Do cadets in ROTC or Active Duty, Reserves, or Guard outrank all cadets?

[a2capt]

Heh, nope. Not at all.

But the conversation.. from the ELT owners, "and the Air Force showed up!!" ;-)

I'm sure you took care of all the details. Just sounds really good..

[flyboy53]

Don't let it interfere with the way your squadron is working and this is why. JROTC cadets are on the same level as a CAP Cadet. If a JROTC officer, your cadets need to respect that, et al.

ROTC and Academy cadets are a little different. If the ROTC Cadet isn't under a contract, he's no different than your CAP Cadets. If an ROTC Cadet is under a contract, he has an enlisted rank that will vary by the years he or she has completed in the program. They begin as E-1s.  Somewhere in the process they will progress through E-5 before commissioning. I have known two Air Force Academy cadets that dropped out of the program and then are given the opportunity to enlist. In one case, the guy came in as an airman first class or E-3. In the other, he came in as a E-4 (then sergeant).

The bottom line is that they are enlisted people. They don't out rank everyone. Cadets need to respect cadet officers, but there's no protocol that makes them better or gives them greater status than a CAP Cadet or senior member officer.

Make them show you their ID Card or contract.

I would, however, strongly encourage that individual to transition to senior member status.

A ROTC or Academy Cadet is a CADET! The ROTC and Academy personnel are "Officer Candidates", until commissioned or dropping out of the program(s) The fact that some of their training may equate to completion of Recruit Training and allow them to enlist as an E-4 or E-3, (rather than pay back their scholorships as required in the contract)  does not make them enlisted.

Somewhere, I have my DOD paperwork from when I resigned my AF Academy appointment. (Someone has to be in the 500 that drop the first summer). My grade was C4C Cadet Fourth Class. Not an E to be seen anywhere.

I've had the experience of a cadet showing up in US Public Health Service (PHS) BDUs w/ 2Lt bars. (PHS commission can be at 18).
As others have said "Cadet, wear your CAP uniform to CAP."

"The members of the Commissioned Corps number over 6,000 officers in numerous professional categories, including physicians, dentists, pharmacists, dietitians, engineers, scientists, environmental health officers, therapists (including physical, occupational, speech, audiology), health services (including social workers, physician assistants, optometrists, statisticians, computer scientists, dental hygienists, medical records administrators, medical technologists and others), veterinarians, and nurses. Chiropractors are not presently included but their nclusion is under discussion."

From wikipedia

How can an organization made up of masters or Ph.D level medical professors comission someone at 18?

It is because there are actually eight uniformed services in our Country. You know the big five: Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines and Coast Guard. Then there are three more: the U.S. Public Health Service, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) {what used to be called the U.S. Geodetic Survey} and the U.S. Merchant Marine. NOAA is the smallest uniform corps (there're less than 300) and U.S. Public Health Service next.

I don't know about the minimum age of 18, however, the USPHS requires you to be under the age of 44 to be commissioned. NOAA requires you to be able to complete 20 years of satisfactory service before you turn 62.

When I was stationed at Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, back in the late 1970s, there were a lot of USPHS and NOAA officers that transitioned through that base on various assignments....I even got to see a NOAA P-3 Orion once...that was interesting, too, because the aircraft had an anti-sub boom on the back.

[shorning]

[redacted]

[tsrup]

USGS isn't NOAA...

Note he said "US Geodetic Survey", not "US Geological Survey", which is in fact part of NOAA.

[Krapenhoeffer]

Yeah, the USPHS guy should be seniorized.

As for a cadet here who is going AFROTC next year, I've already decided to go senior just to avoid the hassle.

[Eclipse]

It is because there are actually eight uniformed services in our Country. You know the big five: Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines and Coast Guard. Then there are three more: the U.S. Public Health Service, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) {what used to be called the U.S. Geodetic Survey} and the U.S. Merchant Marine. NOAA is the smallest uniform corps (there're less than 300) and U.S. Public Health Service next.

There are seven uniformed services.

The Merchant Marine is operated by the government but is considered an auxiliary of the US Navy and is not a uniformed service except in times of war.  I don't believe they are currently actived in that sense, despite the current "activity" in the Middle East.