Teachers' Union speaks in favour of cadet forces

At its conference this July, teachers' union, Voice, carried a motion welcoming the establishment of cadet forces in maintained schools. 

Peter Morris, a former IT teacher, from Wales, said: "Cadet forces will inculcate some of the values which we, as a society are missing: self discipline, self reliance, loyalty to one's comrades, to one unit and to one's country, courage, respect and integrity".

Seconding the motion, Wendy Blyth, a primary teacher from Devon, said employers would appreciate the life skills cadets would learn.  She said: "Being able to take responsibility, to accept responsibility, to work within a disciplined environment, to lead others and to show initiative. These skills are every bit as important as the qualifications that our young students leave school with". 

This growing recognition of the social value of the cadet forces is most welcome and follows a report published in May this by Quentin Davies MP on national recognition of our Armed Forces recommending an expansion of the cadet forces.  The report stated: "The social value of our cadet forces, both the community-based cadet forces (the Sea Cadets, the Army Cadet Force and the Air Training Corps) and the school-based Combined Cadet Forces (CCFs), which give children experience of team effort, purposeful endeavour and meeting physical challenges, goes far beyond their military training value.  We believe, therefore, that there needs to be a cross-Government consensus to ensure that as many children as possible can benefit from these opportunities".

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