How soon is too soon to change squadrons?

[capchiro]

It sounds like your concerns are serious to you.  If so, almost all commanders I know have an "open door" policy and I would advise you to approach the commander and ask to speak to him about your concerns.  Perhaps with the addition of new pilots to the squadron you have been overlooked, accidentally or inadvertently.   If the new pilots are military, they can be sort of pushy due to their competitiveness.  I am sure that there is a place for you and a job.  Perhaps you will be asked to do a job that is not exactly what you want, but, a lot of people drop out their first year, so stuff opens up all the time.  As I mentioned in another post, one must learn patience to be in CAP.  This organization is bigger than any one person and sometimes we have to do things for the good of the organization instead of what we would like to do.  Stick with it and it will work out trust me.  Benn there done it..

[floridacyclist]

You seem to have found one of CAP's Achilles heels. We're pretty good at recrutiing; as someone said, our program practically sells itself. We just happen to suck at mentoring and in the long run, retention. Members who have been in for a while remember how hard of a time they had figuring out the ropes and figure that if it was good enough for them, it'll work for newbies too.

If you stick around, remember these days and make up your mind that the new folks won't have to go through what you did; work on making CAP more accessible to those who perhaps haven't been there before. In the long run, it will be one of the more rewarding things you might have done in your life.

On the flip side, if you joined for only one reason (like flying) you will probably be very disillusioned to find out how much more it takes. yes, it does take Boring Admin Stuff to make a squadron function and many squadron commanders have very little use for a member who's not willing to pull their own weight on teh less glamorous jobs.

[star1151]

Because the quote listed below from one of your previous posts is NOT a volunteer attitude rather a personal agenda.

Yes, and I'll be the first to admit that the main reason I want to volunteer is to get out of the house.  If that makes me a bad and selfish person, so be it...

But honestly, after being turned down by volunteer organization by volunteer organization, I'm a little cynical on the whole volunteer thing.

[star1151]

On the flip side, if you joined for only one reason (like flying) you will probably be very disillusioned to find out how much more it takes.

Definitely not.  I actually assumed I wouldn't be flying for quite a while and was kind of shocked when they jumped on me because they needed pilots/CFI's and harassed me into joining and talked about getting me qualified immediately.  Maybe it's just the back and forth that's a little disillusioning.

Or maybe it's the fact my car was broken into at the airport and I'm off on a business trip for another four days and I am taking this whole CAP thing WAY too seriously because of the stress.  And I could be jumping to conclusions, too.

[Camas]

now they are looking for the least qualified person to do boring admin stuff.  And yes, even though that may be needed, I don't really want to spend my free time doing it.

Don't knock the "boring" stuff.  Trust me, there are alot of squadrons who would just kill to get people to do the "boring" stuff.  We're always looking for personnel, administration, professional development and logistics officers to name just a few positions.  I do professional development and personnel and I'm having a ball!

[RiverAux]

Star, since you're a senior member I wouldn't hesitate telling you to go talk to the commanding officer.  Tell him your concerns and what you want to do and see what his reply is.  If he isn't all for getting you trained up, you should definetely go visit some other nearby squadrons.  Everybody can use CFIs and if your current squadron isn't interested, someone else will be without a doubt.