Sea Cadets (United Kingdom)

Sea Cadets is a national youth charity, working with 14,000 young people between 10 and 18 years old across the UK. It has 400 units across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland all run by 9,000 volunteers. Cadets follow similar rates and ranks, traditions, values and ethos as the Royal Navy.

Young people who join follow a cadet training programme which sees them learn a range of subjects including engineering, first aid, catering and music as well as sailing, rowing, kayaking and many more. For many of the subjects, cadets gain nationally recognised qualifications from organisations such as the RYA, BCU and St Johns Ambulance.

As well as weekly meetings and boating at their individual units, cadets can go on residential courses at five national training centres, six regional boating stations plus on week-long voyages sailing around the UK on one of five Sea Cadets offshore vessels. The Sea Cadets offshore fleet includes one tall ship, two yachts and two power vessels.

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is the patron of Sea Cadets and HRH The Duke of York is the Admiral of Sea Cadets.

Sea Cadets Values
Sea Cadets values are embedded in everything they do and underpin how cadets behave and treat one another.

Loyalty: To be faithful in all who invest in me.

Honesty & Integrity: To tell the truth and be a good person.

Respect: To appreciate and be considerate to others.

Commitment: To do what I say I will.

Self-discipline: To do what I must.

Cadets
Sea Cadets is open to all young people ages 10 to 18 and is proud to be an inclusive charity. It is committed to equality of opportunity for young people, recognising diversity within its membership and regarding it as one of its greatest strengths. Sea Cadets welcomes all teenagers to join, regardless of sex, religion, race, or ability, within the bounds of safety to themselves and others. It is proud of the different backgrounds that cadets come from, sometimes from the most disadvantaged circumstances.

It doesn't matter if someone has never been on a boat before, Sea Cadets gives young people all the training and support they need to be part of an incredible experience.

Young people have the option to join as a:

Junior Cadet
For 10 to 12 year olds, Junior Cadets have their own training programme and uniform, based around a more practical and fun version of the Sea Cadets training programme, only designed for a younger audience. They still get to take part in lots of great events and exciting activities like sailing and kayaking, whilst also learning useful skills like first aid and communications. When Junior Sea Cadets turn 12, they can move up to become Sea Cadets.

Sea Cadet
For 12 to 18 year olds, young people can join as a Sea Cadet and work their way up through the training programme, earning badges, making friends, achieving nationally recognised qualifications and life skills as they go. From power boating through crashing waves, to kayaking down valley rivers, cadets live life and they live it together.

Royal Marines Cadet
For 13 to 18 year olds, the Royal Marines Cadets are part of the Sea Cadets family. They still take part in all the exciting waterborne activities, as well as branching off into serious adventure training too. Royal Marines Cadets are renowned for their teamwork and specialise in activities like orienteering, fieldraft and weapon handling.

