Our Estates Team progress on the RFCA Estate Optimisation Programme (REOP) means there are an increasing number of Joint Cadet Centres in our region.
In our quest for even closer cooperation and collaboration between the RFCA, the RAF Air Cadets and the Army Cadet Force, our teams met up to discuss the running of the Joint Cadet Centres.
A Joint Cadet Centre is a site shared by the Air Cadets and the Army Cadets. Funding from the Royal Air Force Air Cadets enables our Estates team to create modern, fit-for-purpose locations where each group has their own dedicated space, plus the use of the shared spaces on their respective training dates.
REOP is a major Defence investment which aims to optimise the “Volunteer Estate” (comprising the Army Reserve Centres and Cadet Centres owned and managed by the RFCA on behalf of the MOD) to be more efficient, and to change from a historic footprint to one that supports today’s demands.
Each Joint Cadet Centre benefits from the support of a Cadet Administrative Assistant (CAA). Our team of CAAs consists of 24 full-time RFCA employees responsible for administration matters and logistics of equipment and fleet within his/her allocated geographical area. They meet twice a year at our Cadet Training Centre in Waterbeach for training and development; and they were joined on this occasion by two of the Wing Executive Officers from the ATC.
The Wing Executive Officers for Essex Wing and Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire Wing ATC came to the meeting to discuss with the CAAs, Cadet Quartermasters and RFCA estates team how to further develop best practice around the running of our Joint Cadet Centres.
Chris Cox is the Wing Executive Officer for Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire Wing. He said: “This is a great opportunity for us to talk about what we should be doing for you, and what you are able to do for us.”
The RFCA is committed to the effectiveness of the REOP initiative, and we are bringing people together who all want to see best practice emerging at a local level as well as at a regional and national level. East Anglia RFCA’s Joint Cadet Committee is another mechanism for leaders of the uniformed cadet organisations to collaborate at a regional and county level. Our teams were delighted by the quality of the conversations, ideas and insights coming out of the meeting at Waterbeach to further develop best practice for running Joint Cadet Centres.
