Cadet Life

[Seabee219]

   Ok,  When I became DCC for my squadron, it was great.  I got all the cadets up and running and got them in the new NHQ system with all the test and PT scores, and promotions started happening like they were supposed to.  We now have a much more smoother running cadet program, and not just from that but from other things as well.  Does anyone have any other things they would like to share on how they improved cadet life in there squadrons. Thanks


JC

[DC]

Allow the cadet staff to run things as much as possible, it allows them to learn a lot more, and do more.

[Seabee219]

Thanks, I do that a lot, helps them learn. 

[Airrace]

Allow the cadet staff to run things as much as possible, it allows them to learn a lot more, and do more.

I agree with Salty

[DC]

Allow the cadet staff to run things as much as possible, it allows them to learn a lot more, and do more.

I agree with Salty

Salty?

[BillB]

You prefer Seasoned?

[Spike]

I found that I had to remove a few Senior Members who kept interrupting the Cadets everytime they did something.  I hate it every time a "know-it-all" Senior Member will interrupt Cadets when they are trying to get things done in a short amount of time.

War stories......keep them to tell your friends at the VFW.  "When I was a Cadet" story.....share only with the Squadron Commander.  "If I were you" suggestions, pass them on to the DCC or Squadron Commander.

Also, Seniors, Don't get mad that you are not asked to help out with Cadet Activities.  As Squadron Commander, My DCC and I work with the cadet Staff to choose who will best support the mission.  So, no yelling at me, when you can't go on the C-130 ride with the Cadets (even though there is no room for you).  It doesn't help to ask a few Cadets if they would be willing to skip the flight so you can go.

YA......just transferred one member to Patron Status because he yelled at me, and told me "how stupid I was", for not getting enough seats on the C-130 for him.  He has already been on the plane multiple times.

As far as Cadets go......Let them do their own thing, be observant and give input only when it appears they are preparing to screw up.

[DC]

I found that I had to remove a few Senior Members who kept interrupting the Cadets everytime they did something.  I hate it every time a "know-it-all" Senior Member will interrupt Cadets when they are trying to get things done in a short amount of time.

War stories......keep them to tell your friends at the VFW.  "When I was a Cadet" story.....share only with the Squadron Commander.  "If I were you" suggestions, pass them on to the DCC or Squadron Commander.

Also, Seniors, Don't get mad that you are not asked to help out with Cadet Activities.  As Squadron Commander, My DCC and I work with the cadet Staff to choose who will best support the mission.  So, no yelling at me, when you can't go on the C-130 ride with the Cadets (even though there is no room for you).  It doesn't help to ask a few Cadets if they would be willing to skip the flight so you can go.

YA......just transferred one member to Patron Status because he yelled at me, and told me "how stupid I was", for not getting enough seats on the C-130 for him.  He has already been on the plane multiple times.

As far as Cadets go......Let them do their own thing, be observant and give input only when it appears they are preparing to screw up.

Also bear in mind that sometimes they will learn more from screwing up than they will from your last minute correction. As long as it isn't going to do irreparable damage to you unit or people, or cause any undue delay, it may be worth the lesson to let them fall every once in a while.

[RedFox24]

Does anyone have any other things they would like to share on how they improved cadet life in there squadrons.

What I did when I was squadron commander that seemed to help a lot, mind you that this worked for us, in our squadron following some pretty crappy leadership, we did what you did and then we implement a plan, and worked the plan.
1.  Plan your meetings and schedule out 6 months.  Publish the schedule and classes and instructors so that everyone knows what is going on. 
2.  Have at least one squadron activity every 2 months.  Don't rely on Wing/Group and don't count missions or schools that they have as filler for a squadron activity. 
3.  Recognize accomplishments monthly and get local press to cover if at all possible.  For us this was easy, go to the local newspaper office, pick up a camera, take pictures, write story and in a few days it would show up in the community section.........
4.  Partner with another unit and do some activities together ONLY if they have the same high standard for C&C, uniforms etc that you do!
5.  Ensure that you have a least one trained senior member with the cadets all the time, like drill, classes etc at the local meeting to keep the other seniors who don't know the cadet program or cadets who think they know the program from screwing up all your hard work.
6.  Most important, keep meetings balanced.  Don't go overboard on ES or rocketry or what ever for two months or just not do do something because its not your cup of tea.  Repetition and lack of balance is what makes meetings stale and kills attendance.
7.  Second most important, lead from the front.  The cadets need to see their commander commanding.


Worked for us, your results may vary..........

