What is a PDW?

[RayHayden]

What is the Professional Development Weekend?

In short, Professional Development has four classes that CAP members can take part in. Level I / CPPT Training (note that I combine these two classes, as members must have both, ever since I took on senior roles in PD, I required that both be taught together, so members could start participating, and advancing in the program), The Squadron Leadership School, The Corporate Learning Course and the Unit Commanders Course.

Since the Level I / CPPT program can be completed in one full day, two half days, or across a few Unit meetings, I required that the Level I / CPPT be completed before attending the PDW or Professional Development Weekend so that new members could get the "more important" course at what I call, "the show".

So, the basic program actually consists of just the SLS, CLC and the UCC. Other courses COULD be added, but are NOT to interfere with the PDW program. Cadet Leadership Courses and others have been added to a PDW here and there, but the primary purpose of the PDW is just that, the PD Courses and qualifying as many folks as possible as Directors, Instructors Staff Members and Students.

History:

OK, one nice thing about Pineda... When I was at FLWG HQ at a meeting at Patrick AFB, then Col Pineda and LtCol Sharkey discussed with me, the conducting of a massive training weekend program - originally termed a Super Training Weekend, the name migrated over time to what I called the Professional Development Weekend as that was the primary focus. I worked on it with a lot of other folks helping me over the course of about a year to develop what became the final version of the PDW program. Initially started at Florida Wing HQ South in a conference room, we conducted Level I and CPPT training, then we moved to the Pompano Squadron who graciously allowed us to use their facilities to conduct SLS and CLC programs.

After some fine tuning and finding a location at a school (originally the local community college, but at the last minute, it moved to a school in south Miami-Dade County), one CAP member that I worked with created a wonderful schedule for the class that she directed, the SLS. She had given that outline to me in advance and I used that as the template for the rest of the program. I don't say her name here, but she knows who she is and I publicly thank her for her efforts every chance I get...

From that first PDW in 2003, we had fine tuned them so that they can be conducted twice per year. The program, being in the very large Florida Wing, is set up also to be given around the entire Wing on a rotating basis to give all members the opportunity to attend the courses that they need at a relatively close location. One of the best locations that we ever had was thanks to LtCol Doug Johnson, who worked at Whiting Field, a Navy Helicopter and Primary Training facility in Pensacola... awesome facilities, wonderful people... The most professional civilian facility we ever got to use is NCCI in Boca Raton. Thanks to LtCol Bruce Smith for the several times he hosted the program there! Truly amazing location with tons of space and the tools needed to accomplish the job extremely easily...

Purpose, and how it works:

The primary purpose of the PDW is to qualify as many fine folks as possible as Directors, Instructors, Staff Members and Students as possible - or allowed by space available!

With this in mind, here is how it works: I use three directors per course. One for each course is a primary director in charge of the entire class they are in charge of. Each class also has an Academic Director in charge of the scheduling of Instructors and Staff assignments and an Administrative Director who is in charge of all the student materials and scheduling of those requirements. These three work together to bring about a nice, full class of Students and Instructors, but also to make sure that we know where hotels and food is located, how breaks will be taken among all the classes, and all the other requirements that each class has, materials, supplies, tools - overheads, PowerPoint Projectors, VCR's and all that stuff.

There is a Project Officer - typically, that is the Director of Professional Development for the Wing, when I conducted these, it was me. Here is how a PDW is began using the newest model.

The Project Officer picks the date and obtains a location with the help of local members in the area, schools, churches, government buildings and local businesses have been helpful - including Community Colleges. The Project Officer puts the word out months in advance, about four to six ought to do it, for the three Primary Directors...

In trying to qualify as many folks as possible, we are seeking those who have not actually done this before, so the qualifications by my standards are three: You have to want to do it, you cannot quit, and if you MUST quit, you must assist in finding a replacement.

The Primary Directors appoint the two other directors LOCALLY... oh, the three Primary Directors should be from the area where the PDW is to take place, but sometimes they are also from far away. The reason to have these NINE people near the PDW is to simply make sure we have 10 built in Instructors for the program. Now you see why we have so many! Also, the program attracts about a hundred or so members each time, so you NEED a lot of help!

With 10 built in instructors, among all the directors - people know other people - we "find" all the Instructors that we need to cover what classes at each course need to be filled. All of this should be done about two months out from a PDW... now the fine tuning can be done for the show.

Students are advertised for and announcements have been going out once the date and location had been locked in place. Any other courses that piggy backed on the PDW get no support directly from us, but assistance when and where we can. Other classes need to be 100% supported by the Instructors and staff of those courses. If we have the classrooms and facilities available, they are welcome, but MUST be self sufficient.

So, that's kind of it in a nutshell...

Qualify as many Directors and Instructors and Students as possible is the PRIMARY function of the PDW as it relates to Professional Development Programs, support of additional add on classes as space, time and availability allow, and to have fun doing so.

