How to get Cadets to promote?

[Eclipse]

Unless I missed something, OP neither mentioned nor implied anything of his cadets having special needs.

A "special need" doesn't automatically equal an IEP, nor is an actual IEP required.

Cadets not testing for months means only one of a few possibilities.

1 -  They don't care about CAP and are just hanging around.

2 - The unit isn't emphasizing progression and promotion properly.

3 - There is some known or unknown issue with the respective cadet that needs to be remediated.

#1 is hard to fix, may not be recoverable, and speaks to whether the cadet should have been accepted as a member.

#2 take whole sale leadership attitude adjustment.

#3 is usually the culprit, you just have to find out what or why.

[LTC Don]

Nothing in the Cadet Oath about progression?

The Cadet Oath
I pledge that I will serve faithfully in the Civil Air Patrol Cadet Program, and that I will attend meetings regularly, participate actively in unit activities, obey my officers, wear my uniform properly, and advance my education and training rapidly to prepare myself to be of service to my community, state, and nation.

Or does the oath specifically omit progression so it can't be held over their heads? "advance my education and training" is a bit ambiguous.

If the expectation that cadets progress regularly according to the established time-in-grade requirement during the three month orientation visits or the Great Start process, the system is broken.  Badly.  The standard, stated expectation is that ALL cadets are expected to complete the program (Spaatz).  And that expectation should be hammered from day one. Cadets who stutter and stop progressing should be banned from holding any staff positions and put into a general flight as a member.

[KASSRCrashResearch]

Flight Sergeant, why are we standing here in the mud?

Guess its better than "Running in the mud...?"

Or pushups in the mud.

Which, in turn, is better than low crawling an considerable distance in the mud.

[kwe1009]

Cadets who stutter and stop progressing should be banned from holding any staff positions and put into a general flight as a member.

THIS!!!

Do you have a C/CMSgt who had held that rank for 2 or more years and had never even attempted the Mitchell or worse, has completed the Armstrong achievement?  Do you let them hold any staff positions?  If so, you are encouraging them to stay where they are.  You are also showing the rest of the cadets that they don't need to promote.  I made it mandatory that staff members earn at least 1 achievement everyone quarter and anyone who was applying for a staff position had to have earned and achievement in the previous 3 months.  This got a lot of people motivated.

There is a very good cadet in my Wing and he excels at Comm.  Unfortunately that is the only thing he does.  Even more unfortunate is the fact that everyone is allowing this cadet to just stay in the Comm trailer at events.  I have talked to his commander and other Wing event leaders but I get the same response, "that is what he wants to do."  When I ask if anyone, especially his squadron CC had tried to get him to expand beyond this the answer is "no."  We are supposed to challenge cadets to grow outside of their comfort zones.  This cadet has been a C/CMSgt for nearly 3 years and in CAP for 6.  I know that not everyone is a leader and not everyone wants to be a leader but I think it is our responsibility to highly encourage cadets to at least try.  Some of the best cadet leaders that I have been around were originally cadets who just wanted to stay in the back of the flight and go unnoticed.

[GaryVC]

Sounds to me like this cadet may be an asset as a senior member. He should be close to 18 if he isn't already if he has been a member for six years. I can't help wondering if he ever went to encampment. That was a problem for some WIWAC back in the stone age.

[Eclipse]

There is a very good cadet in my Wing and he excels at Comm.

A cadet who has been a Chief for 3 years is not a "good cadet".  He may be well mannered and spoken,
a pleasure to be around, and knowledgeable about topics he is interested in.  That makes him a good kid
but not a good "cadet" per se.

Those situations are abject failures of leadership.

The "Chiefs in Ranks" issue has been a problem for ages, which is why it's so important to get cadets to an encampment
during their first, or at the latest second year as members.

[kwe1009]

Sounds to me like this cadet may be an asset as a senior member. He should be close to 18 if he isn't already if he has been a member for six years. I can't help wondering if he ever went to encampment. That was a problem for some WIWAC back in the stone age.

Multiple encampments.  Has been Comm NCO for the last 2 or 3 encampments.

He applied for staff at an event that I was running and asked to be the Comm NCO.  I told him that we didn't need that position since we weren't even using radios. I tried to encourage him to be a flight sergeant but he said that he only wanted to do Comm.  It is really too bad because this cadet is very good at this one job and shows aptitude to be a good leader.  He hasn't been challenged to work the leadership muscles because he is so good at the one job everyone wants him to do that.

[Eclipse]

Far too often CAP adult staff forget why these events happen, especially encampments, and
choose candidates they are comfortable with and who they know will make for an easy week
instead of giving new guys a chance or pushing those who need a push to do something challenging.

[PHall]

Flight Sergeant, why are we standing here in the mud?

Guess its better than "Running in the mud...?"

Or pushups in the mud.

Thought about this but did not want to get that far...

That's because you forgot . . . . . Flutter Kicks in the mud!

[TheSkyHornet]

We've recently implemented a new SOP, to see how it plays out over a few months, regarding testing. Someone who doesn't complete the required testing via the sign-up process (or take the online tests on their own) within the previous 2 months are signed up for testing by our cadet staff. For written testing, we talk with the cadet first off to the side and ask what their issue may be with testing. For cadets who have an obviously hard time with testing, we have made discretionary changes to the testing process, to include verbal explanations of subject matter and time extensions. But that's very rare. But for cadets who have lagged---"In two weeks, you're taking your (whatever test). Study up." This all ends up part of the review process as they promote.

Face it, some people just don't have the drive to complete online assignments on their own time. It's a major pet peeve of mine, but it's not detrimental to their future. We address it, we correct it (or at least attempt), and we move forward and see how it goes. I see of lot of that at the C/SrA-C/MSgt ranks.

I find a lot of C/Senior-NCOs really start to slow down. There's a rhetoric throughout CAP where I hear cadets often say "so-and-so told me I shouldn't become an officer, so I'm comfortable with where I am." I think that's an excuse by people who can't pass the tests or can't pass PT. Because once I hear someone say "I'm just not going to do the work," they're informed that if they don't do the work they're stripped of their duty positions. Some fall off, some really click.

If you have a program where the majority of the pack aren't promoting, you don't have an interesting training program. If you have a program where the senior cadets aren't promoting, it's because they feel like they're in a position of power without having to earn it (and don't understand what their roles are). We've shifted from being pretty stagnant with promotions to starting to really see it come together and people trying to move up. But we also set those standards for holding staff assignments and make clear our expectations.

Everyone deserves a chance, but once that chance has been dangled in front of you, you either step up and take it or face the consequences. You see a 2-year Chief get passed up by all his friends, he/she is either going to get with the program or drop out. Give positive feedback and credit when due, and teach those who elect to just "do their own thing" that they aren't in charge and they don't control what happen around them; there are consequences.



Anyone here ever see someone who wants to be in a position of authority but doesn't want the responsibility that comes with it? Unheard of, am I right? Unthinkable! *extreme sarcasm*