As far as NHQ is concerned, Is the Squadron Safety Officer Restricted to do only the Safety officer track or can they have a second track? Is there a way to verify this from national?
Never seen anything about a restriction as to specialty tracks. There have been restrictions as to what other jobs a Safety Officer can do.
I've heard this one so many times, I never get tired of debunking it.
According to CAPR 62-1, the safety regulation, there are two restrictions (and only two restrictions) on safety officers. They are:
1. The unit's safety officer cannot be the unit commander.
2. The Wing Director of Safety cannot hold any additional staff positions.
That's it. There are no other restrictions.
- a safety officer at the squadron or group level can hold any other staff position (except unit commander).
- a safety officer can hold multiple staff positions.
- a safety officer can pursue any specialty track.
CAPR 62-1 is not that long, and not that complicated, so I'm always surprised when it is misquoted / misunderstood.
Hope this helps. By the way, I am the Wing Director of Safety for NY Wing. So I can't hold any other staff positions. But I can (and do) pursue other specialty tracks...
IIRC, there used to be a Q in the SUI Guide asking if the Safety Officer had any other assigned positions within the unit. I can't find anything like that in the newest pubs.
Squadron Safety Officers can wear multiple hats as long as it's not commander. I know from personal experience. At first we thought it was that way, once we found out I could hold more positions I also added on AEO. So it is possible.
I forget where I read it, but I did read something in the regs that "the safety officer should have no other duties". Note "should" and not "shall". A safety officer of a Wing or Region would have a lot more to do than a safety officer of a unit (one would hope).
Quote from: Psicorp on November 15, 2007, 05:59:17 PM
I forget where I read it, but I did read something in the regs that "the safety officer should have no other duties".
The somewhere where you read was in the old CAPR 62-1. Even then,
it applied only to the Wing Director of Safety, not to squadron or group safety officers.
The CAPR 62-1 that came out in April 2006 makes no mention of any restriction. [note, this is a correction to what I wrote yesterday. There is no longer a restriction on wing directors of safety.]
The only guidance it gives on safety officers is:
- Members in command positions should not serve as safety officer.
and
- Whenever possible, and especially in flying units, members with flying experience should be selected.
The reason why no one in command positions should also serve as Safety Officer is because Safety is a Command Level position on most org charts. In some cases the SE reports directly to the CC.
Quote from: NERMA002 Safety on December 17, 2007, 09:46:14 PM
The reason why no one in command positions should also serve as Safety Officer is because Safety is a Command Level position on most org charts. In some cases the SE reports directly to the CC.
I am not looking to be the commander, I am looking to do a non command job in addition to safety(command position)
Then go for it. I enjoy doing SE and AE.
Quote from: messofficer on November 15, 2007, 03:39:58 AM
As far as NHQ is concerned, Is the Squadron Safety Officer Restricted to do only the Safety officer track or can they have a second track? Is there a way to verify this from national?
My CC said he heard this from our wing vice commander. Maybe a Wing mandate that says I cannot do it? Is this possible?
The Wing Kings can restrict Safety to just the one job just like they can make more restrictions on uniform wear and other regulations.