Description

Description: Squadron Patch – Royal Australian Air Force  Air Training Corps (AIRTC) – different coloured variation.

Condition: Very Good

Comments: Squadron Patch – Royal Australian Air Force  Air Training Corps (AIRTC).

The Australian Air Force Cadets (AAFC), known as the Air Training Corps (AIRTC) until 2001, is a Federal Government funded youth organisation. The parent force of the AAFC is the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF).
In February 1941, the War Cabinet approved the formation of a cadet corps (known as the Air Training Corps or ATC) as part of the RAAF Reserve.
Mr W.A. Robertson was appointed Director with the rank of Group Captain. The original staff of the Directorate of the ATC started duty on 11 June and the six ATC Wings came into being from 12 August. All Wings were formed in the States by 1 October. Although staffed by a small nucleus of RAAF personnel, most of ATC’s instructors were unpaid volunteers, many of whom had been pilots in WWI.
By 31 October 1943, 12,000 cadets were training. Although this number declined to 7,557 when the Pacific War ended in August 1945, by then just under 12,000 former members had gone on to enlist in the wartime RAAF.
The Corps had two objectives. The primary short-term aim was to train young men between 16 and 18 to join the wartime RAAF. The second, long-term objective (to come into force after the 1939-1945 War), was to encourage young men to increase their knowledge of air matters and in particular the RAAF, instil a sense of discipline, and provide elementary training in air-related technical matters. This objective indicates recognition of a continuing post-war role for the Corps.
In 2005 AIRTC was renamed the Australian Air Force Cadets (AAFC). Green staining to patch.