Afraid to use the term “Commander”

Started by xray328, December 21, 2018, 03:35:50 PM

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

xray328

Hey guys.  I'm seeing activities that are not using the term "commander" anymore and are instead using terms like "Officer in Charge". Or "Deputy of Support/Operations" Is this really a thing? Is "commander" too intimidating?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Eclipse

I'm not aware of any issue with the term, however some activities have had nomenclature changed by NHQ, or practice,
but not in any radical way.

Encampments no longer have an Executive Officer, they have equal Deputy Commanders of Support and Operations.

There's still Squadron and Flight Commanders, but SET and Support are not flights, per se, so they have C/OICs
which at many activities is as much simply the "ranking cadet" as an actual job (depends on the activity), because
at the ground level someone still needs to be in charge of these cadets for various practical reasons.

"That Others May Zoom"

xray328

Thanks.  The activities I'm referring to are purposely removing the word commander from the job titles specifically to not intimidate cadets. So instead of "Deputy Commander of Operations" you're now just "Deputy of Operations".   I fear we're going the way of the snowflake again.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Eclipse

#3
I have no doubt you're seeing this, but it sounds ridiculous, especially in a CAP / paramilitary paradigm.

Perhaps someone needs to be reminded that "Commander" is intended to command respect because of the
weight of responsibility and authority, not intimidation.

"That Others May Zoom"

TheSkyHornet

It depends on the activity, really.

For local events, if we hold a field training exercise, we'll generally use the term "Mission Commander" or "Operational Commander" for the weekend, as our Cadet Commander has usually taken on more of a mentoring role to work with the cadet in that commander place for the weekend---since it's dual training to both prepare for an FTX and developing a series of missions to be executed for those outside of the planning team (i.e., cause and effect). For something like a social event/Dining In, we'll have a Cadet Officer-in-Charge of the activity/project working under the oversight of the senior member project leader or Cadet Commander.

Wing events may use the term "Cadet OIC" or "Cadet Project Coordinator" (or similar).

A Commander is someone who has the delegated authority to execute the scope of everything under their oversight and everything they do.
A Person-in-Charge generally has the role of execution but not a lot of authority in changing the overall plan, usually like a team leader.

In the grand scheme of things:
A Cadet Commander would be expected to manage the entire operation using his/her staff, ensuring both the line operational and support performance roles are accomplished in support of the entire mission. A Flight Commander would be expected to have the flexibility and maneuverability to accomplish the intent set by the Cadet Commander (i.e., to meet goals by necessary means). An OIC is more likely to be expected to carry out the assignment without a lot of flexibility; or perhaps is expected to develop operational plans that they will not oversee the execution of (like an S3 shop passing off a training agenda to the Commander to review and delegate to the Subordinate Commander to carry out).

Consider "Commander" as the 'runs everything' and the OIC as the 'runs agendas.' The Commander will accept the responsibility of the outcome.


*EDIT*

"Deputy of Operations" doesn't mean anything to me. Deputy of what? Operations is a function. What's your role in that function?