History
The Sea Cadet Corps has one of the longest continuous histories of any youth organisation in the country. The Corps dates back to the Crimean War (1854–1856) when sailors returning home from the campaign formed Naval Lads' Brigades to help orphans in the back streets of sea ports. The SCC in the UK can be traced back to the Kent port of Whitstable where the first of the Naval Lads' Brigades was established. The success of the brigades in helping disadvantaged youth led to the formation of the Navy League, a national organisation with a membership of 250,000 dedicated to supporting the Royal Navy, which subsequently adopted the Brigades in 1910.
 * 1899 Queen Victoria gave the Windsor unit £10 to purchase uniforms (officially the birthday of the Corps)
 * 1914: The Navy League applied to the Admiralty for recognition of its 34 Boys' Naval Brigades. This was granted in 1919 subject to an annual efficiency inspection by an officer on the staff of the Admiral Commanding Reserves, and the title Navy League Sea Cadet Corps was adopted.
 * 1937: Lord Nuffield gave £50,000 to fund the relaunch and expansion of the Sea Cadet Corps.
 * 1939: At the start of World War II there were almost 100 Sea Cadet Units in the UK with more than 10,000 Cadets
 * 1940: In June the Navy League purchased an old sailing vessel and renamed her TS Bounty. She was fitted out to accommodate 40 Cadets. In July weekly courses started for Cadets from all Units. These ended in September and the ship closed down.
 * 1941: The shortage of visual and wireless ratings in the Royal Navy led to special three-week training courses being run on board TS Bounty for Sea Cadets, to qualify them more quickly for entry into the RN. This made good use of the training and skills they had already gained in the Cadets and meant a considerable saving in training time for the Admiralty.
 * 1942: The 1941 scheme had caught the Admiralty's imagination. As a result, the Admiral Commanding Reserves took over the training role, HM King George VI became Admiral of the Corps, Officers were granted appointments in the RNVR and the Corps was renamed the Sea Cadet Corps. A huge expansion to 400 Units and 50,000 Cadets coincided in many towns with Warship Weeks, so the newly formed Unit took the same name as the adopted warship. The Admiralty now paid for uniforms, equipment, travel and training, while the Navy League funded sport and Unit headquarters. In the same year, the Girls' Nautical Training Corps was formed as part of the National Association of Training Corps for Girls, with units mainly in southern England.
 * 1948: The Sea Cadet Council was set up to govern the Corps, with membership from the Navy League and the Royal Navy, and a retired Captain took on the task of supervision, first as Secretary to the Council and later as Captain, Sea Cadet Corps.
 * 1952: HM The Queen became the SCC patron with HRH the Duke of Edinburgh as the Admiral of the Corps
 * 1954: The Commandant General, Royal Marines asked permission to form a Marine Cadet Section that could be fitted into the existing organisation and the Council agreed to this. In December 1954, the first Marine Cadet detachment was opened in Bristol Adventure unit. By 1964 the Section had expanded from the original five Detachments to 40.
 * 1963: The Girls' Nautical Training Corps became affiliated to the Sea Cadet Corps, in many cases sharing the same premises with local Units.
 * 1966: TS Bermuda established in the British colony of Bermuda. The first unit of the Bermuda Sea Cadet Corps, an offshoot of the Sea Cadet Corps with identical organisation and operations, administered by the Bermuda Sea Cadet Association. Officers hold honorary Royal Naval Reserve (SCC) commissions.
 * 1972: Juniors were introduced to the Sea Cadets
 * 1976: The Navy League was renamed the Sea Cadet Association since support of the Sea Cadets and Girls’ Nautical Training Corps had become its sole aims.
 * 1980: The admission of girls into the Sea Cadet Corps was approved and the Girls' Nautical Training Corps ceased to exist as a separate body, but until 1992 was called the Girls' Nautical Training Contingent.
 * 1999: Centenary parade in Windsor attended by HM The Queen
 * 2004: In November the Sea Cadet Association merged with the world's oldest seafarers' charity The Marine Society to form a new charity The Marine Society & Sea Cadets.

National level
At a national level the Sea Cadets Headquarters (MSSCHQ) are in South London at 202 Lambeth Road, SE1 7JW. This is where all decisions on policy or national regulation are made. Sea Cadet Headquarters is home to the Captain of the Sea Cadets (CSC), who is currently Captain Philip Russell RN. He is also the director of operations for the Marine Society and Sea Cadets (MSSC). The MSSC assist in the running of the Sea Cadet Corps in a similar way to that of the MOD for the Royal Navy.

MSSCHQ is made up of a variety of different sections, including:
 * Training: This department deals with National training courses, National competitions, qualifications etc.
 * Department of Education and Adult Learning: Works with the College of the Sea and deals with Cadet Vocational Qualifications, BTECs, Institute of Leadership and Management and other recognised qualifications.
 * Events: Deal with national events such as Trafalgar and Remembrance Celebrations.
 * Headquarters Staff Officers (HQSOs): Members of Sea Cadet staff who are in charge of the training and content of certain subjects taught within the Sea Cadet Corps. Usually based in individual units, but responsible to MSSCHQ for the running of their discipline.
 * Head of Sea Training: Responsible for the running of the offshore fleet.

Area level
The country is divided into six areas, which are: Each area has an area officer (AO) who is a serving Royal Navy Commander or, occasionally, a Royal Marine lieutenant colonel serving on a full-time reserve service contract.
 * Eastern (also including Malta)
 * Northern (also including Northern Ireland and Bermuda)
 * Southern (also including the Channel Islands)
 * North West
 * London
 * South West

In addition to the AO, each area also has:
 * An area operations manager (AOM)
 * An area logistics officer (ALO) - in charge of stores and MOD(N) issued equipment and mustering unit's stores once a year
 * An area training officer (ATO) - in charge of area level training
 * An area business manager - in charge of financials and point of contact for Unit Management Committees
 * An area staff officer (ASO) for each discipline - responsible for controlling that discipline in the area and reporting to HQSO and AO.
 * A senior staff officer (SSO) - the most senior SCC officer in the area, assists the AO, manages Area Office and ASOs.

