"Mr Osborne said the government will pledge £50 million to create cadet forces in 500 state schools and said these would be prioritised in "less affluent areas".
"The Chancellor of the Exchequer said: "We are committing £50 million to expand the number of cadet units in our state schools to 500, prioritising less affluent areas."
"Currently there are about 275 cadet units in the UK. Of these, only a third are in state schools."
"According to the Ministry of Defence (MoD), as of April 1 last year there were approximately 131,000 cadets in the UK. The number is almost evenly divided between the Combined Cadet Force (42,950), a scheme run through schools, and the Army Cadet Force (41,000)."
"The Department for Education confirmed that a request for the extra funding had been made by the MoD. The MoD has faced criticism recently after Schools Week revealed it had put in a request to access sensitive pupil data in the National Pupil Database. It wanted to "target its messaging" around military careers..."
"The Combined Cadet Force says on its website: "The CEP is part of the Government’s aim of promoting military ethos in schools; to instil values in young people that will help them get the most out of their lives, and to contribute to their communities and country."
http://schoolsweek.co.uk/cadet-units-in-state-schools-to-increase-five-fold-with-50-million-budget-boost/
Meanwhile the regular army is being cut:
"Regular Army soldiers are already being reduced from 102,000 to 82,000 and a new defence review under the next government could see numbers cut again by around 40 per cent... "
"It would mean the smallest Army since the 1770s, when Britain lost the American colonies."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/defence/11449136/British-Army-could-be-cut-to-just-50000-over-next-four-years-report-warns.html
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