The American Cadet Alliance (ACA), formerly the United States Army Cadet Corps (USAC) was founded under the name "Colonel Cody's Boy Scouts" by Captain James H. C. Smyth at the First Presbyterian Church, Manhattan, New York in 1909. The ACA is the oldest nationwide Cadet program in the United States. It is the National Cadet Program branch of the American Military Cadet Corps (AMCC), its parent organization. ACA and American Military Cadet Corps is an Independent National Cadet Program (similar to the Young Marines) and therefore is not a governmental agency, and is not an official entity of the United States Army.
The ACA (former USAC) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit youth education organization.
History
The American Cadet Alliance was founded as Colonel Cody's Boy Scouts by Captain James H. C. Smyth on 10 April 1909, at the First Presbyterian Church in Manhattan, New York. Shortly thereafter, the group was reorganized as the American Naval and Marine Scouts. The American Naval and Marine Scouts continued to evolve, and on 16 August 1927, the organization was incorporated under the laws of the State of New York as the New York Junior Naval Militia, Inc. In early 1929, the organization split and its founder, as well as a number of senior officers, incorporated the Junior Naval Reserve, Inc., on 19 February 1929.
Early in 1938, during the heightening of World War II, the War Department instructed the Secretaries of State to require all organizations using the words "naval", "militia" and "reserve" as a part of their corporate name to rename their organizations so as not to cause public confusion regarding their relationship to the armed services. To comply with this request, the Junior Naval Reserve, Inc. reincorporated on 14 June 1938 as the American Nautical Cadets, Inc., and on 2 November 1938, the New York Junior Naval Militia, Inc. changed its name to the Maritime Brigade, Inc.
As a result of this reorganization, due in part to a number of mergers with other, smaller Cadet organizations, the American Nautical Cadets, Inc. reincorporated on 3 October 1956 as the American Nautical Alliance, Inc. The organization came full circle on 15 September 1960 when the American Nautical Alliance, Inc. and the Maritime Brigade, Inc. merged to become the American Cadet Alliance, Inc.
The USAC (United States Army Cadet Corps) was created in 2000 and was the fastest-growing brigade in the ACA, in comparison with the Naval Cadets and Marine Cadets.
Then in 2007, the decision to phase out all of the brigades except for the Army was made. This decision was made due to the high interest in the Army brigade and lack of interest in the Marine and Naval brigade. Along with the support from the US Army Reserve and Army National Guard, in April 2009 this transition was completed. Starting in 2011 USAC decided to open a military school named Forest Hill Military Academy at its headquarters the former site of Millerburg Military Institute. This decision was not universally supported by the volunteer cadre of USAC and led to the eventual departure of many experienced adult leaders. All funding brought in by USAC, including that of its widely popular summer camp "Military Adventure Camp", went into operating the school, which eventually failed. The opening of the school led to the dismissal of the commandant Charles Tornow and his staff. The final commander for USAC was Jay Whitehead, a former politician who did not have a military background. When he took control of USAC, the majority of the cadre with any experience left. In 2015 there was an influx of fresh staff members who spearheaded the re-branding/re-organization of the ACA, and the decision to bring back Marine Cadetting and Naval Cadets was made in keeping with the spirit of the original intent of the founders of the program. Unfortunately, this initiative failed and under the management of Jay Whitehead, the organization attempted bankruptcy but was dismissed from bankruptcy court due to failure to cooperate. Creditors of USAC were never paid. Whitehead resigned his position with USAC without alerting the receiver appointed by the AG's office of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. He established a new non-profit Military Adventure Camp, Inc to run summer camps under the branding established by USAC. No assets or equipment owned by USAC were sold to pay creditors, leading many to question where Whitehead sourced the equipment needed to operate his new summer camp.
The Millersburg headquarters of USAC was foreclosed on in 2016.
Former Commandants of the American Cadet Alliance Include: CAPT James H.C. Smyth (founder) RADM Gilbert G. Murdoch BG Peter Genovese BG Charles Tornow