Questions about CFOT Sessions in Canada

Year after year, children of Salvation Army officers have made up the core of any training college session. When I look at the officers I have known in NCV over the last eight years, a good number of their children have or are entering the CFOT in Atlanta. From the 24 couples who have children have reached 20 years of age, 17 children are Officers, or in CFOT currently or in process. From my experience during my teens and young adult years, while the ratio may not be as high, a large children of officers in Canada entered the work.

If the percent of children of Officers entering CFOT dropped dramatically, it would not bode well. Such a drop should be not the red flag storm warning, but a red flag with a square in the middle of it, the hurricane warning. It would stand to reason for a healthy TSA and a sign of a healthy office corps that the core of any session, about 15 to 25%, should be made up of children of officers.

Last week on Facebook a friend who is a second year cadet in Canada was tagged in an album from the Remembrance Day service in which the cadets participated. One picture in the album showed a group of cadets with a description suggested it was of all the first year cadets. I was stunned that there were only thirteen cadets. From antidotal information I understand the two current sessions are small but surely the first year session is not that small?

Each cadet was identified. I did not recognize any last names. Are there not seven to ten children of officers in a given session? This caused Evie and I to try to do a count of how many children of officers we know in Canada have entered the work in the last ten years. We are somewhat out of the loop but we cannot think of more than one or two.

If there are few officers’ children entering the work in Canada then something wrong that has taken place. What we cannot say as we are too removed. Culture may be a factor but not a dominant factor since the USA which has a similar culture, is not seeing the same trend. If there is a decline, what have the children seen in the Army, or in how their parents are engaged by the system, or by the expectations/appreciation, or the attitude they hear from their parents in the home, that discourages them from entering officership? If there is a decline it may well be a combination of factors, none of which speak well of and for the immediate future of the Canadian territory.

If the sessions are much stronger than my impression and children of officers are still entering in good numbers every year, I would appreciate comments to that end.