Royal Air Force Air Cadets

Who's who in the Air Training Corps?

Air Commodore Sir John Chamier (1883 - 1974) is affectionately known as the 'Father of the Air Cadet movement.'

He joined the Royal Flying Corps where he served as a pilot in WWI. He transferred to the Royal Air Force in 1918 and after retiring from the service in 1929 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. With war beginning to form over Europe and the personal memory of how young men with only a few hours training had been sent into air combat only to fall victim to well-trained enemy aviators, he conceived the idea of an aviation cadet-corps....

Air Cadets learn the basics of flight at RNAS St Merryn in Cornwall, Feb. 1944

 

The purpose of the Air Defence Cadet Corps, set up in 1938, was to train young men in various aviation related skills. The ADCC proved popular, with thousands joining up. In 1941, in order to provide the means of giving part-time air training to teenagers and young men who may later wish to join the RAF, the ADCC was formally established as the Air Training Corps by Royal Warrant...

The 'Air Commodore' of the Air Cadet Organisation is Dawn McCafferty (RAFR). 

Dawn McCafferty is a British Royal Air Force Officer.

She took over as Commandant of the Royal Air Force Air Cadets in 2012 from Air Commodore Barbara Cooper. McCafferty will serve until 2020.

McCafferty is the only Full Time Reserve Officer to have held this post.

You can follow the Air Cdre on Facebook.

HRH Catherine the Duchess of Cambridge, is Honorary Air Commandant of the Air Training Corps.

She has held this position since the 16th of December 2015.

HRH the Duke of Edinburgh passed his patronage of the Air Training Corps to HRH the Duchess of Cambridge on this day.

It is the Duchess's first military linked appointment and she will represent an organisation of 42,000 air cadets and 15,000 adult volunteers.

Carol Vorderman RAFVR(T) is the Ambassador to the Air Cadets.

She accepted this appointment on the 20th of November 2014.

Gp Capt Vorderman will assume the rank of Honorary Group Captain RAFVR(T) for the duration of her appointment. 

She is the first and only female to be appointed Ambassador in Air Cadet history.

How is the Air Training Corps organised?

1206 (Mercian) Squadron is part of Staffordshire Wing in Wales and West Region

The Air Training Corps is formed of six 'Regions' across the United Kingdom, and each of these regions are made up of five/six 'Wings.'

As of 2015, there are 1009 ATC Squadrons and Detached Flights (DF), which are each assigned to a Wing. The ATC makes up the largest part of the Air Cadet Organisation (ACO), along with the RAF sections of the Combined Cadet Force (CCF).  

 

The six Regions (and their Wings) within the ATC are;

C&E Region's HQ is based at RAF Wyton

 

1. Central & East Region

- Bedforshire & Cambridgeshire Wing

- Hertfordshire & Buckinghamshire Wing

- Norfolk & Suffolk Wing

- South & East Midlands Wing

- Trent Wing

- Warwickshire & Birmingham Wing

L&SE Region's HQ is based at RAF Northolt

 

2. London & South East Region

- London Wing

- Kent Wing

- Essex Wing

- Middlesex Wing

- Surrey Wing

- Sussex Wing

North Region's HQ is RAF Linton-on-Ouse

 

3. North Region

- Central & East Yorkshire Wing

- Cumbria & Lancashire Wing

- Durham & Northumberland Wing

- Greater Manchester Wing

- South & West Yorkshire Wing

S&NI Region's HQ is based at Leuchars Station, formerly known as RAF Leuchars

 

4. Scotland & Northern Ireland Region

- North East Scotland Wing

- South East Scotland Wing

- West Scotland Wing

- Highland Wing

- Northern Ireland Wing

W&W Region's HQ is based at RAF Cosford

 

5. Wales & West Region

- Merseyside Wing

- Staffordshire Wing

- West Mercian Wing

- No. 1 Welsh Wing

- No. 2 Welsh Wing

- No. 3 Welsh Wing

 

SW Region's HQ is based in the town of Devizes

 

6. South West Region

- Bristol & Gloucestershire Wing

- Devon & Somerset Wing

- Dorset & Wilts Wing

- Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wing

- Plymouth & Cornwall Wing

- Thames Valley Wing