Tips for "rebuilding" a squadron

[I Like Flying]

So, I'm the cadet flight commander (that's right, commander of the only flight) of a small squadron. In November of this year, I'm slated to become the next cadet commander. In the 2013-2014 school year, I liked being a part of our small squadron. We had really good attendance rates then. Around 16-20 cadets in total. It was great, we had fun things to do and fun activities. But, of course, summer brought crappy attendance rates. No biggie, just a part of my squadron's cycle, really.

But in late 2012 to late 2013, the squadron suffered a traumatic blow. A cadet change of command.

What's so bad about that? Well, the new cadet commander, to put it frankly, was colossally terrible. It seemed as the new cadet commander never cared about scheduling activities for the cadets anymore and the meetings' curriculum was the epitome of awfulness (highly improvised, not planned out, very boring and tedious). "What were the only activities outside the squadron?" one might have asked. Two traffic details. Two very boring traffic details. Not a single O-Flight, Prep and Fam course, SAREX, model rocketry, or even anything remotely fun. (mind you, in my squadron, every cadet activity is put together by cadets. No seniors ever organized any cadet activities, they just approve them.)

The cadet membership dropped from 20+ active members to a mere 5-8 from June 2012 to May 2013. Then in July 2013, another change of command. It was a bit too late. The former cadet commander left for college, and the new cadet commander told me "don't worry, I actually believe in doing fun things". In September a group of about 6 kids interested in CAP decided to come to our squadron. They all stayed and are active members today. As for the new C/CC, well, he is for the most part living up to his statement. In 2014, the cadets did some firearms training, foam rockets, and learned and performed SAR techniques. It was great, we were "rebuilding" the squadron. But a small little change of command happened just in July 2014. My flight commander was off to college, moving me up from Flt/Sgt to Flt/CC. And now my C/CC turns 21 in December.

There is a slight problem. I am largely ignored by my squadron's SMs. I tried to get them into the 21st century, saying we should have a website and Facebook page to get the citizens of my county and state informed of CAP as well as possibly recruit, and I said that I have a ton of experience running these sorts of things (which I do). Unfortunately, I gave them some time to even acknowledge that, and I have not gotten word on the status of that. I will remind them, and hopefully things will work out. Only one senior seems to give me approval of these types of things. I asked him about starting a squadron color guard, he said "That'd be great! I can help you out on that, too!" (first CG practice is this month). I organized an O-Flight just this past week (the first one since 2012) and he approved and also said "It's great that you put this together". Other seniors in my squadron just shrugged me off. (My cadet commander IS just there to send stuff up the chain, he's letting me get a taste of being C/CC) Each time I mention anything regarding what our squadron should change, what activities we should do, they do not even bat an eye. My own deputy commander for cadets is simply just ignoring me. Any tips to try and get my seniors to listen to my suggestions and what I have planned for my cadets?

TL;DR: Seniors are ignoring my ideas and suggestions for activities, and I feel like it needs to change. Any advice?

[Eclipse]

First tip - you're not anonymous, so be nice (so far not too bad, but you're calling some people out and specific enough that anyone with
first-hand knowledge could decipher it quickly).

Next, what grade are you and how long have you been in CAP?

Without better and more direct Senior involvement, you are not likely to be successful in this unit. "Cadet run" only goes so far, especially in that
cadets are transitory at best and the senior involved are generally the storekeepers.

At a minimum, until this changes, you're going to have to make sure any plan you bring to the table is fully baked, and even with that said,
effective or not, your C/CC is the one who is assigned this job, and if the seniors are happy enough with his efficacy, things won't likely
change until he does.

[MacGruff]

Wow! Suspended within two hours!

[SarDragon]

Multiple accounts.

[Private Investigator]

Multiple personalities to go along with the lack of a persona