Existing law creates the California Cadet Corps (CACC), a paramilitary youth organization open to students in elementary school through college. CACC unites are governed by rules and regulations prescribed by the state Adjutant General and the governing board of the school where the unit is formed.
Senate Bill 1335 (SB 1335) clarifies that a private or charter school that 1) does not maintain a J.R.O.T.C or R.O.T.C. program and 2) has sufficient qualified students voluntarily enroll in the program, may apply to the Adjutant General (a military chief administrative officer who serves as the senior military officer in each state) for permission to establish a CACC unit.
The bill also modifies the Adjutant General’s authority to establish and regulate CACC units in several respects, including the following notable modifications:
- Allows the Adjutant General to authorize the establishment of an independent CACC unit under the guidance and control of a sponsoring organization that is not a school, college, or community college.
- Decreases the frequency of the Adjutant General’s required inspections of CACC units from once every two years to once every three years, or as otherwise provided.
- Authorizes the Adjutant General to order officers of the State Guard, Naval Militia, or California National Guard to temporary state active duty to support the CACC, including serving as a marksmanship or military training instructor.
- Makes marksmanship an optional, rather than mandatory, component of CACC instruction.
- Authorizes the Adjutant General to enter into a cooperative agreement with a nonprofit public benefit education corporation to, among other things, solicit grants and other funding on behalf of a CACC unit.
- Authorizes the Adjutant General to adopt rules and regulations for personnel actions regarding CACC officers (e.g., discipline and dismissal from the program).
(SB 1335 amends sections 501 et seq. of the Military and Veterans Code.)
