Accepting squadron command at the end of the month!

[BFreemanMA]

Hello everyone,

I'm very excited and honored to announce that I will accept command of my squadron at the end of this month. My wing commander and outgoing commander have given me lots of insight, guidance, and advice. I was looking to extend this advice-giving to the Internet. To anyone who is a past, present, or future commander: what advice would you give an incoming commander?

[lordmonar]

Congrats....best job in CAP.

You will love it.
You will hate it.

But it is worth it.

[Eclipse]

Congrats....best job in CAP.

You will love it.
You will hate it.

But it is worth it.

+1 - The only job where you can really make a difference.

Advice-wise, chart your path and stay on it, even in the face of naysayers and "we never did it that way before".

Take the things your unit is doing well and continue them, while looking at the places where you can make things better.

Day 1 make it clear that everyone's job is open, and make the changes necessary.

Solicit the input of your staff, look to the next echelon for mentoring and guidance, but in the end remember that you are the
Commander, a unit is not a democracy, and it's impossible to make everyone happy.

[EMT-83]

Congratulations Brian. It seems like only yesterday that you were a wide-eyed newbie at SLS.

You'll do just fine; you have some good folks up there at Westover.

[THRAWN]

Congrats....best job in CAP.

You will love it.
You will hate it.

But it is worth it.

+1 - The only job where you can really make a difference.

Advice-wise, chart your path and stay on it, even in the face of naysayers and "we never did it that way before".

Take the things your unit is doing well and continue them, while looking at the places where you can make things better.

Day 1 make it clear that everyone's job is open, and make the changes necessary.

Solicit the input of your staff, look to the next echelon for mentoring and guidance, but in the end remember that you are the
Commander, a unit is not a democracy, and it's impossible to make everyone happy.

Can't say much more than this. It is the best postion that I held in CAP and even now, a decade plus after I surrendered my flag, I still use the lessons that I learned. Best of luck to you and your squadron!

[FW]

Congrats!  Westover Sq. has a great history, and, at least one former MAWG/CC come from it's ranks.  Make the most of your term.

[Al Sayre]

Congratulations and condolences!  Best job you will ever hate at times.  Remember, if you want to fix a flat tire, you have to get close enough to turn the wrench. You've just been given the lug wrench...

[Майор Хаткевич]

Congrats on getting the (IMO) scariest gig in CAP!

[jeders]

Hello everyone,

I'm very excited and honored to announce that I will accept command of my squadron at the end of this month.

Congratulations.

...what advice would you give an incoming commander?

Run...run now and run fast. 

Seriously though, everything that Eclipse said above. Don't be afraid of tough conversations and hurting people's feelings, but always keep in mind that we are all volunteers and can only deal with so much. Also, everyone in the squadron is going to look to you for answers, don't be afraid to ask others for help, be it your staff, higher echelons or even here.

I aged several years in the 14 months that was my first tour as commander, but I wouldn't have traded that experience for anything in the world, except maybe a longer tour.

[Private Investigator]

Hello everyone,

I'm very excited and honored to announce that I will accept command of my squadron at the end of this month. My wing commander and outgoing commander have given me lots of insight, guidance, and advice. I was looking to extend this advice-giving to the Internet. To anyone who is a past, present, or future commander: what advice would you give an incoming commander?

Congratulations. You can not make everyone happy so do your best. You will make mistakes but learn from them. Cadets always remember their Squadron Commander even 20 years later. Most important have fun with it.  :clap:

[LTCinSWR]

Congratulations - it is the best job in CAP. Think of yourself as a gardener: you prep the soil (sounds like that has been started for you), plant the seeds, cultivate and water and hopefully, yield a bountiful harvest in terms of lives positively affected. If you are working for the members and the organization, it can be lots of fun, even with the hours you will put in.

[Майор Хаткевич]

Hello everyone,

I'm very excited and honored to announce that I will accept command of my squadron at the end of this month. My wing commander and outgoing commander have given me lots of insight, guidance, and advice. I was looking to extend this advice-giving to the Internet. To anyone who is a past, present, or future commander: what advice would you give an incoming commander?

Congratulations. You can not make everyone happy so do your best. You will make mistakes but learn from them. Cadets always remember their Squadron Commander even 20 years later. Most important have fun with it.  :clap:

For good, bad, or ugly: Rummings, Danley, Elfstrom, Eclipse, Murph, PWK-GT, Dempsey. Only had 1 CDC, current CC.

