Frequently Asked Questions
The American Cadet Alliance (ACA) is a youth-development program patterned closely after the United States Navy, Marine Corps and Army. Formed in 1909, ACA is the longest-serving Cadet program in the United States. The program is managed and operated by non-paid professional officers who are assigned to either the Naval Cadet, Marine Cadet or Army Cadet Brigade.
Army Cadet Brigade: Army Cadet units operate to provide an introduction to the history, principles and traditions of the United States Army. Army Cadets and United States Army Cadet Corps (USACC) officers wear the uniforms of the United States Army. The Army Cadet curriculum closely parallels that of the Army Junior ROTC, augmented by exciting and challenging hands-on activities.
Naval Cadet Brigade: Formed in 1909, the Naval
Cadet Brigade is the oldest element of the American Cadet Alliance. Naval Cadet units
operate to provide an introduction to the history, principles and traditions of the United States
Navy and Coast Guard. Naval Cadets and United States Naval Cadet Corps (USNCC) officers wear the uniforms of the United States Navy.
Training primarily focuses on seamanship, aviation and naval construction.
The Naval Cadet curriculum closely parallels that of the Navy Junior ROTC, augmented by exciting and challenging hands-on activities.
Marine Cadet Brigade:
The Marine Cadet Brigade is the largest element of
the American Cadet Alliance. Marine Cadet units operate to provide an introduction to the history, principles and traditions of the United States
Marine Corps. The Marine Cadet curriculum closely parallels that of the Marine Corps Junior ROTC, augmented by exciting and challenging hands-on
activities.
To be eligible to be a member of either the Naval Cadets, Marine Cadets or Army Cadets, you must:
To be eligible to be an officer of either the Naval Cadets, Marine Cadets or Army Cadets, you must:
No. The ACA is an independent Nationally Organized Youth Group (NOYG), closely patterned after the United States Navy, Marine Corps and Army, but not controlled or funded by the United States government. ACA has been designated by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) as a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.
The Department of Defenses has published directives and instructions that direct the Armed Forces to support, to the extent as may be possible, Nationally Organized Youth Groups. Each branch of the Armed Forces and the Coast Guard are guided by these policies, and in turn, each has issued regulations which provide local Commanders with guidance and the necessary authority to provide such support. This support varies form service-to-service, and may include: shipboard cruises, orientation flights, training aids and manuals, permissive no-cost orders for active military personnel participating in cadet activities, and in most cases, facility utilization for training. This guidance and authority is published in the following:
Yes, ACA has long offered both recruit and advanced training to its Cadets.
All recruits, regardless of the brigade they are assigned to, attend the same recruit training orientation. Advanced training
is offered in seamanship and small boat handling; marksmanship and competitive marksmanship; physical fitness, orienteering skills
and adventure
training; and leadership and troop handling.
ACA is a relatively small organization in comparison to other similar cadet programs. We have approximately 30 units throughout the United States, mostly in the northeast, Michigan and California. Naval Cadet units are found primarily in coastal communities with access to a body of water. To receive the name and phone number of the point of contact for your closest unit, please leave an email for ACA National Headquarters.
Cadets and officers who are not located near an established unit are eligible to affiliate with ACA's Individual Training Company (ITC), an element of ACA National Headquarters. As a member of the ITC, cadets and officers are entitled to the following privileges:
Enrollment in the Corps of Cadets in either the Army, Naval, or Marine Cadet Brigade.
Issuance of an ACA Identification card entitling the member to participate in ACA activities.
Enrollment in extension courses which permit the member to learn from the ACA curriculum without actively attending weekly or monthly drills. (Members of the ITC MUST attend the Corps' Recruit Training (RT) and Advanced Training (AT) summer programs in order to augment the ACA curriculum and remain a member of the ITC).
Upon completion of recruit training, ITC members receive, and are eligible to wear, the dress uniform appropriate to their brigade. They are then eligible to participate in further advanced training.
Receive the Corps' quarterly e-mail newsletter, The Anchor, to keep advised of ACA activities.