Transition from Senior to Composite Squadron?

[hfriday]

My very small squadron in a very small New England town has, by virtue of our recruiting drive, found itself with a handful of young people eager to get involved. We are, alas, a senior squadron, with the nearest cadet programs an hour or more away.

Looking over CAPR 60-1, it looks like the transition to a composite squadron will be a great deal of work and learning for all involved, but it doesn't appear to give any specific process for casing the colors, so to speak, and redesignating as a composite unit.

What are the personnel requirements, both at cadet and cadet-program SM levels? Who is the approving authority for making the change? What paperwork is required to request such a change?

I have no doubt that this will prove a major undertaking, but want to understand the official process before reporting to my commander on the viability of such a change.

Thanks as always...

[NIN]

CAPR 20-3 delineates the administrative process to redesignate. That's easy.

CAPM 20-1(I) lists the organization charts and additional duty position descriptions for those positions not normally found in a senior squadron.

Coming up to speed on the CP is another trick. However, TLC can get people started on that road. My advice is to lean on the nearby unit for mentoring, and offer wing the opportunity to hold a TLC in your neck of the woods by providing space, etc.

[Eclipse]

You should try and get at least one high-speed senior who knows the CP, and
one or a couple of Phase III/IV cadets looking for a new challenge to
come on at least ADY while you get spun up.

"New to CP" + "all new cadets" has risk for them getting bored or frustrated
while people figure things out.

On the other hand, if the adult stick to the regs and the Squadron-In-A-Box,
and ignore wives tales, you'd probably be on track for a very effective unit that
does things correct since no one would have bad habits or "WIWAC" issues.

[hfriday]

Thanks, fellas. I'd been digging through 60-1 and the 52- series and getting nowhere fast on the administrative side of things.

We have a pretty active composite squadron about 90 minutes away by car - much less by 182, obviously - with which we share our airplane. So it shouldn't be too hard to get them involved in the initial setup.

The two officers who are looking at taking this task on are both pretty by-the-book-types (myself and our CFII), so I hope to get us on a solid footing without those bad habits that I see discussed here from time to time.

Much obliged.

[Toad1168]

Thank you for stepping up to change from a senior squadron to a composite and helping to grow the cadet program.  :clap: