I'm preparing to be a TAC officer for the first time at the 2005 NYWG Encampment, and I am curious what extras that other TAC officers bring along to put in their "goodies box" or foot locker.
For example, some extra cadet enlisted flight cap devices, or nameplates, etc. in case of missing appurtances on the day of parade; a nice sewing kit for cadets with patch or other uniform issues; an iron and board for cadets to use; etc?
I'm simply curious, from the perspective of cadets, what things have your past TACs provided that proved to be a lifesaver or very helpful; and from the perspective of past TAC officers, what items did you bring (or wish you had brought) that you found helpful or often requested?
Thanks all :)
Sun screen.
I'm sure a beating stick would prove invaluable.
Mole Skin
Extra Boot Polish and rags
In no particular order....
Hangers. Not for the airplane, wire clothes hangers. If you know of anyone who gets a lot of dry cleaning, ask them if they can spare the hangers and save them for you. Or, check with a cleaner and see if they will donate some to your noble cause. Invariably, someone will show up without enough of them.
Moleskin. Get a lot of this. If you can put it on those inevitable blisters without sending them to medical, so much the better.
First aid kit. Bandaids (of varying sizes), neosporin, gauze pads, an ace bandage and ice pack perhaps. Something small enough that you can carry it with you, but has the essentials. I recommend the fabric flexible bandaids as opposed to plastic, they tend to wear a little better.
Black "Sharpie" markers. Or some other way of marking someone's laundry. You can pretty much count on none of the cadets doing this.
Laundry soap. Try to find something hypoallergenic. This is a very common allergy that most people don't even know they have. Make it available to the flgiht staff for use (communal laundry is very common at our place, don't know about yours). Fabric softener is a luxury to me, they can deal without that Downy freshness for a week.
A padlock or two. Don't know about your encampment, but the TAC holds the contraband at ours, and has to keep it secure. Plus, it's nice to secure all those goodies you have on hand for the flight. I recommend combination locks (preferably the same combo), can't lock the keys in the locker that way.
Febreeze or some other type of air freshener. The stan/eval team will love you for it.
Don't know where your encampment is (do you? I hear its changed a few times), but if there is a Wal-Mart or Target nearby, talk to them about maybe a donation. Those two in particular will give you gift cards. If you have to make a run for something, make those cards available to the cadets. Keeps them from spending their money, and you from spending yours.
edited to appease my esteemed colleauge from the left coast ;D
Slightly off topic -
We keep our airplanes in hangars.
We keep our clothes on hangers.
Carry on.
I've been a TAC, and I've been Chief TAC. Everything Slim listed is spot-on, and all relevant for NYWG encampments.
I would add only a few things:
- Sewing kit, and a handful of extra BDU and blues shirt buttons (I have some BDU buttons if you'd like to borrow them).
- A bag of hard candy. Creme Savers are always a hit. Provides the little sugar boost when someone really needs it, and doesn't spoil their dinner.
- Plastic bags, like Ziplock freezer bags. When I was Chief TAC, we had to scrounge for these when it came time to put contraband/money in bags. Lucy's pretty good about these details, but it never hurts for you to bring your own.
- Extra pens. Buy a couple cheapo packs, because pens grow legs at encampment and cadets seem to lose them all the time. Whenever I had "TAC" in my job title, I left encampment with no pens because the cadets borrowed and lost them, or mistakenly took them home.
- A little something for your flight staff. You'll have to figure this one out on your own. A little extra sweet treat, a bottle of their favorite soft drink, a stress ball (or four), a cool challenge coin, or whatever else you can think of. Don't wait until the staff banquet to give a little gift of encouragement. In fact, right around day three, that little gift that cost you less than $5 might be worth much more to them.
Good luck!
Actually, encampment is all but garunteed to be at West Point. We haven't recieved "official notification", but a visit has already taken place, and the pictures are up for the encampment staff to see.
I don't know if this is too late, but bring shoe polish incase somone forgot to bring thiers.
Well, encampment is over and I've finished my "tour" as a Tac Officer. I did find that a number of things were particularly helpful and other things simply took up space in my bag. Let me just add what things were handy and what things weren't -- this might serve as a useful reference for others who go to serve as first-time Tacs.
The ironing board came in extremely handy. The in-flight cadets did not bring them (it wasn't on their packing list), and neither did most cadet staff. I brought my iron (the cheap one, not a Rowenta), and placed it and the ironing board out for communal use in the barracks. I told the cadets that they could use it at any time without needing to ask so long as they shut it off and emptied out the water when they finished. The iron worked very well and it was in high demand. Cadets from other barracks and staff often wanted to come use it as well.
Having candy was a plus, though I definitely can say now that it's good to not let your cadets know you have it. It's great to be able to pull out one or two pieces for your flight staff when they could use a booster and not have everyone think you have some huge bag of candy to give out (even if you do) ;)
Shoe polish I used for myself, but didn't necessarily need for anyone else. All of the basics and staff were instructed to bring some and it seems everyone did.
