Reducing CAP paperwork

[mamadinos]

There is an unreasonable amount of paperwork in the CAP!  The 4-5 reliable senior members in our squadron get swamped at least every quarter with seemingly hundreds of reports to fill out.

my question:  What can NHQ do to reduce the paperwork (or just plain work) in CAP?  It would be nice to send them some practical suggestions.

My first suggestion:  Ribbons and badges should be awarded automatically when an achievement is made, such as the ES patch.  Why should a commander or whoever have to go through the extra hurdles to make sure a member's ribbons and badges are authorized? 

[mikeylikey]

^ Hate to be an ass, but if you search around here we discussed this before.  NHQ is working on it as we speak.  In fact E-services will soon contain many new electronic report generators, and we soon will be eliminating many paper versions.  So if you still break out your typewriter each month, and you don't own a computer I feel sorry for you!   

[mamadinos]

I apologize for a repeat.  I searched past posts and could not find anything in the last 2 years on this topic.  Call me lazy, but I didn't feel like searching through 7+ pages of the keyword 'paperwork'. 
And yes, I do own a computer or I wouldn't be on CAPtalk

I guess I'm just impatient for the changes in eServices to happen, and hoping they will be user-friendly.

[BlackKnight]

CAP needs a "bling reduction act".   All new and existing bling should be reviewed in consideration of the amount of paperwork it generates.

[RiverAux]

The two main areas of paperwork problems for seniors are ES records and pilot records.  I don't keep up with pilot record issues, but ES record issues have been reduced through MIMS (though it has been rough at times).  However, these are nothing compared with cadet-related paperwork.  Going electronic should help some.  But, given our fairly complicated training program on all levels, there will still be lots of stuff to keep track of even if not on paper anymore. 

Unfortunately, I have a hard time figuring on how to reduce some of the problematic paperwork (monthly reports relating to vehicles and planes) in particular. 

The safety report is a major waste of time and should be eliminated. 

[mynetdude]

The two main areas of paperwork problems for seniors are ES records and pilot records.  I don't keep up with pilot record issues, but ES record issues have been reduced through MIMS (though it has been rough at times).  However, these are nothing compared with cadet-related paperwork.  Going electronic should help some.  But, given our fairly complicated training program on all levels, there will still be lots of stuff to keep track of even if not on paper anymore. 

Unfortunately, I have a hard time figuring on how to reduce some of the problematic paperwork (monthly reports relating to vehicles and planes) in particular. 

The safety report is a major waste of time and should be eliminated. 

IIRC doing Safety reports is one of the ways we keep our funding... I have seen mass email within the wing warning about squadrons getting shut down because they were not submitting safety reports which were authorized by NHQ anyhow.

TBH all you have to do is log into WMU (if your state uses WMU) there is an option to enter member attendance and whether or not you've had a safety briefing or not and this is all done electronically I don't see why we ALSO have to send in paperwork as well.

[JoeTomasone]

I mostly deal with 37's and while they are an HUGE waste of trees, for property you definitely need signatures on paper, so I deal with it.

[FW]

NHQ is working on "electronic signature" verification software which would allow on line forms to be used for logistics, administration, flight ops, etc.  When the process is fully approved by CAP-USAF and our Auditors,  we should see some relief.  However, because of the tremendous work load of the IT dept.  It may take another year before we see this happen.

[davedove]

However, because of the tremendous work load of the IT dept.  It may take another year before we see this happen.

And that is the biggest obstacle.  The way I understand it, NHQ has got a lot of different electronic applications on the board, but a limited IT staff, so it just takes time.