Information about Cadet

This article refers to the general definition of cadet. A Cadet may also be a member of the Cadets, a historical Russian political party. For the record label, see Cadet Records.

A cadet is a future officer in the military. The term is often used by uniformed services.

The term may also refer to a person who is junior in some way.

Etymology

The word is recorded in English since 1610, originally for a young son, identical to the French, which is itself derived from Gascon (French Basque dialect of Gascony in southwest France) capdet "captain, chief," in turn from the Late Latin capitellum, the diminitutive of Latin caput "head" (hence also chief). Younger sons from Gascon families apparently were commonly sent to the French court to serve as officers; as a rule non-heirs from the European nobility sought careers in the military or the clergy.

Genealogical usage

A cadet is a younger son, as opposed to the firstborn heir. Compare puisne.

As an adjective, "cadet" is used to signify the junior branch of a family. Thus, the Orleans line was a cadet branch of the Bourbon family. For the status as such, the noun cadency exists, as in the heraldic term mark of cadency for a feature which distinguishes a cadet son's weapon from the father's which is passed on unaltered only to the (usually firstborn) heir.

Military context

In Commonwealth countries, including United Kingdom, a cadet is a member of one of the cadet forces. In the United Kingdom these are the Combined Cadet Force, the Sea Cadets, Army Cadets and the Air Training Corps. Military officers in training are called officer cadets.

In Canada, the term "cadet" refers to an officer in training, with the official rank names as Officer Cadet for the Air Force and Army and Naval Cadet for the Navy.

In Germany, the rank Cadet (German: Seekadett) only exists in the German Navy for officers in training. In the Army and the Luftwaffe, officers in training usually have the rank of a Fahnenjunker or Ensign (German: Fähnrich) before they are promoted into the rank of a Lieutenant.

In Ireland, Cadet is a pupil of the Military College, which carries out officer training for the Air Corps, Army and Naval Service. Training takes 2 years and the Cadets are split into Senior and Junior Grades and Classes.

In Norway, a "cadet" is a pupil of either of the three the Krigsskolen ("war schools"), which educate commanding officers for either the Army, the Navy or to the Air Force.

In the United States, cadet refers to an officer in training. Students at the United States Military Academy, the United States Air Force Academy, the United States Coast Guard Academy, and members of the Reserve Officers' Training Corps officially rank as "Cadet" while holding varying cadet ranks in their individual organizations.

In Australia Cadet also refers to an officer in training. The official rank is Officer Cadet (OCDT) however OCDT's in the Royal Military College - Duntroon are referred to as Staff Cadet (SCDT) for historical reasons.

Youth cadet corps

In the British and Commonwealth (formerly Empire) as well as Russian service, these groups of boys or youths are organized, armed and trained on volunteer military lines.

Australia

In Australia, a "Cadet" is a person aged between 13 and 20 who is a member of the Australian Defence Force Cadets (ADFC). The ADFC comprises the Australian Navy Cadets (ANC), the Australian Army Cadets (AAC), and the Australian Air Force Cadets (AAFC).

Canada

Canada has evolved three separate cadet services, the Royal Canadian Sea Cadets, the Royal Canadian Air Cadets and the Royal Canadian Army Cadets.

Collectively, they programs are administered by a subdepartment of the Department of National Defence (DND) in partnership with the Air Cadet League of Canada and known as the Cadets Canada movement.

Singapore

In Singapore, three national cadet forces exist: the National Cadet Corps, National Police Cadet Corps and the National Civil Defence Cadet Corps. These cadet organisations have a uniform and rank structure which closely mirrors that of their parent body.

In addition there are other non-national cadet organisations, namely the The Boys' Brigade in Singapore, Girls' Brigade, The Singapore Scout Association, Girl Guides Singapore, St. John Ambulance in Singapore and Red Cross Youth.

United Kingdom

In Commonwealth countries, including United Kingdom, a cadet is a member of one of the cadet forces. In the United Kingdom, the cadet forces are the Sea Cadets, Army Cadet Force and Air Training Corps (each is a stand alone youth organisations) and the school-based Combined Cadet Force. Cadets also represent St. John Ambulance in the line of public duties and first aid. Many services have a Police Cadet Corps.

New Zealand

In New Zealand, the cadet forces are the Air Training Corps (ATC), the New Zealand Cadet Corps (NZCC) and the Sea Cadet Corps (SCC). All of these organisations are part of the umbrella organisation of the New Zealand Cadet Forces

Russia

Russian cadet corps have existed since 1732 and despite being banned by the Soviet government for their support of the White movement, were reintroduced after the fall of the USSR.

United States

The United States also has several youth cadet organizations, but are not regarded as practical military training. The Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps is a youth citizenship program with units administered by either the Army, Air Force, Navy, or Marine Corps in American high schools. One of the primary functions of the Civil Air Patrol is to administer a similar cadet program training in elements of leadership, aerospace studies, and search and rescue. There are other programs including the United States Naval Sea Cadet Corps and the Young Marines.

Civilian context

In early colonial history of Hong Kong, cadet was a system for training young Englishmen to be officials for Hong Kong where they had to learn Chinese culture and sometimes Cantonese language and written Chinese in Hong Kong. Some of cadets became major officials and even Hong Kong Governors. At later stage of colony cadets were young policemen under training in Royal Hong Kong Police Force.

