FRESH START
The Cadet organisation is only going 'downhill' under the auspices of RAF control.
The time has come to break away from this increasingly unnecessary overcomplicated situation that seems to be unable to make decisions or keep to a plan.
The whole organisation is chocked to death with just running itself, and has lost sight of the reason it exists.
A Cadet organisation would be better off being run as an independent charity, and those who wish to assist could do so without the requirement of Cranwell or 2FTS, neither of which have added to the CADET EXPERIENCE, and in fact have only caused its slow death by 1000 cuts.
You need look no further than the shrinking Cadet numbers despite the lower age limit, and inability to attract adult staff.
The organisation has been used as an employment plan for many yet the actual CADET EXPERIENCE has been reduced despite large amounts of money getting soaked up by THE SYSTEM. Compare the joke that is 2FTS with the former Gliding Centres. Nothing will change unless the people change, and I do not think that this is likely as they do not accept that anything is wrong. Any organisation needs quality leadership at all levels. The Squadrons and 'Schools' had it from a volunteer force operating at the coal face; the system is seriously flawed from above that level and in particular at the higher levels.
Just read the comments on the Air Cadet forum, it is full of input from those who care but are not being listened to at the top. The appalling way the long term staff at the VGS were treated should have been enough to show anybody how things were going, and these were the people who had been actually training Cadets to a required standard for decades with a great safety record. The current staff running the higher levels of the ACO have not shown an ability to deliver an experience deserving the title Venture Adventure with the addition of AIR in the equation. This is not going to change under the present 'occupation' therefore a Cadet body would be better served under a different regime and stewardship.