Trying to find a way for group cadet commanders to meet to plan activities

[xray328]

We had a meeting last night with our C/CC and the other C/CC's in our Group to plan our upcoming drill comp.  I'm the Senior Member POC and our unit is hosting so I brought our Cadet Project Officers.  After the meeting the cadets were discussing the need to have cadet Group activities and how the Group C/CC's thought it would be a good idea to meet quarterly to plan something fun to do as a Group activity for cadets with the goal of making CAP fun.  Feedback we got was that they could move forward with the idea but the we first needed to make sure there wasn't anything saying they couldn't do something like this (I don't think there is) and to see if there was something already in CAP they could use to hold such a meeting under.  They didn't really want to use a Group CAC title since it was a meeting just to plan activities.  Any ideas on how to proceed?  It seems like a great idea and I'd really like to see it become more than just a "that'd be a great thing to do".  It seems like there's some good ideas on things we could do but we never have enough cadets to support it as individual squadrons.  I firmly believe that we have to keep this program fun to kep the cadets around long term so I'm happy to help in the effort any way I can.

Thanks in advance!

[EMT-83]

Why reinvent the wheel? You have cadets from various squadrons meeting at Group level to plan cadet activities. There is a name for this - I won't spell it out, but the initials are CAC.

[xray328]

Isn't there more to CAC than that? Some of the C/CC's said they didn't have time to be on the CAC. They wanted to meet quarterly, I think CAC requires monthly meeting? I'm by no means an expert on CAC.

[JeffDG]

There's no need to over-complicate this.

Just have the Group Commander call a quarterly meeting of Cadet Commanders for the purposes of planning cadet activities.

[xray328]

That's actually all I wanted to see happen. I was advised to do the above.

[Storm Chaser]

First, the Group CAC is the correct forum for cadets from every squadron to discuss cadet matters to include group level activities. That said, the CAC's primary purpose is not to plan activities, although it can certainly assist with that.

The group should have a senior member assigned to the position of Cadet Activities Officer and may even have cadets assigned to that position to assist him or her. If the group doesn't have a Cadet Activities Officer, those functions fall under the Cadet Programs Officer.

The Group Commander or Cadet Programs Officers could schedule periodic meetings with all squadron cadet commanders, just like the Group Commander schedule periodic meetings with the unit commanders, but this should not replace or usurp the functions of the CAC, which is the official forum for cadet representation at the group level and above.

Ultimately, while cadet commanders in the group can meet periodically, that's not their function, but the CAC's. Planning group activities is also outside of their purview.

[JC004]

That said, the CAC's primary purpose is not to plan activities, although it can certainly assist with that.

This.  +100 forum points.  Too often, what comes out of this is a cadet ball or something with activities that are out of the scope of what cadets signed up to do in CAP.   And when CAC becomes exclusively activity planning, it doesn't meet its actual purpose. 

I say focus on leveraging the resources of the GROUP.  Plan some activities that can leverage the contacts in different squadrons - what senior members do in their day jobs, etc.  You could plan trips, tours, and weekends that wouldn't work well at a squadron level - or a squadron wouldn't have the resources to pull off.

Organize some AE trips (factories, space-related facilities, etc.), long distance weekend trips, spring break trips, a basic cadet school for cadets under C/SSgt, a Cadet NCO school for cadets C/SSgt through C/CMSgt, a Cadet Commander's Course, a marksmanship weekend, military orientation flights, an astronomy weekend (in a dark location - might have to drive a distance), a cadet-run SAREX (as a combined leadership/ES activity with seniors who just monitor), etc., etc., etc. 

You can look at my draft cadet activities list (topic here: http://captalk.net/index.php?topic=20070.msg369782#msg369782 and attached).  You should find some things on there. 

It's hard for squadrons to execute activities like that, especially your squadrons that need the most help.  It's also an excellent opportunity to get better, higher-level leadership training for cadets because they can lead larger flights or activities.  And it's a great way for cadets to make a lot of new friends from all over.  Squadrons with retention problems due to lack of good activities will benefit greatly. 

Don't waste it on a cadet ball. 


[attachment deleted by admin]