[BFreemanMA]

Thank you all for your insight and advice. My "civilian" job is as an 11th and 12th grade English teacher, so I have loads of experience in herding cats. However, I am looking forward to, as many of you put it, sowing and reaping the effort.

Thanks for the well-wishes and support!

[Spam]

Planning.
My first CC gig was reactive mode, all the way; I was told if I didn't take it, the unit would be shuttered (what emotional blackmail) and a few months later we got hit with a four month flooding DR mission (1993, MOWG). React, react, react... so, I determined years later in command #2, I would get inside the OODA loop of CAP and prevail (Google OODA loop and tactical fighter workload... a good AE topic).

- A Plan = a strategy PLUS a schedule. You need both or you are just a scheduler, not a leader and manager.

Why you must learn to plan in CAP:
We're all volunteers, so you need to plan for "graceful degradation" of staff availability by always having a backup plan or backup instructors built into your plan.
You must coordinate with other organizations and not look stupid/aimless.
Motivation: professional meetings attract and retain members, and spur of the moment, ad hoc meetings give poor quality and execution by comparison.
You must design training time to meet training needs per your training plan.
The planning cycle pushes you to think strategically and focus on aiming for success, vice just showing up.


How to plan strategically in CAP:
Form your command team (which may be key positions like your DA/DP, your CDC, your DO, and your LG), then:
- Analyze your teams performance (brutally honestly, but without offense)
- Flow down your boss' goals (Group and Wing)
- Set your goals and own them (communicate), both minimum and stretch goals
- Set a long range strategy
E.g. we want to field 2 fully qualified aircrews at SAREVAL, starting from scratch
Long lead = need x months + y AFAMs + z training events per month to get there.
- Start a routine with a staff planning cycle, for example:
APR staff: update the APR plan, review 2ndquarter performance/progress
MAY staff: update the MAY plan, discuss and set goals for 4thquarter
JUN staff: update the JUN plan, draft 4thquarter plan for JUL/AUG/SEP.

Long Range Planning
Start with:
Wing Calendar
Your Unit training plans (if you don't have any, stop here and write them)
Process:
Block out and be sensitive to holidays
Insert Wing training events and draft dates
Insert recurring event dates (such as monthly safety briefings, Inspection prep, Encampment prep, lead time workups for FTX/SAREXs, etc.)
Insert recurring suspense items as meeting drivers (e.g. Monthly vehicle reports, AE plan, finance plan/reports due dates).
Post this long range plan on your website and at the unit.

Quarterly and Monthly Planning
Using the long range plan, build:
Your 3 month draft plan
Fill out events on a standard monthly meeting cycle
Populate class/briefing topics and assign an OPR
Plan weekend events with an assigned OPR
Pick a backup project officer, always! (a good practice is to have a backup, and also good training for him/her).
At each months staff meeting,
Go over the next months plan
Get a progress update from the assigned OPR
Assign resources as needed (money, training material, etc).
Answer questions and gain consensus
Adjust the plan to reality

[Eclipse]

^ Lots of good advice up there.

If your members don't know what you're doing next week / month / year, they can't make time and decisions
about what they want to do.

[Walkman]

I'm 11 days from finishing my first year in my first command. A big lesson I've learned is the importance of having the right staff. Good deputies and c/CC's are a gold mine and will make your life infinitely easier, while the wrong people in place will make you life miserable.

[Spam]

Soooo, Brian, how does it feel (assuming you've accepted the colors)?

V/R,
Spam

PS, Kristian, thanks for your service!

[BFreemanMA]

Sorry, forgot to check this thread after my last response!

So far, things have been going fantastically. In my interview with my Wing Commander before I was offered command, I produced a command plan and a vision statement for where I saw my squadron in the future. My first month of command has involved implementing my plan (a la Spam!) and sitting down with the primary in each duty position to discuss my goals for the squadron and their own goals for their directorate. Then, we created SMART goals that clearly outlined what the directorate wanted to accomplish, when, and how. This also included what the primary needed from command staff to make their goals happen (which was good to have when setting up my own plan!).

As many have echoed, having an excellent staff is key and I am both honored and blessed to have an amazing staff. I expected pushback on a couple things like SMART goals and mandating class Bs or corporate-equivalent during our staff meetings, but everyone has been professional and excellent.