In my experiences as the Project Officer of many of these PDW's, I can tell you that I personally get zero sleep that whole weekend and very little the week before either. Many things have to be done by the Project Officer before the show, during the show, I basically try to assist and meet the needs as they evolve of the Directors, and after the show, I immediately take the CAPF-11's and check them over to make sure everyone is on them, and that they got faxed to National HQ that night on Sunday when the show closed. Lastly, I "babysit" the CAPF-11's until every single member got the credit.

Letters to the Directors go to them for their files and I created a nice certificate for them and the Instructors as well.

So, you've seen the term and saw the wording, now you have a better idea of what a Professional Development Program really is... this can be conducted ANYWHERE it needs to be done. We had members from other wings attend our programs, and I made sure each student got their credit.

This is one example of the great things CAP does. Sure I created (with a LOT of help from others) the basic program and evolved it, but it is the local Directors, Instructors, Staff and Students that make it happen...

Best wishes for much success, always!

Ray Hayden, LtCol, CAP

[Stonewall]

I just taught at a PDW.  I'm new to FLWG and was invited to teach at the TLC portion of the PDW.

I'm not sure if Level I/CPPT was held, but TLC, SLS and CLC were all there.  Great opportunity to get some training and from what I could tell, it was one heck of a turn out.  The facilities were nice too.

[RogueLeader]

IAWG spreades it out into the OTS, and offers different PD classes twice a year.

[Tim Medeiros]

The facilities were better than I thought they would be at the jacksonville PDW, good instructors too.  Welcome to FLWG Stonewall.

[Capt Rivera]

What is the Professional Development Weekend?

In short, Professional Development has four classes that CAP members can take part in. Level I / CPPT Training (note that I combine these two classes, as members must have both, ever since I took on senior roles in PD, I required that both be taught together, so members could start participating, and advancing in the program), The Squadron Leadership School, The Corporate Learning Course and the Unit Commanders Course.

Since the Level I / CPPT program can be completed in one full day, two half days, or across a few Unit meetings, I required that the Level I / CPPT be completed before attending the PDW or Professional Development Weekend so that new members could get the "more important" course at what I call, "the show".

So, the basic program actually consists of just the SLS, CLC and the UCC. Other courses COULD be added, but are NOT to interfere with the PDW program. Cadet Leadership Courses and others have been added to a PDW here and there, but the primary purpose of the PDW is just that, the PD Courses and qualifying as many folks as possible as Directors, Instructors Staff Members and Students.

History:

OK, one nice thing about Pineda... When I was at FLWG HQ at a meeting at Patrick AFB, then Col Pineda and LtCol Sharkey discussed with me, the conducting of a massive training weekend program - originally termed a Super Training Weekend, the name migrated over time to what I called the Professional Development Weekend as that was the primary focus. I worked on it with a lot of other folks helping me over the course of about a year to develop what became the final version of the PDW program. Initially started at Florida Wing HQ South in a conference room, we conducted Level I and CPPT training, then we moved to the Pompano Squadron who graciously allowed us to use their facilities to conduct SLS and CLC programs.

After some fine tuning and finding a location at a school (originally the local community college, but at the last minute, it moved to a school in south Miami-Dade County), one CAP member that I worked with created a wonderful schedule for the class that she directed, the SLS. She had given that outline to me in advance and I used that as the template for the rest of the program. I don't say her name here, but she knows who she is and I publicly thank her for her efforts every chance I get...

From that first PDW in 2003, we had fine tuned them so that they can be conducted twice per year. The program, being in the very large Florida Wing, is set up also to be given around the entire Wing on a rotating basis to give all members the opportunity to attend the courses that they need at a relatively close location. One of the best locations that we ever had was thanks to LtCol Doug Johnson, who worked at Whiting Field, a Navy Helicopter and Primary Training facility in Pensacola... awesome facilities, wonderful people... The most professional civilian facility we ever got to use is NCCI in Boca Raton. Thanks to LtCol Bruce Smith for the several times he hosted the program there! Truly amazing location with tons of space and the tools needed to accomplish the job extremely easily...

Purpose, and how it works:

The primary purpose of the PDW is to qualify as many fine folks as possible as Directors, Instructors, Staff Members and Students as possible - or allowed by space available!

With this in mind, here is how it works: I use three directors per course. One for each course is a primary director in charge of the entire class they are in charge of. Each class also has an Academic Director in charge of the scheduling of Instructors and Staff assignments and an Administrative Director who is in charge of all the student materials and scheduling of those requirements. These three work together to bring about a nice, full class of Students and Instructors, but also to make sure that we know where hotels and food is located, how breaks will be taken among all the classes, and all the other requirements that each class has, materials, supplies, tools - overheads, PowerPoint Projectors, VCR's and all that stuff.

There is a Project Officer - typically, that is the Director of Professional Development for the Wing, when I conducted these, it was me. Here is how a PDW is began using the newest model.

