Inspector General Specialty Track

[Capination]

In Reviewing the Specialty Track information for Inspector General, I'm a little surprised that there are no Prerequisites.  I think people entering the IG Specialty Track should have at least a certain amount of time in Civil Air Patrol and at least a Technician rating in at least one other Specialty Track so the inspector is more of a Subject Matter expert on the operations of the Civil Air Patrol.  What are your Thoughts...Thanks

You are right on the desired experience requirement. A Senior Member can select the IG track, but he/she is not allowed to work as IG unless he/she advances through the IG Specialty Track. For example, in order to be Technician you should:

1. complete the CAP Basic Inspector General Course;
2. participate in two assessments as a team member;
3. be evaluated by a Senior or Master rated IG at the next higher headquarters; and
4. serve a minimum of 6 months as a staff member to a wing or region IG.

Further, the attainment of the new skill rating must be verified by the next higher headquarters inspector general, and certified by their unit commander.

This is just starting. An IG is not just following a written procedure. An investigation is a really complex matter that, when done responsibly, takes time, analysis and a quite a bit of gray matter. 

[DrJbdm]

^
IG's are not the secret police of CAP, nor do they even have any enforcement or command authority.

What?? They don't fly around in the black helicopters or drive the black vans??

[Al Sayre]

Only as Observers... 

[Hardshell Clam]

Hiring "professional private investigators" is a bad idea. Little if any training is required to get a PI ticket. Read the study guide and take a test in my state.

Use real govt. trained instigators for real investigations. The inspection part can be learned in a few months.

Real investigative training and field experience is the key.

[Phil Hirons, Jr.]

Considering the first step in the IG complaint process is to identify what possible CAP regulations or policies may have been violated, it might just be useful to have worked with a few of them and to be able to translate them.

I'm reminded of some of the early issues in e-services where I told many people I think they handed the related CAP regs to a professional developer and said code to this. Some of the results were interesting. I code for a living. A few times I thought, I can see that if they read just CAPR XX-X they would think this and why would they think to look at CAPR YY-Y? Asking a military, law enforcement or other experienced investigator to understand the CAP regs cold would have some unintended consequences.

Would I welcome a trained investigator on my staff? Absolutely. Will I survive without one? With the help of my legal officer, my region IG and some more experienced IGs in nearby wings, yes. 

[JC004]

...
Use real govt. trained instigators
...

How does one become trained as an instigator?  I would like to try this.

[SARDOC]

How does one become trained as an instigator?  I would like to try this.

I thought it was on the Job training for all CT moderators...maybe you need more than 5000 posts to qualify.   

[Eclipse]

Real investigative training and field experience is the key.

This isn't the X-Files.

Most investigations are minor he-said / she-said situations, personality conflicts, and the occasional broken or missing property.  Hardly
situations which require more than the ability to stay dis-involved, ask direct questions, and forward the answers to the commander without
a filter.

[Hardshell Clam]

"Hardly situations which require more than the ability to stay , ask direct questions, and forward the answers to the commander without a filter." 

And next time you need your engine rebuilt just take it to Jiffy Lube, heck the car's manual is in the glove box, that's all they need... 

Sorry Eclipse, but its takes a heck of a lot more then then that to perform professional investigations that might end up in arbitration or prosecution and could end up damaging lives.

The VERY first thing I would attack in any sort of arbitration is the qualifications of the investigating officer if I were defending a client. The CAP is moving towards a more professional force and when we fall back on the "its good enough" attitudes we do ourself a disservice.

[Eclipse]

If you're not going to use the quote tags properly, at least copy the whole quote.

Sorry Eclipse, but its takes a heck of a lot more then then that to perform professional investigations that might end up in arbitration or prosecution and could end up damaging lives.

These aren't "Professional Investigations".  Should we be Mirandizing cadets who lose a radio on a SAREx before asking them where it is?

Issues with real-world ramifications go directly to corporate officers and JAGs who are lawyers by definition.  The ground level stuff like a missing $10 car adapter doesn't need Magnum PI to roll up in his Ferrari to figure out it fell out of the van when they stopped for gas.

[peter rabbit]

If you're not going to use the quote tags properly, at least copy the whole quote.

Sorry Eclipse, but its takes a heck of a lot more then then that to perform professional investigations that might end up in arbitration or prosecution and could end up damaging lives.

These aren't "Professional Investigations".  Should we be Mirandizing cadets who lose a radio on a SAREx before asking them where it is?

