A cadre (/ˈkɑːdrə/, also UK: /ˈkɑːdər/, also US: /ˈkɑːdreɪ/) is the complement of commissioned officers and non-commissioned officers of a military unit responsible for training the rest of the unit.^[1] The cadre may be the permanent skeleton establishment of a unit, around which the full unit can be built if needed. In countries which have conscription, a cadre may comprise the permanent staff of a regiment who train the conscripts assigned to it. The term comes from the French expression en cadre, with the same meaning.^[2][3]

In the Military of the United States, a cadre is a group or member of a group of leaders, especially in units that conduct formal training schools.^[4] In United States Army jargon, the word is singular and plural. At the United States Military Academy, the upper-class cadets who conduct Cadet Basic Training for incoming freshmen are called the cadre.^{[citation needed]}

In the British Armed Forces, a cadre is a group of instructors or a unit that trains potential instructors or non-commissioned officers (NCOs), in which case it usually also includes the trainees (e.g., the Mountain Leader Training Cadre of the Royal Marines).

In the Japan Self-Defense Forces, the direct translation in Japanese for this word is "幹部, (kanbu)", which refers to the commissioned officers (幹部自衛官, kanbu-jieikan).^[5] The JMSDF unofficially uses the word "准幹部, jun-kanbu" which means, "associate cadre" if the word is directly translated for the warrant officers,^[6] since their position as the warrant officer is different from the other two (Ground and Air) branches.^[7]

Adapted from the military usage, in Canadian police services, a cadre is an individual officer. It is used in place of badge number and is used in Records Management Systems for dispatching and report entry.^[8]

• Military organisation