Where do they go from here?

[James Shaw]

I have often wondered what happens to some members after they have completed their terms of office, selection, or election.

National Staff members such as the National Legal Officer, National Safety Officer, National Medical Officer, National Curator and others all serve at the discretion of the current National Commander. They may not have a specific term limit defined but technically a new National Commander can replace any of them with people they wish to have. Within the grander scheme of things they have "topped out" in the leadership structure unless they choose to run for a higher office or something of that sort. The vast majority of these are already permanent "Colonels". It would seem logical that they have already completed all of their requirements for PD.

Am I correct?

Former National Commanders have a counsel that helps provide feedback to CAP Leadership. They may also be involved in other senior leadership activities with the current National Commander as a sounding board....am I correct?

I am not sure what happens with former Regional Commanders if they don't run for CV/CC. Do they take a rest for a while and then come back in some type of support role at the same level.

How about former Wing Commanders that do not become a region commander? Do they take some time off after their term is up and then come back in some sort of support role. This would seem especially relevant for those wing commanders that have been in for a relatively short period of time. What does a Wing Commander do that has been in for ten years that has already "topped" out as a Colonel unless they run for higher office?

[FW]

Jim, some become CAPTalk Contributors... 

Seriously, The National Legal Officer, Finance Officer,Controller, Chief of Staff and Chaplain serve 1 year terms and are NEC members.  The National IG serves a 3 year term and is also a (non voting) NEC member.  They can be reappointed as often as the National Commander wants.  All other National Staff Officers serve at the commanders pleasure (no specified term). 

When these officers step down they usually go back to their home region or wing and serve in some capacity at that level.  Former region commanders, for the most part, stay at the region and serve in some other capacity or become part of the national staff.  Former wing commanders historically moved up to region staff; some become national staff or region commanders and, sometimes, they end up as National Commander. 

Most should become mentors to those who are "moving up". (I am an "Executive Level" mentor for the OE track) They have vast experience and knowledge which is valuable.  Listening to them could keep us from reinventing ourselves every 3 or so years. 

[jeders]

A couple of examples:

The recent OKWG CC Col. Castle is now on Southwest Region Staff, and the former TXWG CC Col. Smith is now the Safety Officer at the Wichita Falls Squadron which his daughter commands. Col. Eldridge, who Col. Smith replaced as wing commander, also serves at the squadron level as I understand.

[RiverAux]

From what I can tell, the chances of you staying in CAP after completing a term as a commander at any level are very low unless you get promoted upward.  I believe this is almost entirely due to the hidden politics of CAP at the Wing level and above.  The reason that squadron commanders don't stick around is most likely because they get stuck in the position so long that they are absolutely burnt out by the time they get a replacement. 

The situation is entirely different in CG Aux where commander terms are short.  Probably almost half the active members have served as flotilla commander and about half of them have served as Division Commander (more or less comparable to a CAP group commander).  Several are or have been serving on the District staff (equivalent to CAP region) and one is currently on national staff.  I'd say my flotilla is fairly representative of what you'd see in most other flotillas in terms of having lots of former flotilla and division commanders around. 

Find me a CAP unit anywhere in the country that could claim anything similar.  There is just something about CAP that drives former commanders away if they don't move up the chain.  Not all go of course (our Wing has a former Region Commander that is still very active and a couple of former Wing commanders still young enough to do things).

[jeders]

From what I can tell, the chances of you staying in CAP after completing a term as a commander at any level are very low unless you get promoted upward.  I believe this is almost entirely due to the hidden politics of CAP at the Wing level and above.  The reason that squadron commanders don't stick around is most likely because they get stuck in the position so long that they are absolutely burnt out by the time they get a replacement. 

I'm not sure I can buy this, at least a the squadron level. In the past 11 years that I've been in CAP my squadron has had 9 commanders, including our current commander. Of those 9, 1 has passed away, 3 were active AF and transferred out, and the others are all still active members in this squadron. Those 3 that transferred out due to being AF, to my knowledge, remained active for some times, and at least 1 is still active.

I think that after you are a commander there is probably a higher probability of leaving CAP for some reason or another. Though looking at the number of first year members that leave CAP, I don't think the number of former commanders leaving is extraordinarily high. Again, this is just based on my observations, YMMV.

[RiverAux]

Hmmm, that is a lot of commanders in a short period of time and seems to be outside the norm of CAP.  Even if we discount the 3 who transferred out, that leaves 6 commanders in 11 years with 5 still active.  I can't help but notice that on average they served about as long as CG Aux flotilla commanders do (1 or 2 years) and have about the same retention rate within the unit.  Coincidence?

I should say that the level of stress involved in being a CAP squadron commander (not even including politics) is much higher than being a CG Aux flotilla commander.  So, its much more likely that a CAP commander is going to burnt out more than a CG Aux commander that serves the same period of time.  So, my comparison isn't a 100% match, but its as close as we're going to get to another organization.

It is also quite possible that many CAP commanders leave after their term because they've done everything they've wanted to do in CAP.  Working at the squadron level is way more rewarding than anything else in CAP and the smart ones realize that. 

[MSG Mac]

I think that the assignment of former corporate officers is to a large extent based on their relationship with the incoming commander. The best Wing Commander I ever had was ignored when his replacement was named and wasn't offered any position in the new administratiion.

[Larry Mangum]

1. Since 1999, WAWG has had 5 wing Commanders (including the current commander) and only 1 is no longer in CAP.  The rest serve at the wing or region level.
2. Since 1999, PCR has had 5 Region Commanders  (including the current commander) and all are still active in CAP.  Several serve at the National Level, one at the wing level and the other two on the region level.

[The CyBorg is destroyed]

My first squadron commander went on to become a Wing Commander.

After that he took a Region post for a couple of years, but now he calls himself "Colonel, CAP Retired."