The United States Naval Sea Cadet Corps (Sea Cadets) is the Navy’s youth development program.
We give young Americans skills, knowledge, and confidence through an amazing variety of training opportunities. Sea Cadets wear uniforms, work as teams in a disciplined environment, and adhere to our core values of honor, respect, commitment, and service.
The mission of the Sea Cadets is to build leaders of character.
Our culture stresses self discipline, service to others, accountability, and patriotism. At young ages, our cadets are given leadership opportunities by staffing summer training events, planning unit drill sessions, and teaching others.
While our cadets gain an appreciation for the sea services and military life, there is no requirement to join the military. Many former cadets enlist, and dozens attend service academies or ROTC. Cadets who complete our “recruit training” are well prepared for the rigors of boot camp or officer indoctrination.
Who Can Join?
All prospective cadets must be U.S. citizens or permanent legal residents, and meet our minimum age and grade requirement (10-years-old and 5th grade through the completion of high school). We have approximately 400 units across the United States, and in Guam and Puerto Rico.