The Project Officer picks the date and obtains a location with the help of local members in the area, schools, churches, government buildings and local businesses have been helpful - including Community Colleges. The Project Officer puts the word out months in advance, about four to six ought to do it, for the three Primary Directors...

In trying to qualify as many folks as possible, we are seeking those who have not actually done this before, so the qualifications by my standards are three: You have to want to do it, you cannot quit, and if you MUST quit, you must assist in finding a replacement.

The Primary Directors appoint the two other directors LOCALLY... oh, the three Primary Directors should be from the area where the PDW is to take place, but sometimes they are also from far away. The reason to have these NINE people near the PDW is to simply make sure we have 10 built in Instructors for the program. Now you see why we have so many! Also, the program attracts about a hundred or so members each time, so you NEED a lot of help!

With 10 built in instructors, among all the directors - people know other people - we "find" all the Instructors that we need to cover what classes at each course need to be filled. All of this should be done about two months out from a PDW... now the fine tuning can be done for the show.

Students are advertised for and announcements have been going out once the date and location had been locked in place. Any other courses that piggy backed on the PDW get no support directly from us, but assistance when and where we can. Other classes need to be 100% supported by the Instructors and staff of those courses. If we have the classrooms and facilities available, they are welcome, but MUST be self sufficient.

So, that's kind of it in a nutshell...

Qualify as many Directors and Instructors and Students as possible is the PRIMARY function of the PDW as it relates to Professional Development Programs, support of additional add on classes as space, time and availability allow, and to have fun doing so.

In my experiences as the Project Officer of many of these PDW's, I can tell you that I personally get zero sleep that whole weekend and very little the week before either. Many things have to be done by the Project Officer before the show, during the show, I basically try to assist and meet the needs as they evolve of the Directors, and after the show, I immediately take the CAPF-11's and check them over to make sure everyone is on them, and that they got faxed to National HQ that night on Sunday when the show closed. Lastly, I "babysit" the CAPF-11's until every single member got the credit.

Letters to the Directors go to them for their files and I created a nice certificate for them and the Instructors as well.

So, you've seen the term and saw the wording, now you have a better idea of what a Professional Development Program really is... this can be conducted ANYWHERE it needs to be done. We had members from other wings attend our programs, and I made sure each student got their credit.

This is one example of the great things CAP does. Sure I created (with a LOT of help from others) the basic program and evolved it, but it is the local Directors, Instructors, Staff and Students that make it happen...

Best wishes for much success, always!

Ray Hayden, LtCol, CAP

I was wondering If I could take a look at the certificate and Letter you made for Ideas or template use....  Thanks

[mikeylikey]

^^I think he may be gone!

[Pylon]

^^I think he may be gone!

That is true.  Unfortunately, due to circumstances that were within his control, Mr. Hayden will not be joining us for further discussion for a period of time. 

I was wondering If I could take a look at the certificate and Letter you made for Ideas or template use....  Thanks

Hopefully other members of the discussion community who do share their comments respectfully have examples of certificates they've used which can be shared.

[Capt Rivera]

^^I think he may be gone!

status says suspended... I read some of his last posts... why was he suspended?

[Capt Rivera]

^^I think he may be gone!

That is true.  Unfortunately, due to circumstances that were within his control, Mr. Hayden will not be joining us for further discussion for a period of time. 

I was wondering If I could take a look at the certificate and Letter you made for Ideas or template use....  Thanks

Hopefully other members of the discussion community who do share their comments respectfully have examples of certificates they've used which can be shared.

Yes, hopefully. I'm sure theres things I missed and don't know about but looking over some of his last posts... i didn't see a reason to suspend... maybe I skimmed to much etc.... Whatever the reasons good or bad it seems like hes an asset lost to this board and to CAP... just my personal opinion though.

What if we start a new area called "[censored]es, Gripes and Complaints?" and whenever a member has one instead of putting it in an ongoing topic taking away from the discussion [yes i know I'm guilty of that] they can post it there and people can then choose to read or not to read knowing what they are getting to when they first open the area.

[mikeylikey]

Yes, hopefully. I'm sure theres things I missed and don't know about but looking over some of his last posts... i didn't see a reason to suspend... maybe I skimmed to much etc.... Whatever the reasons good or bad it seems like hes an asset lost to this board and to CAP... just my personal opinion though.

Hmmm......that strikes as something MR. Hayden would say.  Just kidding you!

[Capt Rivera]

Yes, hopefully. I'm sure theres things I missed and don't know about but looking over some of his last posts... i didn't see a reason to suspend... maybe I skimmed to much etc.... Whatever the reasons good or bad it seems like hes an asset lost to this board and to CAP... just my personal opinion though.

Hmmm......that strikes as something MR. Hayden would say.  Just kidding you!

I've been briefed that many posts hes made have been removed. 

[SAR-EMT1]

So... back to topic,
- Do any FLWG types have an example of this certificate?