This >is< what I joined for...

[Eclipse]

So in the spirit of the frustrated cadet not knowing if CAP will be a fit, a positive story in the same vein.

I joined CAP to >do< "things", generally things I can't accomplish in my professional life or on a personal basis.
Now that I'm in the Old Kernels Club, I want to bring those opportunities to my people, especially those who
have been in for a minute but haven't, for whatever reason, had access.

Last night was a perfect example from two vectors.

We had about 2/3rds the active members plus a couple of guests from Group and Wing.

We brought in an airplane and got two O-rides in for our highest priority cadets (longest members w/o a ride).
One of the guests was able to get his G1000 qual completed on the relo.

One senior member promotion, plus a pile of certificates for several others (levels, Yeager, Wright).

One senior summary conversation.

Drill tests for two cadets to complete promotions, plus a cadet-lead courtesies class where I
actually saw cadets...interested.

The Group guest lead 7 seniors in A/C Training Orientation and before you knew it sectionals were laid out and
engaged adults were asking relevent questions.  All were honestly interested and at least 4 are likely to see it through to completion.

This on a night when our CDC was unable to attend, and was the first meeting without our highest ranking cadet officer
who is off to USAFA Summer Basic. Their gain, our loss - sharp kid.

Seeing members engaged like this was a very nice birthday present for me.

With that said, it's a brute-force effort to keep this fire stocked.  We're getting to the point where I can see the coals
starting to catch on their own.  A few more rounds like this and the kindling should start to burn, if our Fall
recruiting plans take shape at all, we could get some real momentum, but things are tenuous enough
right now that I know the loss of a few key people could set us back a fair piece.

It's always a balancing act of how hard I can push / much I can ask.  That's why I try to make sure they
are getting their "fun" interests fed along with the admin stuff, etc.

All a squadron needs is a few key players who know where the toys are and how to use them, plus support
from higher HQ.  Without that, it's just the same circle of well-intentioned people trying their best in a fog,
with that support there's really no limit to what you can get accomplished, and most members just want to know their
time is valued as well as their contributions.

My real legit fear right now is success.  The growth we need and hope to have is going to also grow us out of where we meet
pretty fast.  It's already an issue to be able to run both senior and cadet training in separate tracks, but this is a "good' problem.

[NIN]

My real legit fear right now is success.  The growth we need and hope to have is going to also grow us out of where we meet
pretty fast.  It's already an issue to be able to run both senior and cadet training in separate tracks, but this is a "good' problem.

I'll battle fear of success every day if it means failure is just that: success



But you're right: thats the "good" problem.