District level
Each area is subdivided into districts of between five and twelve units. In charge of each district is a District Officer (DO) who is normally a Lieutenant Commander (SCC) RNR. Each district also has a Deputy District Officer (DDO) or an Assistant District Officer (ADO), as well as District Training Officers. These positions are staffed by volunteers. Some districts have District Staff Officers (DSO) responsible for overseeing various specialisations at a district level.

Unit level
Each unit or training ship (TS) is commanded by a commanding officer (CO) or officer in charge (OiC), assisted by the first lieutenant, who serves as the unit's second in command. Some units also have a Royal Marines Cadets Detachment, headed by a detachment commander (DC).

Units also have staff assigned to different roles within the unit to assist in the day-to-day running. Units could also have a training officer, who is in charge of overseeing the training given with the unit; an admin officer, in charge of the paperwork within a unit, and booking cadets on courses; or a boats officer, who is in charge of the running and maintenance of the units boats.

Training
One of the biggest strengths of the SCC is the breadth of activities it offers both onshore and offshore. Some training is compulsory, but most of it is optional. Cadets are encouraged to take part in as much as possible and to try new things.

Core training
Core training is the bread and butter of Sea Cadet training, and is directly linked to promotion/advancement. Cadets follow the Cadet Training Programme (CTP), which develops a number of key skills, including vital knowledge about Corps life, traditions of the Royal Navy, water safety, leadership, care of uniform and health and safety. The CTP incorporates some specialisations and proficiencies, such as First Aid, Seamanship, Adventurous Training and Meteorology. Royal Marine Cadets also complete the CTP but have additional elements of fieldcraft, campcraft, map-reading, battle drills and weapons handling.

Specialisation and proficiency training
Skills learned in a cadet's time in the SCC usually fall into one of two categories - Specialisations and Proficiencies. Specialisations are often larger subjects than proficiencies, and so are split into three levels; Basic, Intermediate and Advanced, each level increasing in difficulty building on the knowledge gained from the prior levels. Basic specialisations are often gained at the unit during regular training, while Intermediate and Advanced awards are held on an Area or National basis. Proficiencies do not usually have a levelling system, though some subjects such as Piping do contain a Basic/Intermediate level.

Some specialisations, such as Marine Engineering, are also divided into disciplines such as Electrical and Mechanical engineering.

All of the following are on offer to cadets, either at the unit or on district/area/national courses.

Cadets can also work towards recognised qualifications including, Duke of Edinburgh's Award and BTEC National Diplomas. These are available in Public Service, BTEC First Diploma in Music and BTEC First Diploma in Engineering (SCC Only).

Many qualifications are run by the Sea Cadets but regulated by external bodies. In these cases, cadets earn independent qualifications that they can take with them outside the Corps. These include Paddlesport, where they can gain PaddlePower or Star Awards through British Canoeing (formerly known as BCU), First Aid, where they can earn St John Ambulance First Aid certifications, Rowing, where they can earn British Rowing (BR) qualifications and Powerboating/Sailing/Windsurfing/Navigation where they can gain Royal Yachting Association (RYA) qualifications. National courses are also held, often on Royal Navy bases and at minimal cost, to teach skills such as leadership and teamwork. Specialist qualification courses include power boating in Scotland, cooking in Preston and fire fighting in Cornwall. There are competitions at varying levels in many of the sports, proficiencies and specializations of the SCC. Competitions start at a District level and progress through to National level.

Cadets
From New Entry through to Able Cadet, Sea Cadets are promoted based on their completion of various task-based modules under the CTP - Cadet Training Programme. Leading Cadets and Petty Officer Cadets are required to attend and pass a promotion board (held at area or national level) before being promoted. Emboldened are senior rates.

All Royal Marines Cadets are required to complete boards for each promotion. The higher the board the higher the level the board is run at so MC and MC2 boards are run at detachment level, MC1 boards at troop or company, Corporal boards at company and Sergeant board at a national level. All promotions boards have multiple sections all of which must be passed individually.

At the discretion of the commanding officer of a unit, or district officer, a cadet may be awarded an acting rate should they have completed the majority of the modules required for promotion, or received a partial pass on their promotion board, for example. An example of such rates are Acting Leading Cadet (ALC), or Acting Petty Officer cadet (APOC).


 * * High-achieving Marine Cadet 1st Class can be promoted to the rank of Cadet Lance Corporal by their detachment commander. This is an honorary rank and is not needed for progression up to Cadet Corporal. However, unlike Marine Cadet 1st class, Cadet Lance Corporal is considered a junior non-commissioned officer rank, and as such is given more leadership responsibility (equivalent of midway between Able Cadet and Leading Cadet).

Junior Sea Cadets
 * Junior Cadet
 * Junior Cadet First Class
 * Leading Junior Cadet

Adult senior rates / warrant officers
* One per area


 * If you were previously a Petty Officer Cadet or Cadet Sergeant, you can become a Probationary Petty Officer or Sergeant, skipping the Civilian Instructor rank.
 * As of 2009, If you join as a Civilian Instructor and want to be a uniformed member of staff, you would become an Acting Petty Officer or Sergeant, following a 6 month probationary period.

Ships
The Sea Cadets have three classes of offshore vessels, all of which are capable of coastal/offshore passage making. Sea Cadet voyages normally last for 1 week, with cadets gaining RYA qualifications for their voyage. Individual Sea Cadet units also have various boats including MOD motor boats such as Vikings, Champs, Dories, dinghies called the ASC (Admiralty Sailing Craft) and Bosuns, in addition to vessels designed specifically for the SCC such as the Trinity 500 rowing boat and RS Quest dinghy. Also on loan from the MOD, canoes, kayaks and windsurfing equipment, units and national training centres also have RIB's.

TS Royalist

 * TS Royalist is a 34m brig that is the only tall ship owned by the SCC- it is also the Sea Cadet flagship. it provides week training courses for sea cadets. The ship launched in 2014 to replaceTS Royalist, which was over 40 years old when decommissioned. In 2013 there had been an appeal to replace the ageing flagship: £250,000 was needed this target was achieved in April 2013.


 * Her draught is 3.25 m. The ship's hull is of high tensile steel, with her superstructure of glass reinforced plastic. She is rigged as a brig, with a sail area of 536 m2. She has a crew of eight, plus up to 24 Cadets and 2 adult trainees. Twelve passengers can also be carried.

TS Vigilant and TS City Liveryman

 * TS Vigilant and TS City Liveryman are the SCCs 2 offshore sailing vessels. They are both Tradewind 35 yachts, Bermudian cutters and each hold 5 cadets and two qualified adults. The vessels provide RYA training for those wishing to gain recognised qualifications and experience yacht sailing.

TS John Jerwood and TS Jack Petchey

 * These 2 vessels are the cadets' offshore powered training-ship. They are 24m long and each cost about £2.6m. TS Jack Petchey is so named because the Jack Petchey Foundation donated £1m in order for it to be built. The Jerwood Foundation donated £1,216,700 for the construction of TS John Jerwood. The training ships can hold between 12-16 cadets, 4 permanent staff and 2 CFAVs and provides an experience at sea focussing on deck work, navigation, bridge watchkeeping, cook/steward and marine engineering. Each vessel is fitted with twin Perkins Sabre Type M215C Turbo Diesel main engines, each giving 200 Shaft Horse Power at 2,500 rpm.

TS City of London

 * TS City of London is one of two Rustler 42 yachts replacing TS Vigilant and TS City Liveryman. The contract for the construction of TS City of London was signed in August 2016, and on the 3rd June 2017, the naming and commissioning of the yacht took place at the Royal Cornwall Yacht Club, Falmouth.

Trinity 500 rowing boats

 * The Trinity 500 is a stable fixed seat rowing boat, purpose built for the Sea Cadets to deliver the full SCC Rowing Scheme. The boat has also been approved by British Rowing, to allow for the delivery of their Explore Rowing Scheme. The boat was designed by Jo Richards, Olympic medallist and designer of a wide range of craft, in response to the requirement of the Sea Cadets for a modern, low maintenance, purpose-designed fixed seat rowing boat with good performance under oars and with the capacity to mount a small outboard motor. The Trinity 500 is named to mark the quincentenary of the incorporation of Trinity House, the statutory authority for aids to navigation in England, Wales, The Channel Islands and Gibraltar. The Trinity House Maritime Charity, a separately funded arm of the Corporation of Trinity House generously funded the design and development costs of the boat.

RS Quest dinghy

 * In a partnership between RS Sailing and the Sea Cadets, a new dinghy known as the RS Quest was designed by Jo Richards, who is also responsible for formulating the design for the Trinity 500 rowing vessel. The RS Quest was designed to accommodate the need for a new sailing dinghy within the SCC that is strong and easy to maintain which is capable of comfortably accommodating an instructor and up to three cadets. The RS Quest was unveiled at the Southampton Boat Show in 2015.

Other elements of the Community Cadet Forces

 * Army Cadet Force
 * Air Training Corps

Other MoD sponsored cadet forces

 * Combined Cadet Force
 * Volunteer Cadet Corps