[flyguy06]

Good conversation. Iwanted to ask for peoples advice.

As a DCC I see myself as a mentor. I equate it to being an ROTC instructor. My role is to be a proper role model for cadets and to train senior cadets how to lead.

Many people say that we seniors should sit back andlet cadets run thrie program. But how canthey run it if no one has trained them? When i was in college ROTC we had a cadet chain of command. We did a lot of the planning and executing. ut we had an active duty Captain to guide us and give us direction. we didnt do it all on ourown.

So if we as 18-21 year old college students needed adult guidence to run our program. Shouldnt a 14-18 years old high school personneed the same if not more gudienc?

For example. I see my role as DC to instruct cadets on how to lead. How to make decisions. How to conduct training meetings. How to praise and correct. How to rewasrd your people. How to corect your people.

This is what I see my role as a DCC. I am a very involved senior member I dont just sit back and watch. Is that bad?

[DC]

Not initially, but once the first group of senior cadets is trained the system should really be self-replicating. Teach the first group, then allow them to teach their subordinates, who should train their subordinates, and so on. You should definitely be there to assist, but it is your job to guide the cadets in running their program, not do it for them and tell them 'that's how it's done."

[flyguy06]

i agree to a certain extent. But as cadets graduate and leae theprogram and new ones come up we need to mentor them as well.

For example. I write the training schedule. The cadet officers execute the training schedule. set the guidelines and the objectives. cadet officers meet my guidelnes and objectives.

it really all depends onyour local situation. I amin a squadron with little caet officers and NCO's so every unit will be different.

[DC]

i agree to a certain extent. But as cadets graduate and leae theprogram and new ones come up we need to mentor them as well.

For example. I write the training schedule. The cadet officers execute the training schedule. set the guidelines and the objectives. cadet officers meet my guidelnes and objectives.

it really all depends onyour local situation. I amin a squadron with little caet officers and NCO's so every unit will be different.

That's true, each unit is different, and a SQ with a small amount of senior cadets will need more SM support. You should try to include the cadet officers in the schedule writing though. At that stage in the program they are supposed to be doing more planning than doing. Doing is more the NCOs' job.

[flyguy06]

^ true but I think another issue is and I mean no disrespect to cadet officers or NCO's but a lot of them think they really are officers asd NCO's.

If you look in the dictionary a "cadet" is an officer trainee. They are people intraining. The positions they hold are not meant to be permenant. they are there for the purposes of training.

In a JROTC unit. A cadet could be a Capt one day and  Pvt the next day and a sgt the next day. At OCS cadets hold differnt positions every week. One week youmaybe a platoon leaders, the next week you may be a First Sergeant and so forth. Its all done for evaluating their leadership potential.

But from my experiences in CAP these cadets actually think they are real officers. Is it differant in CAP?

[notaNCO forever]

^ true but I think another issue is and I mean no disrespect to cadet officers or NCO's but a lot of them think they really are officers asd NCO's.

If you look in the dictionary a "cadet" is an officer trainee. They are people intraining. The positions they hold are not meant to be permenant. they are there for the purposes of training.

In a JROTC unit. A cadet could be a Capt one day and  Pvt the next day and a sgt the next day. At OCS cadets hold differnt positions every week. One week youmaybe a platoon leaders, the next week you may be a First Sergeant and so forth. Its all done for evaluating their leadership potential.

But from my experiences in CAP these cadets actually think they are real officers. Is it differant in CAP?

I've only ran into this situation once or twice in my cadet career. I think cadets having this mentality shows that their has been poor leadership and commanders should be making sure cadets know they are just cadets.

[DC]

^ true but I think another issue is and I mean no disrespect to cadet officers or NCO's but a lot of them think they really are officers asd NCO's.

If you look in the dictionary a "cadet" is an officer trainee. They are people intraining. The positions they hold are not meant to be permenant. they are there for the purposes of training.

In a JROTC unit. A cadet could be a Capt one day and  Pvt the next day and a sgt the next day. At OCS cadets hold differnt positions every week. One week youmaybe a platoon leaders, the next week you may be a First Sergeant and so forth. Its all done for evaluating their leadership potential.

But from my experiences in CAP these cadets actually think they are real officers. Is it differant in CAP?

Yes. CAP has a relatively straight-line progression as cadets move up through the program. You aren't trying to develop leadership in everyone, with the expectation that in a few years they will all be leaders. A squadron of cadets is made up of cadets at different levels of development (CAP calls them phases), each with different expectations and training requirements. While cadet positions should by no means be permanent, they should not be frequently switched around, and cadet should not go backward (from Capt to PVT, as you put it) unless they prove themselves incapable of handing their current position.