In Switzerland, cadet (German: Kadett) refers to a participant of the programs of a corps of cadets (German:Kadettenkorps), which are maintained by public schools or private associations. From the late 18th century to the mid-20th century, the Kadettenkorps used to prepare highschool students for service in the Swiss army. Influenced by the "Turnerbewegung" ('Gym movement'), the Kadettenkorps started in the early 20th century to shift their programme towards sports. Nowadays, the Swiss Cadets Association (German: Kadetten Schweiz) includes Kadettenkorps offering the following programmes: general sports (including the national league handball club Kadetten Schaffhausen), trecking (like scouting), march music bands (German:Kadettenmusik) and traffic regulation (German:Verkehrskadetten). Kadettenkorps offering traffic regulation only, are represented by the Swiss Verkehrskadetten Association (German:Schweizerischer Verkehrskadetten Verband).

In the United Kingdom, a similar usage exists for personnel in training to become fire and rescue service officers.

In the United States, cadet refers to an officer in training for the police, firefighter and EMT services. Some police and sheriff's departments employ cadets as non-sworn law enforcement officers, either before or after entering a training academy. An example is the NYC police cadet corps.

Merchant Navy

In the Merchant Navy, a Cadet is an officer under training in much the same way as the military context. Cadets choose either one of two branches for professional development. Deck Cadets train in the fields of Navigation, Shiphandling and Cargo Handling as well as Maritime Law. They will also receive training in firefighting, first aid and survival techniques. Engineering Cadets train to become Marine Engineers, and as such their fields encompass a range of theoretical and practical engineering subjects, including mechanical physics, thermodynamics, control engineering, applied mathematics, welding and fabrication. Engineering practice is mostly learned during the Cadet's assignment to a ship. Engineering Cadets also train in firefighting, survival and first aid. The cadet training scheme differs from country to country, but the learning objectives are always the same. In the UK for example, Cadets undergo training in a block-release format, spending a shorter time in college before going to sea for a short assignment after which the cadet returns to college. Other countries allow the cadet to finish his/her degree before going to sea, but most countries seem to prefer a system where a cadet completes all of his/her sea time before returning to college for the final year of their degree.

Other usage

Some sports teams also refer to players that are in the process of being built up to play for the team at a later date as cadets. Such players often play for a lesser team in the same club. This is done quite commonly in the National Rugby League (NRL). The Serie B, the second most important football league in Italy, is nicknamed campionato cadetto, meaning championship of the cadets.

In Australia, the term is also used to describe a person pursuing a career as a Chartered Accountant under the "Cadetship" program, designed to accelerate career progression for motivated students. The programs are offered to students finishing high school or currently undertaking tertiary studies in relevant courses by several Accounting firms such as Three of the Big 4 accountancy firms (KPMG, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Ernst & Young), and mid-tier firms such as BDO and Grant Thornton.

To refer to someone as a space cadet is to imply that they are "on another planet," i.e. foolish, ditzy or dim. For example; "That guy is cadetting it." The phrase was inspired by science fiction author Robert A. Heinlein's juvenile novel Space Cadet.

Cadet may also refer to someone belonging to "The Cadets" a Division I Drum and Bugle Corps, who have been Drum Corps International World Champions numerous times.

See also

• caddie, Scottish for a messenger-boy, and particularly one who carries clubs at golf.
• Sea Cadets
• Royal Canadian Sea Cadets
• Royal Canadian Army Cadets
• Royal Canadian Air Cadets
• St. John Ambulance Brigade of Ireland Cadet divisions
• The Cadets Drum and Bugle Corps
• Medical Cadet Corps
• Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets

U.S. commissioned officer ranks
	Student Officer	O-1	O-2	O-3	O-4	O-5	O-6	O-7	O-8	O-9	O-10	Special (wartime only)	Special (post war honor only)
Army:	CDT/OC	2LT	1LT	CPT	MAJ	LTC	COL	BG	MG	LTG	GEN	GA	General of the Armies
Marine Corps:	Midn	2ndLt	1stLt	Capt	Maj	LtCol	Col	BGen	MajGen	LtGen	Gen	(no equivalent)	(no equivalent)
Navy:	MIDN/OC	ENS	LTJG	LT	LCDR	CDR	CAPT	RDML	RADM	VADM	ADM	FADM	Admiral of the Navy
Air Force:	Cadet (CDT)/OT	2nd Lt	1st Lt	Capt	Maj	Lt Col	Col	Brig Gen	Maj Gen	Lt Gen	Gen	Gen of the Air Force	(no equivalent)
Coast Guard:	CDT	ENS	LTJG	LT	LCDR	CDR	CAPT	RDML	RADM	VADM	ADM	(no equivalent)	(no equivalent)
PHSCC:	(no equivalent)	ENS	LTJG	LT	LCDR	CDR	CAPT	RDML	RADM	VADM	ADM	(no equivalent)	(no equivalent)
NOAA Corps:	(no equivalent)	ENS	LTJG	LT	LCDR	CDR	CAPT	RDML	RADM	VADM	(no equivalent)	(no equivalent)	(no equivalent)

Sources and external links

• http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=cadet&searchmode=none|EtymologyOnLine
• American Cadet Alliance
• Army Cadets
• United States Naval Sea Cadet Corps
• UK Sea Cadet Corps
• Canadian Cadet Movement
• Web Cadet Corps
• Australian Cadet Site
• Civil Air Patrol
• Swiss Cadets Association
• Swiss Verkehrskadetten Association