page_title: American Cadet Alliance
section_title: Cadet membership
hierarchical_section_title: American Cadet Alliance / Cadet membership
caption_attribution_description: English: Members of the American Cadet Alliance, who come from all over the United States, spent three weeks in July conducting their annual training at Camp Atterbury.
context_page_description: The American Cadet Alliance, formerly the United States Army Cadet Corps was founded under the name "Colonel Cody's Boy Scouts" by Captain James H. C. Smyth at the First Presbyterian Church, Manhattan, New York in 1909. The ACA holds the distinction of being the oldest nationwide Cadet program in the United States. It is the National Cadet Program branch of the American Military Cadet Corps, its parent organization. ACA and American Military Cadet Corps is an Independent National Cadet Program and therefore is not a governmental agency, and is not an official entity of the United States Army.
  The ACA is a 501 non-profit youth education organization.
context_section_description: Cadets are members between the ages of 12 and 20 (although 11-year-olds can be accepted after 5th grade). They must be enrolled in school and receiving passing grades, be drug and crime-free, and be of weight proportional to his/her height. The applicant can not be overly obese. The prospective Cadet should be able to do basic exercises like push-ups and sit-ups and be able to run. The applicant must be able to pass a "sports-type" physical exam by a doctor and can not have any communicable diseases, chronic health problems, or severe allergies. Once a Cadet turns 18, they can choose to stay in the program as a cadet or become a junior cadre member. If they stay as a cadet, they can stay in the program only until they turn 21.
  One of the features of the Cadet application process for the ACA is that the Cadet must volunteer and sign for himself or herself. The parents still must sign the appropriate permission forms, but overall the Cadet applicant cannot be forced to sign up.  The ACA is not a delinquency program and the organization has strict policies regarding this issue.
  The Cadet rank system in the ACA is the same as in the U.S. military enlisted system. Just like the US Naval Sea Cadets, the Young Marines, the Royal Canadian Cadets, and the British Cadet Programs, Cadet ranks only encompass enlisted ranks and no officer ranks. Cadets enter at grade Cadet C-1 and work their way up to Cadet Sergeant Major (Army/ Marine Military Cadets) or Cadet Master Chief (Navy Military Cadets) C-9. However, cadets who continue in the program when they enter college can become an Officer Cadet until they turn 21, at which time they become an Officer Candidate. The title of each grade is based on the branch they are enrolled in, but all ACA Cadets begin their time in the program as "recruits". The new ACA Cadets remain recruits until their first summer camp, where they are given the chance to earn the title "Cadet". They can promote to C-2 before that first summer camp, but that promotion is provisional. Once at summer camp, a provisional E-2 will remove his rank and again become a C-1 recruit. Only after graduating from their first summer camp can a Cadet be actually called "Cadet" and be permanently promoted above the rank of C-1. They also hold company positions such as company first sergeant, platoon sergeant, or squad leader. The most senior ranking cadet is a Command Cadet, who serves as the Senior Cadet Advisor to the National Staff with the rank of Cadet Command Sergeant Major (Army Military Cadets), Cadet Sergeant Major (Marine Military Cadets) or Cadet Command Master Chief (Navy Military Cadets).
caption: Members of the American Cadet Alliance, who come from all over the United States, spend three weeks in July conducting their annual training at Camp Atterbury.
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