ES Tasks, Training, Pencil Whipping, Integrity, and Solutions

[Eclipse]

FLWG now requires that all supporting paperwork (signed SQTR worksheets, Form 91's, ICS Certificates, etc) be visually checked AND MAINTAINED at all levels.   So unless you can provide signatures for each task, your SQTR is not approved.   That should substantially cut down on that problem and on the other that I see a lot of -- people being evaluated and signed off for Advanced Training tasks BEFORE completing the Familiarization and Preparatory Tasks.

How do they deal with NESA?  They do blanket sign-offs for all participants, sometimes with the same date, mission number, and SET name for all, in MIMS.

No documentation is sent back to the home units that I am aware of.

[JoeTomasone]

FLWG now requires that all supporting paperwork (signed SQTR worksheets, Form 91's, ICS Certificates, etc) be visually checked AND MAINTAINED at all levels.   So unless you can provide signatures for each task, your SQTR is not approved.   That should substantially cut down on that problem and on the other that I see a lot of -- people being evaluated and signed off for Advanced Training tasks BEFORE completing the Familiarization and Preparatory Tasks.

How do they deal with NESA?  They do blanket sign-offs for all participants, sometimes with the same date, mission number, and SET name for all, in MIMS.

No documentation is sent back to the home units that I am aware of.

Good question as I've never been -- but maybe a graduation certificate from NESA would suffice.   I'd have to check with Wing.

[RiverAux]

I do think the current enter-your-own ability needs a check.  I wouldn't think it would be very hard to basically require that SET's whose CAPID has been noted in someone's record approve that use just like Commanders have to approve the qualification.  It would probably slow the approval process down a bit, but would be a needed check.  I don't think we want to go backwards to shuffling papers around since we could do this all electronically. 

[Al Sayre]

We're lucky I guess.  Being a small Wing, it's easy enough to check the quals of the SET and call him/her if there is any question about the sign-off.  I usually know when a squadron is having a training exercise...

[husker]

This is how it is done at NESA/GSAR

All tasks are evaluated IAW the task guide.  The trainer is different from the evaluator IAW 60-3.  Tasks are divided up into modules - for example, in Basic GSAR, ELT/DF is on a day, Nav is on a day, search line tasks on another day, etc.  Knowledged based tasks are spread throughout the week.  The classroom work is done (generally in the morning), then some practice.   The evaulations are done after that.  The evaluations are generally done by the student's team leader (students are divided up into teams for the week).  At times, the evaulator may be an FTA (TAC Officer).  In Basic and Advanced, all GSAR staff are qualified to at least GTM-1 with SET.  In the Team Leader school, all GSAR staff are qualified GTLs with SET. 

It is not allowed to use the task guide to accomplish the knowledge based tasks. 

All tasks are input as they are evaluated into a PDA (actually a Windows mobile computer) in the field.  Each night, all the PDAs are collected and uploaded into a database so that the GSAR staff can see how the student's are progressing (which students are behind, did we have problem tasks, etc.).  At the end of the week, all the tasks are automatically uploaded into OpsQuals.  For those individuals who completed all the tasks (and graduated), the achievement level is also input.  The mission number for all the tasks is always that year's NESA mission number.  There are always some student's who may have completed all the tasks, but are still not quite ready to be qualified.  In such circumstances, mission credit is withheld.

The only documentation that is sent home is the graduation certificate (if the student actually passed).

[ZigZag911]

Quality control would be much simplified if everyone followed the rule that trainer and evaluator be separate persons.

Perhaps eServices ought to be modified:

1) to require trainer ID as well evaluator ID
2) to reject attempts at entry where the two are identical

[Short Field]

^^^ Great idea if they would implement it.  There shouldn't be a rush to get signed off on ops quals.  Once signed off, I should be able to assume a fully qualified person can walk into mission base and go directly to work without direction and supervision.   That is rarely the case.

I would also like to see the Ops Quals software not allow mission participation credit until AFTER all the prerequisites are finished.  Specific task completion is a bit different as many carry over from previous qualifications.

[John Bryan]

This is how it is done at NESA/GSAR

All tasks are evaluated IAW the task guide.  The trainer is different from the evaluator IAW 60-3.  Tasks are divided up into modules - for example, in Basic GSAR, ELT/DF is on a day, Nav is on a day, search line tasks on another day, etc.  Knowledged based tasks are spread throughout the week.  The classroom work is done (generally in the morning), then some practice.   The evaulations are done after that.  The evaluations are generally done by the student's team leader (students are divided up into teams for the week).  At times, the evaulator may be an FTA (TAC Officer).  In Basic and Advanced, all GSAR staff are qualified to at least GTM-1 with SET.  In the Team Leader school, all GSAR staff are qualified GTLs with SET. 

It is not allowed to use the task guide to accomplish the knowledge based tasks. 

All tasks are input as they are evaluated into a PDA (actually a Windows mobile computer) in the field.  Each night, all the PDAs are collected and uploaded into a database so that the GSAR staff can see how the student's are progressing (which students are behind, did we have problem tasks, etc.).  At the end of the week, all the tasks are automatically uploaded into OpsQuals.  For those individuals who completed all the tasks (and graduated), the achievement level is also input.  The mission number for all the tasks is always that year's NESA mission number.  There are always some student's who may have completed all the tasks, but are still not quite ready to be qualified.  In such circumstances, mission credit is withheld.

The only documentation that is sent home is the graduation certificate (if the student actually passed).

When you said "If the student actually passes"....made me wonder what is the pass /fail rate for NESA? How many members (seniors and cadets) don't pass each year?

[husker]

When you said "If the student actually passes"....made me wonder what is the pass /fail rate for NESA? How many members (seniors and cadets) don't pass each year?

I can only speak for GSAR (MAS and ICSS probably have their own non-pass rates).   We can divide "not passing" into two different types - those who don't pass all the required tasks, and those who pass all the tasks, but clearly are not ready to be "qualified."   I would say in Basic and Advanced, around 5% don't pass the tasks, and maybe a few more pass the tasks, but we withhold mission credit.  In those cases, the unit commander is notified that they need a bit more experience.  It is very rare that a senior member does not pass Basic or Advanced.  The Team Leader school is quite different, as 90% of the students are senior members.  Again, maybe 1 out of 20 don't pass all the tasks, but it is more often that they would need a bit more experience to be rated as a TL. 

The numbers are relatively low, I think.  NESA GSAR does not purport to be some "elite" school.  I make the point to every graduate that passing NESA does not make one an "expert" at anything.  It is only the beginning of what we hope is constant training.