As far as feelings go, it doesn't feel too terribly different than when I was a "line officer." I tried to do as much reading on volunteer leadership as possible, which has gone a long way in reducing my nervousness and uncertainty. It is weird for me to not be the one who leaps up to solve a problem or plan an event and I find myself mentally saying, "You're in charge of the bigger picture now. Let your staff execute the plan. Trust them!" a lot to remind myself of my role.

Long story short, it is an immense responsibility to be entrusted with countless dollars of USAF and corporate-funded equipment and to execute our three missions responsibly, professionally, and with expert precision, but I wouldn't trade this job for anything in the world!

Until my tenure is up, of course! But, by then, my replacement will be trained and ready to accept their own command and I will be honored to see the cycle continue.

In case anyone might be interested, I have attached the worksheet I'm using. Forgive the formatting as I was using OpenOffice, but it's been working very well for me. Anyone who feels so inclined has my full permission to use it.

[Eclipse]

It sounds like you're off to an excellent start!

[Spam]

Sounds like great work.  Now of course, you've heard the military aphorism, "No battle plan ever survives contact with the enemy", right?  (Von Moltke).

That's where the "graceful degradation" (as opposed to system crash) comes in, when volunteers have to prioritize life over CAP, and where good units lay in backups ahead of time "just in case".

I've told my cadets (and officers) for years now that they need to keep a sense of priorities: faith, family, and work (school) must come before CAP or any hobby, and that they have to coordinate in CAP to ensure that we have coverage for when members need to properly drop out of the picture to take care of priorities.

Best of luck to you sir... make sure your troops get "paid" for all that good work!

V/R,
Spam

[SeanM]

Isn't that what CAP stands for?  "Commander Always Pays?"   

Congrats on your first month!

Sean

[Storm Chaser]

It looks like you're on the right track. Congratulations and good luck!

[LSThiker]

It looks like you're on the right track. Congratulations and good luck!

Speaking of which, did you recently become a group commander or did I just now notice that star on the command pin?

[Storm Chaser]

I just recently took command.

[Mela_007]

May I ask a question of this group (I have seen a lot of great suggestions here)?  I was in the same place last year when, either I took command or they would have to fold the long standing squadron (nobody else would step up).  I applied and got the position, with a change of command ceremony 10 days prior to my 1 year membership in CAP. 

My question is:  How do you handle the sometimes overwhelming stress?

There was no pass down, nor training, plus the squadron was/is in a serious state of flux.  The squadron senior members have really taken this on and we are holding our own, but...I really don't know if I can handle all of this (on top of everything else).  I don't even know what I'm doing as a normal member (still a very new member) and I'm in "command"?!?!!!!!  Wing is happy with me thus far, but I just don't know what to do.....

[Paul Creed III]

Find yourself a fellow squadron commander or former commander who is willing to mentor you. Every commander was new once and feeling overwhelmed.

[Storm Chaser]

This is unfortunately reality for many CAP units. In an ideal world, you would have a few years of experience and some training under your belt before being tasked for a command position. That's not the case many times.

As a new commander, you should be enrolled in the Command specialty track and your wing commander should have appointed you a mentor. If that didn't happen, I would certainly find someone experienced to serve as your mentor. It can make a huge difference. Talk to your fellow commanders. Attend every training opportunity you can (within reason, as you're probably already overtasked). Take advantage of your staff and delegate. Make sure they be trained and mentored as well.

Make sure you're still doing things that you find interesting or fun. I've seen many commanders leave CAP or become inactive because they were burned out and CAP stopped being fun for them. And finally, keep things into perspective and don't forget your priorities. While you made a commitment to CAP, your family, work, etc. come first. Don't neglect them because of CAP.

[lordmonar]

May I ask a question of this group (I have seen a lot of great suggestions here)?  I was in the same place last year when, either I took command or they would have to fold the long standing squadron (nobody else would step up).  I applied and got the position, with a change of command ceremony 10 days prior to my 1 year membership in CAP. 

My question is:  How do you handle the sometimes overwhelming stress?

There was no pass down, nor training, plus the squadron was/is in a serious state of flux.  The squadron senior members have really taken this on and we are holding our own, but...I really don't know if I can handle all of this (on top of everything else).  I don't even know what I'm doing as a normal member (still a very new member) and I'm in "command"?!?!!!!!  Wing is happy with me thus far, but I just don't know what to do.....

