Originally formed as a training ensemble for the World Class Santa Clara Vanguard, Vanguard Cadets has performed in DCI competitions since the early 1990s. Today a highly successful group in its own right, in 2000, the corps crowned its season with a gold medal finish at the DCI Division II World Championship. The group followed that up in 2008 as the very first World Champion in DCI’s newly created Open Class division, repeating that feat in 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2018.