Issues with real-world ramifications go directly to corporate officers and JAGs who are lawyers by definition.  The ground level stuff like a missing $10 car adapter doesn't need Magnum PI to roll up in his Ferrari to figure out it fell out of the van when they stopped for gas.

I know you hate technicalities, but the IG doesn't investigate missing property. That's done under Reports of Survey conducted under CAPR 67-1, CAP Property Regulation. I can tell you that the IG system has investigated a lot more in the past year than just he said/she said and personality conflicts. That's why the IG courses have been improved and will continue to improve. Is it 'perfect'? Of course not. There are several changes that I and others believe would help. We'll see what happens.

[Eclipse]

Point taken on the property investigations.

[jimmydeanno]

And next time you need your engine rebuilt just take it to Jiffy Lube, heck the car's manual is in the glove box, that's all they need... 

The last time I needed my car's engine rebuilt, I did just that.  I opened the instruction manual and followed the directions.  The car ran beautifully afterwards - I'm not a mechanic.

[Hardshell Clam]

We all have good points to be sure and I guess my big point is we need to do it right after all "Excellence in all We Do" is more then a motto, smart remarks about certain Hawaiian P.I.s aside.

[RiverAux]

A Senior Member can select the IG track, but he/she is not allowed to work as IG unless he/she advances through the IG Specialty Track. For example, in order to be Technician you should:

1. complete the CAP Basic Inspector General Course;
2. participate in two assessments as a team member;
3. be evaluated by a Senior or Master rated IG at the next higher headquarters; and
4. serve a minimum of 6 months as a staff member to a wing or region IG.

Further, the attainment of the new skill rating must be verified by the next higher headquarters inspector general, and certified by their unit commander.

This is just starting. An IG is not just following a written procedure. An investigation is a really complex matter that, when done responsibly, takes time, analysis and a quite a bit of gray matter. 

I was initially sympathetic to the idea of requiring a rating in one of the other fields before starting IG, but if these are the requirements to get started, I think I can live with them.  After all, I can't think of many situations where an intimate knowledge of the AE or ES regulations or programs is going to impact an IG investigation.  The cadet program, at least in so far as the cadet protection regulations are concerned, is a slightly different story since that seems to be a relatively fertile area for potential problems.  But, I don't think having a CP rating would really help an IG much in investigating a cadet protection related complaint. 

[Eclipse]

We all have good points to be sure and I guess my big point is we need to do it right after all "Excellence in all We Do" is more then a motto, smart remarks about certain Hawaiian P.I.s aside.

[SARDOC]

]I was initially sympathetic to the idea of requiring a rating in one of the other fields before starting IG, but if these are the requirements to get started, I think I can live with them.  After all, I can't think of many situations where an intimate knowledge of the AE or ES regulations or programs is going to impact an IG investigation.  The cadet program, at least in so far as the cadet protection regulations are concerned, is a slightly different story since that seems to be a relatively fertile area for potential problems.  But, I don't think having a CP rating would really help an IG much in investigating a cadet protection related complaint.

I would think Ratings in Finance, Personnel, or at least Command experience maybe even Safety or Logistics would be helpful experience before appointment as an Inspector General.

[Hardshell Clam]

No one is just appointed an "Inspector General" it takes a while of training and OJT to be able to do inspections and no one in my wing is doing investigations that is not a master or a current/former public sector detective.

[Eclipse]

Anyone may be appointed an IG below the Wing Level, the only educational requirement is the online Inspector General Basic Course, which must be completed prior to performing IG duties, but not prior to appointment.

There is no OJT requirement specified for any level of IG appointment.

Having taken the IGBC, I can tell you that it is simply a reiteration of process and procedure as detailed in 123-1 and related docs.

[RADIOMAN015]

No one is just appointed an "Inspector General" it takes a while of training and OJT to be able to do inspections and no one in my wing is doing investigations that is not a master or a current/former public sector detective.

Well you do need "functional" experts when conducting investigations also.  So if it's pilot related you want to have an experienced pilot, with appropriate credentials, etc.  My personal feeling is that depending upon who is being investigated it might be better to get someone(who is qualified as an investigator for the type of investigation being conducted) not even associated with CAP to conduct the investigation.

As far as compliance inspections, it's basically a checklist they are going through -- really there's no surprises or black vans with heavily tinted windows following you around prior to the "scheduled" inspection :angel:
RM