New Cadet commander tips

Started by Tactics, September 07, 2018, 02:29:33 AM

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Tactics

I am the new cadet commander of a small bottom heavy squadron
I am looking for advice on recruiting, schedules, general tips, etc..

Eclipse

If you're already doing this, you're on your way, just keep it up and tweak as needed, if not,
then this is where you need to be:
https://www.gocivilairpatrol.com/programs/cadets/library/squadron-training-plans

As to recruiting, Oberstleutnant NIN has excellent materials available, as well as detail on utilizing the pipeline.

https://www.gocivilairpatrol.com/members/cap-national-hq/recruiting-and-retention/

https://www.gocivilairpatrol.com/members/cap-national-hq/recruiting-and-retention/recruiting-material

"That Others May Zoom"

Airplane girl

I can't give you specific advice since I don't know the exact details of your squadron or the staff structure. But I can give you some general tips based on my experience being cadet commander in two very different squadrons.

1. Keep servant leadership as your top priority, and lead by example.
2. With making a schedule, first of all make sure there is time for all of the promotion requirements (things such as character development and CPFT) because if these aren't in the schedule it can really slow down promotions, which can lead to low morale, and so on. Also make sure there are a lot of hands on activities (things like TLPs, AEX). Cadets don't want to sit through school all day and then have two and a half hours of only Powerpoint and drill. Having fun and interesting meetings, as well as making sure it is possible for cadets to promote, can help a lot with retention.
3. In terms of recruiting, the links that Eclipse posted have a lot of great advice for what to do.
4. Make sure that right now you start thinking about who is going to replace you. They might only be an airman or an airman first class if you're in a bottom heavy squadron. But keep track of which cadets seem particularly motivated, and make sure that they have opportunities for hands on leadership experience such as making them an element leader or having them teach a class. But also keep in mind sometimes the cadets you least expect are successful in the end, so make sure that even the cadets who seem less successful are also getting opportunities.
5. Communicate with your staff a lot. Make sure that they feel involved in what you're planning and get their input. Make sure that you're working together as a team, and that they know they can trust you, and that you always have their back.
6. Look for mentors, whether they're senior members in the squadron or people you know from encampment. Being cadet commander is definitely challenging, and it's a lot better when you have someone who you trust and who has experience who can talk to about what's going on in your squadron.
7. Keep learning. Everything you do as cadet commander isn't going to be perfect, and you're going to have some failures. The most important thing do is to keep learning from failures and improving. 

This might also be helpful (I also asked for advice here on CAPTalk before becoming the cadet commander in my old squadron)- http://captalk.net/index.php?topic=19914.0

Please let me know if you have any other questions from a cadet commander's perspective. And good luck as cadet commander!