Been reading this thread for a while and feel the need to contribute my 2 cents.
1. Cadet rank means something to other cadets, and means nothing to anyone else. As a corporal, I‘ve been tasked to instruct cadet Sgts, up to CWOs and it means nothing.
2. CIC rank means something to cadets and other CICs, and is just another commision to everyone else. Most CIC captains I wouldn‘t even trust with writing a memorandum, let alone leading real troops that aren‘t children. The time it took for me to complete basic would be about the equivalent time in training to become a CIC LCol. Yes, I have to salute them because technically they do hold the Queen‘s Commission, but they are in no way allowed to give me orders, or do they have any clout outside of the cadet world.
3. Rank, medals, and badges are earned, period! Last summer, I worked with a PRes private who had FAILED a cadet jump course, but was walking around wearing an "Airborne" t-shirt, and talking about how he was a paratrooper, when he had failed before even exiting an aircraft. Now I‘m not even Para qualified, but I still laid into the kid. He didn‘t earn the right to wear it, and if I ran into some kid wearing wings he hadn‘t earned, or ANYTHING he hadn‘t earned, I‘d have him remove them publicly, and write a letter of apology to the cadet corps, and the jump school who he insulted by his actions.
4. I worked at an air cadet camp MIR all last summer. Trust me that I win for horror stories! I was occasionally tasked with "piercing removal" not to mention doling out chits for regimental showers, pregnancy tests, post-abortion counselling, STD screening, and some of the most horrible stuff you can imagine! Don‘t play this game with a medic, we‘ll always win!
5. If you were a CIC or cadet and join the PRes or Reg Force, your rank and training do not transfer over. The only exception to this being the basic para course.
Yes, I have encountered several cadets who are pretty switched on, and have their sh|t wired pretty tight, and they‘re usually the gold star cadets, the ones going on exchanges, doing flight school, basic para and so on. The rest are just kids. Yeah, they‘re obsessed with video games, sex, and their own amusement... THEY‘RE KIDS! We‘d all like to expect more from them, but it‘s the super switched on ones that make the whole program worthwhile.