You don't need to let everyone be the C/CC. Let the most promising Cadet Officer (or Phase IV cadet, in a large SQ) be the C/CC, and let him keep the job until he really screws up, leaves, or has held it for a long time, like over a year. The same goes with other jobs all the way down the chain. Let the cadets identify themselves as leaders at their respective levels, and choose those cadets for the staff positions. Ideally all the cadets will keep moving up, so you won't have anyone stagnating at a particular position. This process should occur more or less naturally, it isn't your job to make sure all the cadets get to play flight sergeant for a week, it's your job to make sure the natural progression runs smoothly, by observing and mentoring the cadet exec staff. Some attrition in this process is unfortunate, but also natural. Not everyone is going to be a Spaatz cadet, or even a Wright Brothers cadet.

As for cadets thinking they are real officers and NCOs: they shouldn't go off thinking they are as good as a RealMilitary officer or NCO, but at the same time, they do need to think like officers and NCOs to do their job appropriately. If you continously remind them that they are just kids that is all they will ever be. They need to think like, and be recognized as, leaders, because that's exactly what they are. Admittedly within their small sphere of influence, but leaders all the same.

[capchiro]

Spke, et al, I would seriously talk to my legal officer before I stuck my credentials on the line by transferring a senior member to Patron status.  I don't think that is in the reg's and is not something to be used for punishment or even legally possible unless the senior member agrees to it.  Overstepping one's authority is not a good or honorable situation.

[flyguy06]

As for cadets thinking they are real officers and NCOs: they shouldn't go off thinking they are as good as a RealMilitary officer or NCO, but at the same time, they do need to think like officers and NCOs to do their job appropriately. If you continously remind them that they are just kids that is all they will ever be. They need to think like, and be recognized as, leaders, because that's exactly what they are. Admittedly within their small sphere of influence, but leaders all the same.

Very good point which is why mentorship is so important from experienced Senior members. You said it yourself. They need to think, act, and be recognized as leaders. In order to thik and act like officers and NCO's they need to be trained by senior members that have that experience. I am currently a Army Company Commander. I know how to run a unit training meeting. I know how to counsel people. I know how to develop a unit safety program. I write OP Orders all the time (get tired of it actually) so when I try to train mycadets on how to do this. I get the whole"Let them do it and you just watch" Well I want them to to it but I want them to do it to standard and if I dont teach them the standard  how will they learn?

[Dad2-4]

A couple of the most difficult and time consuming issues I had as a DCC was parent SMs, and very young, super gung-ho SMs.
I was constantly butting heads with a parent/SM about how the cadet leadership was organized, who was in which position, why I did a certain thing, etc. He was a great contributor to the squadron as a whole and did a lot for the cadets, but questioned me at every turn. He also screamed at me and accused me of ethnic discrimination in a staff meeting because his cadet officer son didn't rate as well as another cadet on an evaluation.
I've also on numerous occasions had to ask new, young, SMs to back off and leave the cadets alone when they tried to play uninvited drill sergeant, interrupt with their WIWAC stories, have a bunch of cadets loitering around their cars to show off a new stereo or such, etc.
My squadron CC was a great guy, but wasn't a lot of help in getting these issued solved.
If you've got the program running the way it should, keep it up and congratulations. Keep a strong working relationship going with your Sq. CC, and be vigilant to keep non-cadet programs folks from interfering.

[Spike]

Spike, et al, I would seriously talk to my legal officer before I stuck my credentials on the line by transferring a senior member to Patron status.  I don't think that is in the reg's and is not something to be used for punishment or even legally possible unless the senior member agrees to it.  Overstepping one's authority is not a good or honorable situation.

Actually, it is in my power as Squadron Commander.  I gave the member a choice, transfer out to patron status, or I will end his CAP career.  Disrespect toward the Commander and swearing in front of Cadets is grounds for dismissal.  I did talk with my Commander before doing anything on this scale.  In fact, his file is flagged at National, he can not move out of Patron status or rejoin a new Squadron for 4 years.  It was not a knee jerk decision, on my part.  I should have been more clear, but I did not want to write a whole page on this guys actions leading up to what I did.

I did not overstep my authority, and never would.  This was an example to my Cadets that respect is important. 

[IceNine]

I put term limits on all cadet staff positions from C/CC down.  This forced leadership opportunity and prevented stagnation of ideas.

