Canada’s national cadet program does not serve as a recruitment arm for the country’s armed forces.

It wasn’t designed as a recruitment agency and it doesn’t operate as such.

That doesn’t mean today’s cadets won’t be tomorrow’s generals.

General Jonathan Vance, Canada’s chief of defence, was a cadet.

So to was Lieutenant-General Paul Wynnyk, the officer in charge of Canada’s army who reports directly to General Vance.

But so to was Myriam Bedard. Bedard didn’t go on to attain any serious stripes but she did go on to become the only Canadian to win an Olympic gold medal in the biathlon.

She learned how to shoot as an army cadet.

And yep, Canadian Commander Chris Hadfield, the guy who captured the world playing his guitar while in charge of the International Space Station, was a cadet.

In fact, half or more of Canada’s commercial pilots came through the air cadet program, says Major Terrence Henry, deputy commander of the Whitehorse Cadet Training Centre, during an interview this week.

Henry, commanding officer Lieutenant-Colonel Govind Reddy and Second Lieutenant David Moretta of the public affairs office sat down this week with the Star to explain what the training centre is all about.

More than anything, the national cadet program for 12- to 18-year olds is about promoting citizenship, leadership, and physical fitness.

It’s about providing cadets with an opportunity to gain experience in everything from public speaking to management.

Commanding officer Reddy says providing these opportunities not only builds character and self-confidence, it provides life skills the cadets will have with them long after they leave the program.

The degree of success is, of course, ultimately up to the individual, Reddy acknowledges.

“But certainly, the opportunity is here to succeed.”

The officers point out one of the senior cadets at the training centre this summer has finished his first year in the pharmacology program at McGill University, with aspirations to go on to dentistry and business management.

Senior cadets at the camp are given the responsibility of managing the programs and activities through the summer, under the guidance of the senior officers.

While the brass share their thoughts inside HQ at the Whitehorse Cadet Training Centre, cadets enrolled in the six-week Air Rifle Marksmanship Instructor Course are outside running the biathlon. Each cadet must complete three laps around the one-kilometre circuit with two stops at the range to fire five rounds laying down.

They’re on the clock, and they know it. The determination in their eyes says so.

The Whitehorse training centre was established in 1973 and was moved from Yukon Hall in 1983 to the current location next to the Mary Lake subdivision.

The centre was renamed Boyle Barracks in 1990 when the Whitehorse Detachment of the Canadian Forces Northern Area relocated there. It was named after the Canadian First World War hero Colonel Joseph Boyle.

Today it hosts more than 250 cadets from around the country every summer, but mostly from western and northern Canada. There are also 12 to 15 cadets from the United Kingdom that attend annually, including this year.

The training centre offers two-week general training courses, three-week basic expedition and marksmanship programs, and the more intense six-week expedition and marksmanship instructor courses.

There’s enough equipment at the centre to outfit 500 cadets for the field.

About $550,000 of the annual $1 million budget goes towards grub and the kitchen caterer from Outside. Other civilian support staff – laundry services, busing – are local.

There is an impact on the local economy, the three officers agree.

Reddy notes the plans for the construction of a new 5,381-square-foot building beginning next year, at a cost of approximately $5 million.

While not certain, the officers suspect a large part of the $55,000 to cover the $10 daily per-diem paid to each cadet stays in Whitehorse. The cadets get three square meals a day, but just like any other teenager, they still like visiting their favourite fast food joints during their free time downtown.

They buy their ball caps, and other souvenirs to bring home.

But there’s no free time just yet for a group of 60 cadets in the expedition instructor course who are out on an 18-day field trip that involves everything from wilderness canoeing and hiking to local community service. Even if they’re in town helping to clear a trail, they’re not allowed to set foot in the training centre. No laundry, no showers, no mess hall for 18 days. If they’re in town, they camp in a field down the road from the training centre.

They’re used to the challenges.

Every day at the centre starts at 6:10 a.m. on the parade square with 20 to 30 minutes of drills and exercises.

But it’s not a boot camp. That is certainly evident.

As the intensity of the biathlon continues, three or four other groups of cadets are on the square playing a variety of sports. By all eyewitness accounts, they’re having a blast, a good laugh.

Cadet Miranda Holba, on the other hand, is still focused on the target for now. The 15-year-old air cadet from the 755 squadron in Keepinghills, Alta., is firing her last volley of five shots before running the final one-kilometre circuit.

Army cadet Jack Kopak of Naujaat, Nunavut, is scoring her success. Four out of five targets hit, and Holba’s up and off.

Kopak’s brothers and sisters were cadets. His biological father was a cadet.

The 15-year-old joined when he turned 12. If he’s successful after his six weeks this summer, he’ll return to his corp of 80 to 90 cadets as a marksmanship instructor.

The cadet program, says the soft-spoken Kopak, is providing him with survival skills and others.

It’s making him a better person, he says.

Air cadet Camille Williams concurs, and also hopes to return home to Westlock, Atla., as a qualified marksmanship instructor.

The 15-year-old says her dad is a pilot, so she has a natural interest in aviation. Joining the air cadets seemed like a good fit, and the program opens the door to a variety of opportunities, including travel to different places, she says.

“We learn a lot about aviation, but also about respect for others, and manners.”

“Would you like to be a pilot Camille?”

“Yes, sir,” comes a snappy and emphatic response.

This summer’s final graduation ceremony will be held next Friday.

Lieutenant-General Wynnyk will be in attendance.