Well you sort of answered your own question.

PPPP....Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance.

How you do you avoid the learning curve?   1) Identify your replacement early.  2) Get that person the training as soon as possible.  3) Mentor and build on that training during your tenure as commander.  4) Prior to the change of command....start handing off more responsibilities to that individual.  5) After the change of command....take a step back.....but still be there for the new commander to lend a hand.

In your case.....don't be afraid to tell wing you don't know what you are doing and ask for help.   You should be enrolled in the command specialty track and you should have a mentor who has BTDT....and should be helping you out.

Wing/Group should also be able to give one on one training to help you out....that is one of their jobs.

[Spam]

My question is:  How do you handle the sometimes overwhelming stress?

There was no pass down, nor training, plus the squadron was/is in a serious state of flux.  The squadron senior members have really taken this on and we are holding our own, but...I really don't know if I can handle all of this (on top of everything else). 

First, above all else, I'd say to remember your priorities in life: your faith, your family, and your job, before CAP or any volunteer position. Next, the overriding CAP priority: keep your volunteers safe, as they're your number one asset before airplanes, trucks, and facilities (were we a combat organization, we'd have to make harsher decisions as commanders about when to spend lives and materiel, but thankfully few of us have had members die under our command).

Having said, lets nail down the sources of that stress - externally or internally imposed? 

Here's the concrete answer to handling the stress via establishing specific performance guidance.  If you've no pass down, then don't worry about meeting the expectations of higher command (as they haven't expressed any); your goals should align then with the corporate CAP goals as expressed in the unit self inspection guidelines (checklists) at:  http://www.capmembers.com/cap_national_hq/inspector_general/inspection-checklist/

Here's the holistic answer to managing the stress.  We're all volunteers, what can they do, dock our pay? Your value to the organization as a Commander lies in your willingness to both manage (the day to day mechanics of checking people off in eservices for whatnot) as well as lead (decide what your goals are for the unit and apply participative leadership to motivate other volunteers to share in owning the process of making the unit a success, as well as the more unpleasant but very necessary aspects such as corrective counseling and unfavorable personnel actions). Command itself is inherently somewhat lonely at times, since at the end of the day we who command hold the responsibility though we delegate the authority (to deputies, to cadet commanders, to ops officers, et al). If you as the CO feel the need to unburden, then you need to NOT BEAR IT IN SILENCE, but to approach brother/sister Commanders and, should you be inclined, a Chaplain, to debrief/de-stress. Personally, I've always advocated an informal "debrief" meeting at a local watering hole after the meeting to knock back a couple of "Coca Colas" with the guys, which helps in both gathering the mood/intent of the troops, and avoids making you the unapproachable ships Captain in his aft cabin.

For what its worth, I'm joining you again tomorrow night, as I'm handing over my Director of Cadet Programs gig for a fifth Command tour (fourth at Squadron level).  PM me if you want to chat!

V/R,
Spam

[Garibaldi]

I was waiting to see if he was going to say something first, before I did.

Spam and I are going to be the command staff of our unit as of tonight.

A couple weeks ago, our commander requested a meeting of the seniors after our meeting and both he and the CD announced it was time, neither had the time to devote fully as active members anymore. So, the hat was passed, and Spam accepted commaned with me as his deputy.

Balancing your personal life with all that needs to be done in the CC role seems to be the overlying issue to me. I have no personal life to speak of and sometimes overfill that gap with CAP stuff. I know of more than a few marriages that ended or were seriously strained by a term as CC, but that was before term limits.

Seek balance, you should, or consume you, the dark side will.

[Mela_007]

I really do like this site and forget about it when I am away for a while. What I appreciate so much is the encouragement and advice from the heart that I receive. Thank you for replying!! 

I think my biggest problem right now is losing sight of the fun or interest as Storm Chaser mentioned. My own training and learning almost completely stopped when I took command. Our squadron had a major change as we lost our CC, DC, and cadet 1st Sgt. all about the same time.

I think it really is the balance I have not learned or found yet. Many willing to help me from the squadron to the wing, I'm just going to have to figure out how to get my personal fun with CAP back without putting everything else out of balance. Glad to know I'm not alone though!

Mela

[Tim Medeiros]

Just a note, the SUI inspection checklists are at http://www.capmembers.com/cap_national_hq/inspector_general/sui/ the ones linked above are actually for wing Compliance Inspections.