plus association with a local nursing home and taking an active role in Remembrance Sunday.

Flight Sergeant Currie says ‘I wouldn’t change my time as a cadet or a Cadet Forces Adult Volunteer, even if it’s more stressful as an adult at times, but I do it for the cadets and I was lucky to have my children follow me, gaining all I gained.

Hopefully one day they will give back like I have, to the next generation!’

Get Involved Today

Whether you can spare a few hours a week or a couple of weekends a month, there is a flexible role for you. You can choose to wear a uniform as an instructor or assist behind the scenes as a non uniformed civilian committee member.

Are you ready to challenge yourself, learn new skills, and inspire the next generation?

Visit https://www.wessex-rfca.org.uk/cadets/become-an-adult-volunteer/ to discover more.