Whats going right in CT, IN, and RI?

[RiverAux]

In looking at the change in membership numbers from 2006 to 2007, three states really stand out on the positive side:

Connecticut= +23% (actually up 29% since 2005). 
Indiana= +9% (actually up 25% since 2005)
Rhode Island= +14%

Do we have anyone here from those states that can explain what they're doing to bring in all those folks? 

FYI, the worst decline in the country from 2006-2007 was Iowa (-11%), but I think we've discussed that enough elsewhere. 

[futura]

From my limited perspective I'd say that it's effective leadership.

The new CT Wing Commander is a pilot and owns his own plane.

He has selected a top notch command staff.

Lot's of enthusiasm from the top down and common sense decisions.

Our squadron cadet membership is also up from 3 years ago.

Capt Futura

[FW]

I don't know how Indiana Wing is doing so well.  Congratulations to them.
However, NYWG is down about 450 members since '04.  Some may have transfered to CTWG which has had about 120 net new members in the same time frame.
Rhode Island only has about 250 members at any one time.  A 9% jump is about 22 net new members in the wing.  It's a great start, but at one time, not too long ago, they had over 400 members.

Competent Leadership, motivated members, popular programs all may play a part.

Nationally, we have had a membership increase of over 1000 members this year.  
Maybe we've turned a corner.  This could be the start of something good.

[RiverAux]

Rhode Island's increase, while still larger than most CAP Wing's probably can be explained away as just doing things the way they're supposed to be done.  However, CT and IN are way, way out of the mainstream.  Remember, between 2005 and 2007 CAP overall lost membership and these guys bucked that trend something fierce.

So, I think there must be something more going on in IN and CT as their increases are far beyond what you might expect just from having a well-led decent program. 

[Gunner C]

Rhode Island only has about 250 members at any one time.  A 9% jump is about 22 net new members in the wing.  It's a great start, but at one time, not too long ago, they had over 400 members.

Wow, the group I commanded was twice that size with one of the squadrons being approximately that size.  I had no idea they were such a small wing. I respect those folks who do more with less.


GC

[mikeylikey]

Maybe the leadership stressed (beaten to death) the idea that everyone needs to be a recruiter??

Also, did anyone take into account legislative members that may have been added?

There is a whole slew of things that can make the numbers go up, that really only adds "dead weight" and does not add actual members that will perform missions.  

Now if these Wings continue to have an increase in membership for a straight three years, that is something that should be looked into!

[Gunner C]

I agree.  However, inertia is hard to overcome.  The direction you're going is many times as important as the length of the trip.

GC

[RiverAux]

IN has gone up 38% since 2004 (grew each year)
CT decreased from 2004 to 2005, but grew since then. 

I don't think you can attribute those sorts of numbers to "padding" as mikey suggests. 

[Eclipse]

Actually I was surprised to see my own wing up by about 200 members since the last time I checked.

Encampment attendance exploded this year out of nowhere as well.

[RiverAux]

From 2004-07 Indiana Wing increased flying hours from 1702 to 2162 (+27%) so I don't think added deadweight helped them do that.  

2004 to 2007:
Cadet membership= +14%
Officer membership= +62%.  

While it isn't too hard to increase cadet numbers if you put your mind to it, a 62% increase in Officers on the Wing level is just astounding to me.  A new squadron might be able to do that, but that has got to be worth looking at overall. 

[mikeylikey]

^ I was only throwing out other reasoning than "good leadership". 

Millions of reasons those Wings saw added members.  Since I don't live in any of them, I can only make educated generalizations.

[davidsinn]

From 2004-07 Indiana Wing increased flying hours from 1702 to 2162 (+27%) so I don't think added deadweight helped them do that. 

2004 to 2007:
Cadet membership= +14%
Officer membership= +62%. 

While it isn't too hard to increase cadet numbers if you put your mind to it, a 62% increase in Officers on the Wing level is just astounding to me.  A new squadron might be able to do that, but that has got to be worth looking at overall. 

In 2006 11 new units were chartered in INWG. Since then a few more have been chartered and only one or two have folded. One unit in particular that is commanded by a good friend of mine doubled last year.

[RiverAux]

Could you tell us a little about these new units in IN wing?  Were they additional units in large metropolitan areas with existing units or were you expanding out into smaller towns?

I have a hard time believeing new units made up primarily of officers could be so successful unless they had airplanes.  Were existing planes rotated to these new units on a part-time basis?

[davidsinn]

Most of the units are in smaller areas. I'm not really the one to talk to as I joined one of those new units in '06. Captalk member John Bryan is the goto guy as he was the Wing Commander at the time this explosion took off. Watch us closely over the next six years. We added a charter school program that uses the CP program so they are adding one 100 member class every year until they meet capacity of 600. That's 600 new cadets over the next six years. That's bigger than some wings if I'm not mistaken. The answer here is superb leadership, both with the Boss and his staff. Col Bryan started it and Col Reeves is continuing it. Our ES program is second to none in the Midwest. Thanks to our outgoing DO and his DOS. Our just stepped down CS did an exceptional job with the day to day grind.

[dwb]

Do you have a link for these trends in membership numbers?

[davidsinn]

Do you have a link for these trends in membership numbers?

If you mean the past trends: no I don't. If the charter school: I'll see what I can do.

[davidsinn]

Do you have a link for these trends in membership numbers?

