So how many of us on here are ex cadets? I was a cadet for 7 years with the 1st Ulster Marine Cadets (TS Formidable), then an instructor with them for 6 months before moving to England where I was an instructor with 3 Coy (Para) Licolnshire ACF for a bit over a year. I then returned to Belfast and was an instructor with the ACF here, badged with the Royal Irish Rangers.
Sadly due to shift patterns in work and my duff knee (on crutches again at the minute - my daughter jumped on my bad knee while I was in bed, strained ligaments
) I've had to give it up these days. Always struck me as very odd to see cadets out and about in uniform on the mainland. Due to the security situation over here we
never travelled in uniform, and indeed tended to be very careful who we spoke to about the cadets - I think I'd been in four years before many people knew about it in school, and then they only found out because another lad in our class joined. I had a lot of great times and can't recommend it highly enough
As far as the parent services supporting the organisations, that is true for the ACF and ATC (not sure about the CCF), but the Sea Cadet Corps, of which the Marine Cadets are a part, are a registered charity, or certainly where when I was involved. For some reason the RN don't see the benefit of the SCC as a recruitment tool.....