Senior CAP Organizational Culture

[Eclipse]

People who join an organization like CAP, with a life-saving mission and a Congressional mandate, not to mention the national reputation and personal prestige of membership, and believe they can do whatever they want, whenever they want, with no ramifications or expectations of performance are doing both themselves and the organization a disservice.

You're not an asset unless you are all of the below, most of the time.

Trained
Qualified
Proficient
Available

Take out any of those four things, and you are not as valuable as you might think you are, either until you add them back, or until your personal circumstance puts them back.

Without people who are fully TQPA^®, it's difficult to do any real planning, market our skills and abilities to our customers, or even recruit new people based on the display of current ops and historical successes.

A big problem is that we have people who walk around with one of the above missing from their pocket thinking and acting as if they are of equal
value to the organization as people who have all 4 and a couple spares.

"TQPA^®" is a registered trademark of eClipseco Mining and Heavy Machinery Consortium.  All Rights Reserved.
Let eClipseco service all of your rhetoric and propaganda needs!

[bflynn]

...believe they can do whatever they want, whenever they want, with no ramifications or expectations of performance are doing both themselves and the organization a disservice...

Nobody believes they can do whatever they want when they want.

We are told the priorities we need to work on.  We attempt to do something with those, given the restrictions of our real lives, abilities and interests.  Everyone will not take part in all the missions.  That's reality.

If you're going to be miserable and wring your hands over not achieving some idealized operation, then I see nothing here to continue talking about.

[Eclipse]

Nobody believes they can do whatever they want when they want.

Squadrons don't do just one or two missions because of time, they do it because of desire.  If a volunteer doesn't want to do X, then you can't force them to.

[bflynn]

Nobody believes they can do whatever they want when they want.

Squadrons don't do just one or two missions because of time, they do it because of desire.  If a volunteer doesn't want to do X, then you can't force them to.

Completely consistent, which just means you're not getting and probably don't want to.

[lordmonar]

Without people who are fully TQPA^®, it's difficult to do any real planning, market our skills and abilities to our customers, or even recruit new people based on the display of current ops and historical successes.

Except you have just put the cart before the horse.

With out plans, and goals.......there is no way for a squadron commander to determine how many and in what way he needs to train, equip and man his squadron.

Until the mandate from NHQ on down comes to the unit......we ARE IN FACT just doing what we THINK is right and what we WANT to do.

This is not a "If you build it they will come" sort of thing.

Then you look at it from the other side of the equation.  Squadron X and all 30 members bust their butts getting qualified, they are ready and available.....but because wing/group has not plan.....they never get called, they never get used and then the quit because of disillusionment.

So....in a lot of a ways.....just shopping from the menu of what you like to do is actually better for CAP...because at least you have people ready, able and willing to do part of the mission.

[Eclipse]

This is not a "If you build it they will come" sort of thing.

Yes, this actually is.  Personal experience has shown that a commander running a full program from the day he assumes the role will
have much less problem with retention and recruiting then one who waits for something from on-high, or decides "I don't have to do 'x'. "

Set the tone and the plan to accomplish the full, three-bladed mission, put it on the calendar, and start doing it, even if some nights
you're preaching to an empty room.  When people see which way the boat is going, they will follow, or not, either way they will no
longer be in the way, and the ones who follow will be getting things done and having fun and will recruit their friend.

The insist on people getting to TQPA in whatever they are doing as soon as possible and understanding that they have to maintain
it to be of their max value to CAP.

BTDT.

[lordmonar]

Okay....then I ask.....how many ground teams do you have?
How many aircrew?
How many mission base staff?

Are they incorporated in your wing's training plan?

How many external AE presentations are you supposed to do?

What is your market pentration of your cadet program?

What metrics are you using to guage the performance of your CP and ES programs?

What is your readiness state RIGHT NOW....are you prepared to meet all the contingencies your group/wing have tasked to you?

You built is.....where is the rest?

[JeffDG]

People who join an organization like CAP, with a life-saving mission and a Congressional mandate, not to mention the national reputation and personal prestige of membership, and believe they can do whatever they want, whenever they want, with no ramifications or expectations of performance are doing both themselves and the organization a disservice.

You're not an asset unless you are all of the below, most of the time.

Trained
Qualified
Proficient
Available

Take out any of those four things, and you are not as valuable as you might think you are, either until you add them back, or until your personal circumstance puts them back.

Without people who are fully TQPA^®, it's difficult to do any real planning, market our skills and abilities to our customers, or even recruit new people based on the display of current ops and historical successes.

A big problem is that we have people who walk around with one of the above missing from their pocket thinking and acting as if they are of equal
value to the organization as people who have all 4 and a couple spares.

"TQPA^®" is a registered trademark of eClipseco Mining and Heavy Machinery Consortium.  All Rights Reserved.
Let eClipseco service all of your rhetoric and propaganda needs!

That, right there, makes an excellent case for unit specialization.

It is far more likely that a unit focused on, for example, ES, can be trained, qualified, proficient and available, than if they split their limited time between ES/CP/AE.

It's about prioritizing with the resources available.

[Eclipse]

^ I did my bit at that level, quite successfully thank you.  I know longer need to answer those questions.
My CAP universe is now struggling with trying to find a way to write those plans that I want others to
execute.   I inherited a typical status quo situation that I am struggling to change.

What is your readiness state RIGHT NOW....

However with that said, it's actually pretty good.  Our most recent eval was great, and we could certainly
meet the contingencies of a large single event within CAP's regular SAR / DR scope. Sustainability and
multiple fronts would be an issue, like in most wings.

As I am not a CC anymore, the other two areas are no longer my direct concern.

[Private Investigator]

...believe they can do whatever they want, whenever they want, with no ramifications or expectations of performance are doing both themselves and the organization a disservice...

Nobody believes they can do whatever they want when they want.

Until you become an IG and visit a lot of Units. You will be surprised at what Squadron Commanders 'rationalize'.

A good example is Senior Squadron 'flying clubs'. How can an 'ES' Squadron that does zero in CP and AE but boast about their 'ES" abilities have zero (0) Finds? And zero (0) A1 hours but knock out 250 hours annually in proficency flying?