All three units of the Wanganui Cadets paraded together in the city on Sunday for the first time since the programme began 150 years ago.
Squadron leader Charles Quirk said the only time they paraded together was for Anzac Day, when they joined everyone else, but the 150-year anniversary was different.
"That one was special," he said.
"It was good to do and we said we would obviously like to do it again at some stage - we would have to find an occasion to do that."
The New Zealand Cadet Forces are made up of the Sea Cadets, NZ Cadet Corps and Air Training Corps, which run for boys and girls aged 13-18.
Its website describes it as "a voluntary, disciplined, uniformed youth leadership training organisation". The first cadet unit was started in Dunedin in 1864.
Wanganui's cadets gathered together outside the War Memorial Hall on Sunday morning for a speech by deputy mayor Hamish McDouall and an inspection, before the parade.
Mr Quirk estimated the number of cadets at the parade to be about 60 per cent the usual numbers, and a large part of this could be attributed to NCEA exams beginning.
"That's had an impact," he said.
Mr McDouall said it was a "very important day".
"I want everybody to think about 150 years, what that means," he said during his speech.
"New Zealand was just a colony back then - Wanganui was barely a village with a stockade behind it."
The first Sea Cadet Unit began in 1929 and the Air Training Corps was formed in 1941.
Later, the role of cadet forces ceased being primarily for military training and the preparation of young men for the armed services and became adventure and development motivated.
Female cadets were able to join in 1978.
Today, there are 99 cadet units around the country - with 3500 cadets and 400 officers.