I don't have the guide anymore but the general outline was no more than 1 year for anything, special assignments or additional duties (ex. Color Guard Commander) were 6 month billets.

This may not seem very long but in the fast pace and short timeline for most cadets anything more than a year and you risk every cadets advancement potential.   Keep in mind that most cadet careers have a shelf life of 4-6 years beyond that you are competing with college and other real life situations.

Make sure that you keep the training and activities engaging and entertaining.

Assign duties, set expectations properly, provide equivalent authority for the responsibility, follow up in a timely fashion.

Praise in public, criticize in private.

[flyguy06]

Spike, et al, I would seriously talk to my legal officer before I stuck my credentials on the line by transferring a senior member to Patron status.  I don't think that is in the reg's and is not something to be used for punishment or even legally possible unless the senior member agrees to it.  Overstepping one's authority is not a good or honorable situation.

Actually, it is in my power as Squadron Commander.  I gave the member a choice, transfer out to patron status, or I will end his CAP career.  Disrespect toward the Commander and swearing in front of Cadets is grounds for dismissal.  I did talk with my Commander before doing anything on this scale.  In fact, his file is flagged at National, he can not move out of Patron status or rejoin a new Squadron for 4 years.  It was not a knee jerk decision, on my part.  I should have been more clear, but I did not want to write a whole page on this guys actions leading up to what I did.

I did not overstep my authority, and never would.  This was an example to my Cadets that respect is important.

You barred a gyuy from rejoing as a regular member? WOW. I dont think i have ever seen that before. You guys are serious.

[Spike]

^ No, National HQ did that, we only suggested it and backed it up with documentation.

ALWAYS have documentation to back up every negative personnel action, if you don't it may come to bite you in the bum!

[Gunner C]

 :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

[jimmydeanno]

I've been a DCC twice, coming into two failing cadet programs.

The first was in VAWG.  I went to the squadron hoping to find an active, vibrant unit with a record of success.  Sure, they had the "history of success" but they certainly were not there then. There were only 3 cadets showing up to meetings, 1 senior.  I had been married for a few months and had just turned 21, so I was no longer allowed to be a cadet.  It was the start of my CAP Senior membership.

At first, the two seniors weren't too happy to have my wife and I there when we were asking about joining the unit.  To this day, I have no idea why.  I started as a leadership officer as a 1st Lt.  About two weeks later, the group commander called my wife and I to meet him for dinner.

He asked us to take over the unit.  I became the DCC.  The first thing we did was a huge recruiting effort.  It yielded us 80 cadets over the first year.  Which was great.  But the issue was the existing cadets (the 2-3 that were still around).  They had severe attitude problems, refused to listen to what we were telling them to do, etc.  They were used to being able to do BORs with flashlights (interrogation style) in dark rooms, asking questions like "if you were a balloon, what color would you be?", yelling at each other, etc.  Not the way I play, and they didn't like it.

Eventually, the "problems" left and the end of our first year we had 84 cadets with about 70 at any given meeting.  It was really tough, because we didn't have any experienced seniors (we weren't even all that experienced), so we had to get a lot of parental support (which, BTW, is difficult to do as a 21 year old...).  But, some of them jumped in an joined, doing stuff like testing, etc.

During that year, we also trained a color guard from the new basics.  They won the MER color guard championship (they didn't compete at NCC, but that's another story).  We were huge and had new cadets joining each week.  It was nice when we had our first group of NCOs come through.

At the end of the second year, we moved.  We had a good group of cadets who were getting ready to get their Mitchell's, etc.  I loved that squadron, I had so much invested in it, both in time and energy.  Everyone that contributed was personally vested. 

A few months ago I happened to be in the area and went to one of their meetings.  They only had about 10 cadets there and it was really boring.  One of the cadets that was still there from my era said it was never the same after we left.  Sad really.

Anyway, we moved to our current unit just under 3 years ago now.  In January I took over as DCC, but was able to make more significant contributions as a leadership officer in this unit.  But, it was the same scenario.  3 cadets at a meeting, 1 senior, etc.  Over the last two years we've built the cadet program up to 45 cadets with 35-40 at any given meeting.  We've had a 350% increase in the activities offered, we had a 300% increase in cadet promotions each month, etc.  The cadets have a genuinely good time and we're getting two or three membership inquiries a week.  But, our time to move is coming, just as the going is getting good.

