You may have noticed some of our young community members, dressed in uniform, out and about manning Poppy stations ahead of Remembrance Day.
Those youth are Cadets, and we spoke with Lieutenant Bob Rogers, Commanding Officer of the 2853 Royal Canadian Army Cadet Corps about the program and what it is all about.
These 12–18-year-olds meet on Wednesday evenings from 6:30 until 8:45 at the Simcoe Armoury on Grigg Drive, with some of their exercises and activities taking place outside of that time frame, usually on weekends.
Rogers notes that it is hard to pin down a “type” of kid who would enjoy Cadets. He also spoke to the fact that many young people look for structure and that Cadets provides that, but he also noted that it is not a discipline heavy program, nor is it a recruiting program.
And when it comes to who joins, Rogers reflects on the fact that it is a program for everyone, with both young men and young women thriving in the program.
It is also an affordable extracurricular as it is free to join, right down to food being provided on any trips or exercises. Even the uniforms are provided free of charge.
While being a cadet is free, the skills they learn are priceless, with the goal of the program being to build community leaders.
There are no fitness requirements to join Cadets, but some of the activities such as parachuting do have fairly arduous requirements, but that those who do pass the requirements can obtain their wings.
You can also earn your pilots’ wings through Cadets; in fact, one of their Officers is a pilot with Air Canada.
Lieutenant Bob Rogers has some parting words for parents and youth interested in potentially joining Cadets.
They invite you to join them on a Wednesday evening at the Simcoe Armoury to check it out.
We also spoke with Master Warrant Adam Ivanski and when we asked him what he likes most about Cadets he had a hard time narrowing it down to just one thing.
Through the program he has learned valuable skills which have served him well outside of Cadets as well.
If Ivanski were to talk to other young people about why they should join, he has no shortage of reasons.
Written by Robynn Beazley
To hear the full interview with Lieutenant Bob Rogers:
To hear the full interview with Master Warrant Adam Ivanski: