Proposal for new SAR senior member specialty track

[davedove]

Also, what happens if that single "SAR officer" isn't available?

The same thing that happens if the ES Officer slot isn't filled -- it falls upon the squadron commander to try to accomplish.  Don't see how that makes a difference. 

That's not completely accurate.  Based on 20-1, if there is no SAR Officer, it falls to the ES Officer.  Based on the organization of the unit, it may next fall to the Ops Officer (ES can be split out of Ops at the discretion of the Commander).  After all that, then it would fall to the Commander, who is of course ultimately responsible.

If you wanted to create a different track for SAR Officer, it seems to me that you also ought to have one for ES Training Officer and DR Officer, since they are equal in the org chart.

I really wonder about the need for this though.  All the units I have seen, there were never enough people around and the ES Officer just perform all the functions for these different duties, maybe with an assistant.  The only place I have seen it split out is at the Wing level, and MD Wing even has it split out even further, with both an Air and a Ground SAR Officer.

[jimmydeanno]

Also, what happens if that single "SAR officer" isn't available?

The same thing that happens if the ES Officer slot isn't filled -- it falls upon the squadron commander to try to accomplish.  Don't see how that makes a difference. 

That's not completely accurate.  Based on 20-1, if there is no SAR Officer, it falls to the ES Officer. 

According ot 20-1 there isn't an IT Officer either, those job descriptions are so vague and out of date - I wouldn't trust them...

[RiverAux]

That's not completely accurate.  Based on 20-1, if there is no SAR Officer, it falls to the ES Officer.  Based on the organization of the unit, it may next fall to the Ops Officer (ES can be split out of Ops at the discretion of the Commander).  After all that, then it would fall to the Commander, who is of course ultimately responsible.

I was assuming that there wasn't an ES Officer either.  ES has always been split from Ops whereever I've been so I don't think of the Ops officer in that way. 

If you wanted to create a different track for SAR Officer, it seems to me that you also ought to have one for ES Training Officer and DR Officer, since they are equal in the org chart.

And I mentioned somewhere in the depths of the thread that a DR track was probably justified.  However, if we have an SAR Officer Track and a DR Officer track, each of which does focus on training for that specialty (in addition to the existing ES Officer track), I don't think an ES  Training Officer track would be needed as it would be more than covered by the others.  Additionally, in looking at 20-1, I'm not sure I even see ES Training Officer as an official position in the hierarchy.  It certainly doesn't have its own job description like the SAR and DR Officers do.  There is an Operations Training Officer, but frankly not all the positions in the Ops shop makes sense to me for use at squadron level.

[Short Field]

Additionally, in looking at 20-1, I'm not sure I even see ES Training Officer as an official position in the hierarchy.  It certainly doesn't have its own job description like the SAR and DR Officers do. 

Page 29:
Emergency Services Training Officer
Assists the ES Officer in managing and directing ES training activities. They shall:
Document ES training accomplished and qualifications earned.
Coordinate with the SAR and DR officers to ensure that training programs are adequate.
Coordinate with external agencies for other ES training.
Prepare and process CAPFs 101 for new or requalifying personnel.
The ES training officer should be familiar with CAPP 213, CAPR 50-15, CAPR 55-1, CAPR 60-1, CAPP 2 and applicable FEMA publications.

[RiverAux]

Opened up the old version again.   

[SarDragon]

Who do you say opened the olde version? The "current" one is dated 29 May 2000, and is the source of the quoted text.

[RiverAux]

I meant I opened up the old version when making my statement, hence the "embarrassed" emoticon.

[SarDragon]

Well then, why don't you go here, and get all the latest pubs, and get rid of that olde stuff? Or at least move it into a dated archive folder. 

[RiverAux]

have the new stuff, just opened up the wrong one by mistake. 

[Hawk200]

have the new stuff, just opened up the wrong one by mistake. 

I add the date to the file name. Windows pretty much puts them in order. Got a few copies of older stuff on the computer at home. Won't be able to get to those for almost a year, but it's good historical info.

[SarDragon]

I know this is drifting, but my last 2 cents.

I put each pubs ZIP file d/l into its own folder with the d/l date on it, and unZIP there. Saves renaming files, and keeps a complete library in one place. When I get ambitious, I cull the extra copies out of the older folders. Or not. They don't take up all that much disk space - @ 500 MB for 4 years of quarterly d/l's.

[oak2007]

7 years to achieve a master rating. yea sign me up.....NOT

[RiverAux]

7 years to achieve a master rating. yea sign me up.....NOT

Don't go into public affairs -- 5 years right now. 

[NavLT]

I don't think we need a new specialty track as much as we need to have a much more robust method to review, update and validate the existing ones.

Do I think that the Staff officer should be proficient in the area they are staffing .....Yes.

I find giving Joe Senior member a spot on the Org chart that they are not trained in serves no purpose but vanity.  If they want to do the SAR/ES officer job let them train and become a tech and take the job until then they just are a gopher for someone else who really is doing the job.

As to the specific items you want them to accomplish, I think the definition of minimum is the least you can get away with.  Anyone who shoots for the bottom of the need will fail when the tempo increases.  I think that national is doint a fair job of requiring ICS based on position maybe they should add it to the staff funcion as well.

VR
Lt J.

[arajca]

IMHO, any subset track (SAR, DR, HLS) needs to be a higher hq officer (group, wing, etc), not a sqdn officer. Similar to the Plans and Programs track. It should also require a technician rating in the main track (ES, in the case). Helps with the big picture.