CADET, MILITARY (Fr., younger brother, caplet, front Aled. Lat. rapitellum, dim. of bat. come, head; so called to diStin guish him from the elder brother, who was the real head of the family, after the father. The military moaning arose front the fact that the younger soils of the French nubility were gen erally provided for in the army). A student or an accepted candidate for a military commission. In the United States Army. cadets are educated at the Military Academy (q.v.), West Point. N. Y., and the present method of their appoint ment has been in operation since 1543. The age for admission to the Military Academy is between 17 and 22 years of age, appointments, as a rule, being made one year in advance of the date of admission. Application is permissible at any time, by letter to the Secretary of NVar, to have the name of the applicant placed upon the file. front which it is furnished to the proper Representative or Delegate when a vacancy oc curs. Application may also be made to the Con gressman direct. Each Congressional district and Territory—also the District of Columbia—is en titled to have one cadet at the Academy. Each State is entitled to have two cadets from the State at large, and thirty are appointed from the United States at large. The appointment from a Congressional district is made upon the recommendation of the Congressman from that district, and those from a State at large upon the recommendations of the Senators of the State.
Similarly, the appointment from a Territory is made upon the recommendation of the Delegate in Congress. Each person appointed must be an actual resident of the State, District or Territory from which the appointment is made. The ap pointments from the District of Columbia and from the United States at large are made by the President of the United States upon his own se lection. These latter appointments were orig inally designed for the benefit of sons of army officers, who, having no permanent abode, are thus debarred from securing an appointment in the usual way. The course of instruction covers a period of four years, and at its conclusion the cadets air commissioned second lieutenants in the United States Army. See MILITARY ACAD EMY, UNITED STATES, for account of the educa tion of cadets, and also for an historical sketch of the institution.
In England, cadets are t•tined at 'Woolwich (q.v.)and Sandhurst (q.v.). artillery and engineer cadets going to the former, and those destined for cavalry and infantry going to the latter. A similar system of appointment. preparation, and education of military cadets prevails among European armies. further details of which may be found under 3111.ITAI:Y EDUCATins; SA.NDIICRST; STAFF CoLI.H.E,