In the early spring of 1942 the Rotary Club of Cobourg applied for a Charter to form an Air Cadet Squadron. This was in response from Air Minister Power in 1940 request to the public to set up a country wide volunteer organization to sponsor and develop an Air Cadet Training Program as an aid to the war effort. On April 9, 1941, the Air Cadet League of Canada was granted a Dominion Charter Authorizing it to operate a non-profit organization. This charter was granted and the 138th Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Cadets was formed. Leadership came from within the Rotary Club as A.R. Willmott became the first Commanding Officer.

Up to the end of the war in 1945, seventy five cadets had gone through the squadron and many had joined the RCAF afterwards. At wars end, there was a natural lessening of interest and the 138th Squadron which had been set up “for Duration” was disbanded.

In 1954, the Rotary Club of Cobourg again became involved as the sponsoring body for a new 598th Sabre Squadron. The training program for the cadets took a different emphasis than it had during the war with optional courses on Band Instruction, hunter safety, St John’s Ambulance, Aero engines and rifle range training.