Parents and Legal Guardians

As a Parent or Guardian you probably have many questions about the program. We hope most of them can be answered here.

The Mission of the American Cadets Alliance is a simple and strait forward one. It is "To instill in young Americans, through a multi- faceted cadet program which is physically and mentally challenging and rewarding, the importance of national pride, service to others and maintaining a drug- free and gang- free lifestyle." As staff we are here to help your children develop thorough the Military sciences. To do this we give them strict discipline and guidelines and challenge them both physically and mentally. One key thing to understand is that this program is for good kids; its not a program for juveniles who need to be straitened out.

This unit is run by “Non-paid Professionals”…that means volunteers.  For this unit to be successful, we must have the dedicated support of all parents.  If you have a military background, or even if you don’t have a military background but have a desire to provide leadership in the program, please let us know.  While we encourage parents to apply for an appointment as instructor or uniformed officer, there are many opportunities available to help the unit.  Everyone has strengths that can be used to advance the unit, be it phone committees, fund raising, planning trips, special skills they can teach the Cadets, transportation, etc.  Please let us know what area you would like to help with.  This does not mean that you will be working with the Cadets on military issues.  These are the “behind the scenes” things that must be done.  We must have at least two adults available at each drill to help supervise mess detail (meals), provide extra adult supervision, and other duties that are necessary to the smooth operation of the drill.  You need to be prepared to sign-up to attend a drill from beginning to end, meaning 7pm Friday until 4 pm Sunday.   With each family participating, the adult requirements for drill attendance come around approximately once a quarter.  This reduces the undue stress of a small amount of parents providing all the work in the Unit.

Requirements to be a Cadet:
 

• Applicants must be a U.S. Citizen.
• Applicants can not be forced to join against their will.
• Applicants must be a minimum of 12 yrs of age or enrolled in the sixth grade; which ever is younger. Applicants who are older then 17 will not be enrolled unless they can still attend Recruit Training during the summer (Typically in July).
• The applicants weight must be proportional to his/her height. The applicant can not be overly obese.
• The applicant should be able to do basic exercises like push-ups, sit-ups etc., and be able to run.
• Your child must be able to pass a "Sports type" Physical Exam by a Doctor and can not have any communicable diseases, not suffering from symptomatic or recurrent complaints of orthopedic or cardiovascular nature, not allergic or hypersensitive to foods, medications and/or insect bites/stings, not have a history of asthma, diabetes, epilepsy, seizures, convulsions, head injuries requiring hospitalization, periods of loss of consciousness, chronic motion sickness, sleep walking or bed wetting.
• The Applicant must be enrolled in a formal course of secondary education, or a state-approved home-school curriculum and currently maintaining a "C" average or higher.
• The applicant may not have a police record and/or a felony conviction.

What your child will become:
We are not here to train your Son's and Daughter's for Combat on a distant battlefield. We are here to teach them the meaning of teamwork. To show them what discipline in there lives can do for them, bring out the Pride hiding with-in and give them the self-confidence they need to meet the challenges of life. We are here to reinforce and bring out what every American has in them, so that they may become great Americans and our future leaders. While this training can earn them advancement in rank if they enlist in the Military after high school, we do not push that on them, and in fact encourage them to pursue an advanced education in collage. We know as you do that an education is the key to a prosperous future and we promote that with them. If a cadet decides to enlist in the Military we will help them however we can. Some of our cadets have gone into the military and graduated at the top of their class.

What we need form you:
What we need from you is to take an interest in the program and to help out with our fundraising events. These are very important to the unit and help reduce your cost associated with the program. We also need your help with getting your cadets to where ever they need to be on time when scheduled. Our parents are a big part of this unit and it is your help that makes this unit a success.

How you can help us:
You can help us by learning as much about the program as you can and helping to reinforce what we teach the Cadets at home. By us working together we will both be very proud of our Cadets.

Cost to become a cadet:
Becoming a cadet and having a full sea bag is expensive. This is not a cheap program but the Unit tries to provide cadets and parents opportunities to obtain the necessary uniform items and gear at a reduce price whenever we can. We also do fundraising events to help pay for some of the cost associated with being a cadet. The more you help out and participate in the fundraising the less you have to pay out of your pocket.

• Enrolment Fee: The Initial Enrolment fee is $140.00, which covers the first year's enrollment, administration cost, and some basic uniform items. Here is a detailed list of everything that the One Hundred Forty dollars covers:
  One years Enrollment; One year of Insurance cost; 2 Shoulder Patches; 3 Marine Cadet tapes for the utility uniform; 1 set Camouflage Utility's; 1 Camouflage Utility Cover; 1 ACA PT Shirts; 1 ACA PT Shorts; 1 sets of Rank when earned, First set of Ribbons when earned; and Admin Costs.
  The enrollment must be renewed each year at a cost of $85 per year after the initial enrollment. The re-enrollment fee is due the month before the Cadet's Enlistment is up, to ensure that the cadet can keep on drilling with out interruptions. The re-enrollment fee consists of:
  One year's enrollment; One year of Insurance cost; 1 set of Rank as earned over the course of the year; First set of any ribbons earned during the year; and admin costs.
  
   
• Drill Fee: There is a $40.00 drill fee for each Weekend drill, to pay for housing and food. The drill fee is due two weeks before each drill and must be sent to the Unit's P.O. Box. Any drill fee arriving with-in a week of drill is subject to a $5 late fee. Drill fees paid the day of drill will be an additional $10.
  
   
• Annual Training Fee: Cadets must attend two weeks of annual training every year in the summer. This once a year cost is about $300. Senior Cadets are required to go for an additional week of Leadership training prior to Annual Training with an additional cost of about $100 for that week above the $300 AT cost. These fees do not include any transportation costs if needed.
  
   
• Uniform and Gear Cost: Some Gear and most of the Uniform items are purchased by the Cadets. Most of the uniform items and gear can be bought through the list of discount suppliers listed under supply resources on the ACA website or it can be bought at an Army/Navy store in your area or on the web. Some items have to be bought from the Unit and/or ACA website because they are ACA unique items. You can look at the Sea Bag list for a complete listing of Uniform and Gear Items needed to have a full sea bag under Supply resources on this site.
  
   
• Special events and Trips: Each year we have a Summer Picnic, a Holliday Dinner, and we try to take the cadets on a Trip. The cost of these events vary, and are determined by the amount of money raised with our fundraisers efforts during the year.

Leaving the Program:

• Cadets are dis-enrolled at age 18 or the completion of High School, which ever comes later.
   
• Cadets can leave the program (DOR) at any time with consent from their Parents/Guardians. No refund of any fees or cost is given.
   
• A Cadet may be dis-enrolled from the program at anytime for disciplinary reasons by the Commanding Officer of the Unit or Annual Training. No refund of any fees or cost is given.
   
• A Cadet may be dis-enrolled from the program for lack of participation by the Unit Commanding Officer. A cadet is automatically dis-enrolled after three consecutive un-excused absences from drill. No refund of any fees or cost is given. If the cadet decides that they would like to come back to the unit after leaving or being dis-enrollment for lack of participation, they are required to pay or re-pay the re-enrollment fee.
   
• Cadets have the option of selling their uniforms and gear after they leave the program to other cadets or to the unit.