Instructor Ranks

For any organisation, efficiency and effectiveness are key to a successful operation - and it's no different for the Army Cadet Force. Find out how we organise ourselves and discover where you could fit in.

Each rank in the ACF has specific duties and responsibilities, and adult volunteers fall into two categories: Adult Instructors, who directly instructand train the cadets; and ACF Officers, who have a more managerial and organisational role and also hold a special Territorial Army commission. No one in the ACF is liable for military call up. Whatever your rank or role, the goal remains the same: to help cadets develop mentally and physically and support them as they try to achieve their goals. Progress through the ranks will depend on how much time you want to devote to the ACF, but it's important to remember that there's no compulsion to seek or gain promotion. Being a volunteer in the ACF has to fit in with your professional and personal life and, beyond the minimum time commitment, there is no obligation.

• Adult Instructor Ranks

  1. Potential Instructors
  Typically you would be placed as a Potential Instructor with an experienced Adult Instructor in a detachment in your local area. The average detachment has about 30 cadets.
  2. Sergeant Instructors
  At this stage you will have a fair understanding of the ACF and will have attended the initial training course - held in your home area and run by a Cadet Training Team.
  You will start to be given responsibilities while still being supervised working with the cadets within the detachment.
  3. Staff Sergeant Instructor
  This rank is reached after acquiring considerable experience of cadets in a detachment, and you will have passed the Adult Instructors' course held at the Cadet Training Centre at Frimley Park in Surrey. As a Staff Sergeant Instructor you will have a greater amount of responsibility at the detachment and play a central part in decision-making when it comes to planning and deciding on the programme of activities for the cadets.
  4. Sergeant Major Instructor
  Further service and training is required to reach this rank and a typical appointment will be as a Company Sergeant Major. This would carry responsibilities for a small number of detachments across a wider area.
  5. Regimental Sergeant Major
  The highest non-commissioned rank is reached after you have demonstrated your leadership and management abilities over a sustained period of service. You will have acquired considerable experience of all aspects of the ACF's activities and know the organisation and how it works inside out. The ACF also uses Civilian Assistants who are either general helpers or specialist instructors.

• Commissioned Officer Ranks

  1. Second Lieutenant
  A typical first position for a Second Lieutenant is Detachment Commander.
  2. Lieutenant
  You will have passed your Instructors' course and be capable of taking charge of a range of activities.
  3. Captain
  You can now fulfil the role of Senior Detachment Commander or take up a county- or Battalion-wide position such as Training Officer, where you would schedule and organise a range of activities.
  4. Major
  Such a position would probably see you commanding a Company, which would typically comprise a number of detachments in a given area. Majors report directly to the ACF County Commandant.
  5. Lieutenant Colonel/Colonel
  You would hold a position such as Deputy Commandant or Commandant of a County ACF and be responsible for the management of the county as a whole. This rank
  also involves close liaison with the various communities within the ACF, including the Army and MoD who are sponsors of the ACF, as well as local schools and other
  associations.