Sea Cadets welcoming new registrations beginning this week
The Sea Cadet and Navy League programs started back up for the season on Sept. 9 with an open house night at D.V. Currie VC Armoury, to give potential cadets a taste of what the program has to offer. Cadets meet for parade every Monday at 6:30 p.m. and their first meeting of the year was open to the public to experience what exactly happens at a cadet meeting. The Sea Cadets program teaches kids about the naval environment, with tasks specializing in seamanship, naval communications, and marine engineering. Cadets take part in activities both on and off the water, as well as regular ceremonial events and events in the community. Things like scuba diving, sailing, and marksmanship are all hands-on experiences that are fairly regular during a year in the cadets. While the regular program runs alongside the schoolyear, cadets also have a chance to head to one of the annual Summer Training Camps or be a part of international exchanges — which include training deployments to sail aboard a tall ship.
Being a cadet can even make available a number of awards through the corps, including scholarships and bursaries. The program is considered a civilian program, which means that while many of the procedures and qualities the cadets are taught can be utilized in the military, no cadet is obligated to enlist just by being in the program.
“I have seen the youth of today go from shy teens to a young adult that comes out of that shell and flourishes,” said Bruce Boczkowski, Acting Sub Lieutenant in the local Sea Cadets corps. “Cadets, be it Sea, Army or Air, are a big family across Canada.”
The Sea Cadets program is for ages 12 to 18 and has no registration fee — cadets simply have to participate in fundraising events throughout the year. The Navy League is for ages 9 to 12, and does have a small fee to register. Although the open house was a good chance to get started with the cadets, there is no deadline for registration. Cadets can join anytime throughout the year by contacting the local Sea Cadets branch — #99 Royal Canadian Sea Cadet Corps Assiniboine on Facebook or by emailing 99sea@cadets.gc.ca — to get started on filling out a registration form.
Moose Jaw also has an Air Cadets branch, who meet for parade on Tuesday evenings at the D.V. Currie VC Armoury. Registration for the #40 Snowbird Royal Canadian Air Cadet Squadron began on Sept. 3.