The Commandant Air Cadets is a regular Royal Air Force officer, Air Commodore Keeling.
Eastbourne Squadron is a member of London & South East Region (LaSER) and each region is led by an RAF Reserve officer. Our regional commandant is Group Captain A Lewis
Each Air Training Corps Wing is commanded by a Royal Air Force Air Cadets Officer, an in our case the Officer Commanding Sussex Wing is Wing Commander Helene Gould.
The rank of Squadron Leader is held by Wing Staff Officers such as OC Training and Development Unit and the various Sector Commanders within Sussex Wing. The Deputy Commanding Officer of the Wing holds the rank of Squadron Leader. The sector commander for East Sector is Squadron Leader Bob Gould.
The volunteer staff at squadron level comes in 3 types: commissioned officers, senior NCOs, civilian instructors (CIs) and Padre.
RAFAC Commissioned Officers
Officers within the Royal Air Force Air Cadets are appointed within the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (Training Branch), hold the Queen’s Commission, and are subject to the Air Force Law.
Officers within the RAFAC follow the same rank structure as regular RAF officers. Officers within the RAFAC can be readily identified by the words “RAF AIR CADETS” embroidered into their rank slides below the rank braid.
The squadron’s Commanding Officer or CO is a Flight Lieutenant.
ATC Senior Non Commissioned Officers
ATC SNCOs undertake the role of maintaining a high level of discipline within the squadron, and managing the squadron’s cadet NCO team (the front-line of squadron discipline).
SNCOs with the Air Training Corps can be readily identified by the words “RAF AIR CADETS” embroided onto their rank slides below their rank identifier.
Civilian Instructors
Civilian Instructors (CI) are adult volunteers who are civilian non-uniformed members of the Royal Air Force Air Cadets adult staff structure who volunteer their services for a variety of training roles within the squadron environment.
They bring to the squadron a vast range of knowledge and experience that they pass onto cadets as part of their training.