Officer Cadet
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Officer Cadet is a rank held by military cadets during their training to become commissioned officers. The term Officer Trainee is used interchangably in some countries. Some countries refer to naval officer cadets as midshipmen.
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United States usage
Military cadets are typically students at a military academy, students at a private military academy, or members of a youth group associated with the military who are receiving preliminary training with the intention of joining the military, sometimes at a younger age than they would be able to do otherwise.
The United States Army and Air Force use the term Cadet for officer candidates in the Reserve Officer Training Corps and for students at the military academies. An officer candidate may also be referred to as an Officer Trainee (OT).
Air Force cadets and OTs both have the Air Force Specialty Code (AFSC) 91T00.
Officer Cadets are generally paid below the standard pay rates for junior officers but receive some of the rights and responsibilities of a junior officer during their training. Officer Cadets are nominally in the chain of command and have, in certain battles, been the surviving officer in a unit and thus in command.
Cadets in the military academies and ROTC program hold training ranks equivalent to enlisted soldiers during their first two years of training and officer-equivalent ranks during their junior and senior years. Beginning in their junior year, they are expected to render and receive salutes as officers.
Cadet officer ranks are denoted by "pips" - one to three circular insignia denoting the company-grade equivalents, one to three diamond-shaped insignia denoting the field-grade equivalents.
The United States Navy maintains two navy officer cadet ranks, those of Midshipman (also used by the Marine Corps) and Officer Candidate.
United Kingdom usage
Officer Cadets hold the rank throughout their training at British military academies, in the Officers Training Corps and University Air Squadrons, and for the first year of training in University Royal Naval Units (after which, they take the rank "Midshipman"). The abbreviation for Officer Cadet is OCdt.
Officer Cadets in the British Armed Forces are treated in most respects as commissioned officers, except that Army and RAF Officer Cadets are not saluted.
Officer Cadet (RAF)
Ocdt.gif
An Officer Cadet's shoulder insignia
Royal Air Force Officer Cadets wear the same insignia as a Pilot Officer, except that on shoulder boards, the thin blue-and-black braid is placed on a broad white stripe. On the Service Dress uniform, the Pilot Officer braid is worn with no white background, but square white tabs are worn on both lapels. The only other disctinctive identifier is on the flight cap, where a white flash is added. The cap badge is the same as that worn by a commissioned Officer (between the ranks of Pilot Officer and Group Captain).
Canadian usage
British usage also holds true in the Canadian Forces for cadets attending the Royal Military College of Canada or for any beginning Reserve Officer. In the Canadian Forces Maritime Command, Naval Cadet is used in lieu of Officer Cadet.