I was mistaken. It's 200 the first year
http://www.cap.gov/visitors/news/cap_news_online/index.cfm?fuseaction=display&nodeID=6192&newsID=3171&year=2007&month=6

[John Bryan]

Most of the units are in smaller areas. I'm not really the one to talk to as I joined one of those new units in '06. Captalk member John Bryan is the goto guy as he was the Wing Commander at the time this explosion took off. Watch us closely over the next six years. We added a charter school program that uses the CP program so they are adding one 100 member class every year until they meet capacity of 600. That's 600 new cadets over the next six years. That's bigger than some wings if I'm not mistaken. The answer here is superb leadership, both with the Boss and his staff. Col Bryan started it and Col Reeves is continuing it. Our ES program is second to none in the Midwest. Thanks to our outgoing DO and his DOS. Our just stepped down CS did an exceptional job with the day to day grind.

Lt Sinn is too kind.....It was not and is not due to any one person. My best move when I became Wing Commander was recruiting a great staff...they did the hard work.

The first thing I did was charter 5 groups and ask the Group Commanders to get in the field check on the units we had and help any weak units become strong. Between the wing command staff and group CC the units had people from wing or group out in the field visiting and supporting every month. I then asked them to each try and charter one new unit a year. They decided they could do better then that and by the time I was fired in my 11 month for my "poor performance" they had opened 13 new squadrons or flights.

Lt Col Richard Griffith (then a Major) was put in charge of our school program/school group. He not only has opened 3 units to date but also has worked with the Indiana Dept of Education to get CAP given secondary credit as an elective class.  He and his staff linked our program to the Indiana State Education Standards. We are the only school program in the Great Lakes Region. Lt Col Griffith is the current Indiana Wing Vice Commander.

I appointed an outstanding Director of Logistics who was able to get the wing's first and only successful rating on a survey audit in the last 12 years. He was also able to for the first time really start to get equipment out to field units. This increased morale and let units know wing did care and want to help them with real support. Sadly this officer has since left the active membership and the LG section has had some backslide....being on freeze again currently. I understand that most of the current issues are almost resolved.

We appointed a great DO and DOS. We increased ES training and got more members into missions...we loss members who join are not given something to do. We have tried to give more members more work to do. We increased our number of IC's from 4 to 10. Started a CISM program, this will help prevent burnout and help retain members in not only ES but in CAP. We increased our communications with the state. This year we have seen more requests from the state to perform state missions then in the last 20 years. We continue to have one of the most active CN programs in the nation. We started working with and using SDIS. We worked with the state to pass two laws protecting members from getting into trouble for missing work or school for CAP real world missions. We also started a glider program....the 1st time in about 22 years Indiana has had a glider.

Like Lt Sinn said a lot of the programs and growth started in 2006 by my administration continue under the leadership of the current Indiana Wing Commander , Col Mark Reeves who  has been doing a great job.

[dwb]

If you mean the past trends: no I don't. If the charter school: I'll see what I can do.

I was more asking RiverAux (and others) where they got the stats on their Wing's membership over the past few years.  My apologies, I should have been more specific. 

[davidsinn]

If you mean the past trends: no I don't. If the charter school: I'll see what I can do.

I was more asking RiverAux (and others) where they got the stats on their Wing's membership over the past few years.  My apologies, I should have been more specific. 

It's all good. :-)

[RiverAux]

If you mean the past trends: no I don't. If the charter school: I'll see what I can do.

I was more asking RiverAux (and others) where they got the stats on their Wing's membership over the past few years.  My apologies, I should have been more specific. 

Analysis of membership numbers reported in CAP annual reports in my possession and online. 

[Eight Ball]

Connecticut's CC inherited a half-empty wing staff, low-time airplanes, and sagging morale. The place was a real mess. He put a lot of stress on putting the AIR back into the CAP. He also made CAP more fun for the cadets - he stressed o-flights, encampments riflery and rocketry, and they have a lot more cadets now. He also got a lot of good guys (and gals) onto his Wing Staff. After two years or so, it's a whole different wing up there. 

[Jolt]

As far as cadets go in Connecticut, I have noticed a few new things that weren't being done before Col Jensen stepped in.  Wing o-flight days were started by Col Jensen, the wing rocketry competition with the "commander's cup" is new, each squadron has, or is developing, a rifle team for competition, and cadets are now allowed ten powered o-flights to account for the unfortunate fact that the wing still doesn't have a glider/glider pilots.

We've also opened a brand new squadron in a large city, and my squadron's numbers have gone up considerably.  We even had to change to a composite squadron about two years ago due to our number of senior members.  Lately, we've been getting about twenty to twenty-five cadets to show up to our weekly meetings on Friday nights.

One other thing I've noticed about our squadron's cadet membership is that the mean age seems to be lower than it had been.  I'm not sure what to make of that, though.

[Turk]

CT Wing hit 645 members last month. I'm told they haven't been at this level since the 1970s. They also got another aircraft; that has to be an attraction.   :clap:

IN Wing has opened several new units.   :clap:
They have also signed up a good chunk of their state legislature.

RI Wing had a big spurt in 2007; they have since fallen back a little.
Still, they gained a lot of ground.  :clap:

[RiverAux]

According to their latest newsletter, Indiana Wing is almost at 1,250 members.  Thats up almost 20% since October 2007 and up 43% since October 2006.  And up 66% since 2004. 

They're continuing to show how things can be done.  Go Hoosiers!

[Duke Dillio]

And they fired the IN wing commander because???......

[davidsinn]

We are about to gain several hundered cadets in less than 2 months. We're starting a charter school in Anderson IN.

[RickFranz]

RiverAux

Where are you getting these long term numbers from?

Thanks

[RiverAux]

As I said earlier in the thread, they are from CAP's annual reports to congress.  Some of the more recent ones are available on the CAP web site under public affairs. 

[RickFranz]

^
Sorry, I guess I missed that.

Thanks