As for the plastic bags, it would definitely be a "bring" item if you are Chief Tac (or maybe even a Squadron Tac). As a flight tac, someone supplied those of us doing the inspections with the bags, which was great, as we didn't have to worry about what to do with contraband. Be sure to also have sharpies handy to mark the bags! Pen or pencil doesn't do so well. :)
Bringing two bottles of Febreeze was one of the best things I did. We had our 11-days of encampment with no access to laundry facilities and with the basics instructed to bring only one set of BDUs. Ack. To add to this, we were in makeshift plywood "cabins" without closets or anything -- we just hung our stuff from nails in the particle board walls. After the first part of the week, everyone reeked of swamp. I passed Febreeze around the cabin each night and the cadets hit their blouses with a heafty mist. It made a very nice difference.
Aloe came in pretty handy, too. A number of the cadets got minor sunburn on the first few days. We were debloused under red flag for the majority of the encampment, and some cadets got burn on the neck, ears, or arms. After they were seen by medical, at night they'd still need a little something for that burn and some aloe for sunburn gel worked great to let them cool off their burns at night.
The laptop and ink jet printer were also helpful. ::) ;D
*Bumped for this year's Encampment season*
(Thanks for the reminder, Briski!)
TAC officers... share your experiences! :)
Thanks Pylon!
My first Encampment as a TAC-O will be this July. Those recommendations are much appreciated!
Find out first if there are ironing boards and an iron on the floor before you lug your own! I severely strained some muscles I didn't know I had, lugging a bag that had too much in it. I ran to Walmart on the first free hour I had - liquid filled cough drops for the voices that would soon be raspy, a small fan to dry out my boots each night, a small coffee maker and Starbucks ground coffee - I traded a cup of java each morning with a fellow tac who gave me lessons on how to shine my own boots, roll my sleeves, etc. on about everything so by the time I left, I could wear my uniform as well as the cadets!
Oh an earplugs for the poor tac who can't sleep because of all the snoring going on....
Quote from: ladyreferee on June 05, 2007, 11:41:55 PM
Find out first if there are ironing boards and an iron on the floor before you lug your own! I severely strained some muscles I didn't know I had, lugging a bag that had too much in it. I ran to Walmart on the first free hour I had - liquid filled cough drops for the voices that would soon be raspy, a small fan to dry out my boots each night, a small coffee maker and Starbucks ground coffee - I traded a cup of java each morning with a fellow tac who gave me lessons on how to shine my own boots, roll my sleeves, etc. on about everything so by the time I left, I could wear my uniform as well as the cadets!
Oh an earplugs for the poor tac who can't sleep because of all the snoring going on....
Barter material...what a great idea!
Good luck at the competition!
Small bars of soap "borroed/acquired/purchased/stolen" from the nearby Holiday Inn.
Few sample sized deodorant sticks.
Few sample sized shampoo bottles.
Laundry detergent
Bottle of bleach.
Fabric softener.
Replacement name plates: Last names: "NOEXCUSESIR" "BYYOURLEAVE" "NOCLUE"
"UROTHERLEFT" "UROTHERRIGHT" "OFFWEGO" "BOUTFACE" "MEFORGOT"
LOL....we always have some made up that say "Cadet" in both cloth for BDU and the Plastic for the blues. Rather amusing to refer to the cadets as Cadet "Cadet". I think for next year I'm going to have some made up with the last names of Presidents. we'll have names like Cadet Bush, Clinton, Lincoln, etc..... Should be fun.
On my next Vanguard order, I'm getting some made that say Malfunction. >:D
We do our Encampments at Fort Indiantown Gap. Luckily in the 20's and 30's when the facilities were built there was no air conditioning. My highest recommendation is to research and find out if this is the case, if so, bring a fan! Also, a sense of humor and guidance is a must for cadet flight staff. Of my four years of being a TAC officer, it is definitely one of the most rewarding things I have done with youth. Plus it is an easy way to make acquaintences from throughout the wing.
Ironically just got the call to do TAC again this year, must not have been too bad over the last 4... Maybe I'll try harder.
^ Wasn't it your Cadets that went missing for like 3 days during last years enc? I did hear they opened a new PX/minimall/foodcourt/clothing sales/barber/gas station near the enc. location this year! That is always a positive when you just need to take a break from those crazy cadets.
I'm not sure it's open yet, the last time I was on base ( a month or two ago) it wasn't open, but it looks pretty slick. I like the one stop shop.
As for whether they were mine or not... well that depends on who you ask and under whose orders ;D
Just finished my first Encampment as a TAC. One of the most useful items I had was a multipurpose tool (Leatherman, Gerber, etc). In addition to cutting strings off BDUs, it was also good for repairing gear and *I am not making this up* extracting an earplug a cadet had inserted practically into his brain.
QuoteA cadet has something stuck in his ear. Can you come help?
Never know when needlenose pliers will come in handy. :D
Also, powdered Gatorade for the cadets to drink before bed to replace all the electrolytes flushed by the copious amounts of water drunk during the day.
You'll WISH you had mood-altering substances by the fourth day or so.... :-\