So, I've done a lot of stuff to make the cadet programs in these units significantly better and successful, and I have learned a lot along the way.  However, despite this I want to learn from someone else.  Everything has been on my own, trial by fire at this point.  So, it appears that I'm really good at saving dying cadet programs, but have yet to be a member of a successful squadron when I get there.  I want to see what happens after the building stage.  It seems that building/repairing a unit is easier than maintaining one because training is easier to schedule, etc. But I can't say I know from experience.

Perhaps the next unit I join will be a thriving cadet unit that I can watch and learn from - but then again, perhaps I should join a failing unit to repeat the same successes.  Tough choices.

[jimmydeanno]

Double-tap, because I don't think I really addressed the OP question.  In short terms, the way I improved cadet life was to follow the 52-16.

In long terms...

1) Increased activity offerings significantly.  There is nothing happier than a cadet who has things to do.  1 activity a month is boring, 1 every other is even more so.  I shoot for at least 3 squadron sponsored each month, in addition to the weekly meetings.  There are a few reasons.

The first is that our squadron van only fits 11 cadets.  So, the more activities we offer, the lower number of cadets at each activity, which enables us to fit everyone that wants to go on that particular one in the van.

The second is that it allows for flexibility in the cadets scheduling.  They know that if they having another obligation, they still have an opportunity to participate an be active in the unit by going to another activity.

The third is that it allows the cadets to experience the other aspects of the program.  If you do 6 activities a year and 5 of them are SAREXs, you aren't representing the program that well as a whole.

The increased activities also allow our cadet staff to actually lead numerous activities giving them more experience and opportunity to make errors.

You'll probably ask why we do so many squadron sponsored activities.  We run into the issue that we actually do a quarterly schedule and the Wing activities aren't announced far enough in advance for us to plan/depend on them accordingly (except encampment, etc.)

2) Send the schedule in advance.  Sounds like common sense, but apparently, not that many units do.  I send it to the parents as well.  They appreciate it.

3) Develop relationships with the parents.  The parents at our unit couldn't stand the lack of communication we had previously.  Simple things like talking to a few of them at each meeting helps ease their concerns about who you are and how you are.  It also helps open the doors for feedback on how you're doing, things that can be improved, etc.  We've had a lot of great ideas come from out parents.

4) Bring excitement to the program.  I think it helps that I'm pretty friendly and approachable.  I also show a lot of enthusiasm for what we do when we're doing it.  The cadets feed off that and bring it to what they do too.  I think it also helps that I'm younger and can still relate to many of the things they are experiencing.  It also helps them bring their problems to me.  I know as a cadet I had trouble relating to our 65 year old DCC.  There wasn't much communicating and they weren't as involved.  They certainly weren't exciting either...

5) Enact term limits on the cadet staff. The worst that happens is that someone goes for round two in the same spot.  But at least there is the opportunity to shift around and get new experiences.  We have a graduated set up.  The C/CC is a year, the C/XO and C/DC are 6 months, Flight Commanders are 6 months, Flight Sergeants are 3 months, Element Leaders are 3 months.

6) Start a cadet of the month/cadet of the quarter program and use it.  We got a cord approved to denote our CoQ for the year.  The cadet gets to wear it for a year after getting it.  It's blue and yellow.  They are highly sought after in our unit, which helps increase activity participation, PT scores and testing.  Since we doubled the points for bringing a friend to the meeting, we've had more people coming through our doors.

7) Be selective on who you allow to work with cadets.  There is a big difference between people who want to work with cadets and people who can work with cadets.  The mindset, attitude, understanding, etc all need to be right before we'll let someone take a cadet program related billet.  Not doing this can seriously hinder the progress of your program.

8) Improve your awards ceremonies.  Instead of just handing the kid his new stripes, pin them on.  Make them a big deal, from C/Amn to C/Col.  Don't forget to award things like red service, CAC ribbons, recruiting ribbons, etc.  Most importantly, don't forget to recognize those who do a great job.  I just awarded my C/CC, C/CD and C/1Sgt with an achievement award for everything they've done.  They weren't expecting it, but it meant a lot - the C/CC even cried afterward (girlz... ::)  :D)

9) Make sure your cadets get a "Great Start."  If you don't set their foundation right, they'll never be independent.  Make sure they know how to use e-services, how to wear their uniforms, how to find the NCSA page, how to apply for scholarships, etc.  If they don't know that they're offered or how to apply, they'll never go.  It also helps to get them involved immediately in the squadron operations.

I made sure all these things happened when I took over as DCC and then some, which definitely had marked improvement.  I love CAP  :-*