Mission Safety Officer

[James Shaw]

I have been working on the Mission Safety Officer qualification. I have one more Mission/Exercise to do before I complete it. I have looked in eServices for my Wing and found surprisingly that we only have 14 for the entire Wing. I have 5 in my group.

This seems like an important part of any mission.

So my question is......How can we encourage more people to complete the Mission Safety Officer qualifications? Or is being a Safety Officer and MSO that much taboo?

[JeffDG]

The big holdup for MSOs is ICS-400.

We have trouble here with getting weekend courses for that.  EMAs offer it, but during the week (they have paid staff!), and to get 400 you need 300.

[LTCinSWR]

The big holdup for MSOs is ICS-400.

We have trouble here with getting weekend courses for that.  EMAs offer it, but during the week (they have paid staff!), and to get 400 you need 300.

We regularly conduct them in New Mexico; I guess it's just a matter of finding an instructor willing to do it.

For example, we will be holding an ICS 300 in Clovis NM on March 13-15. On the 13th (yes a Friday night) we will have the class from 1700-2100; this is perfect for Modules 1 and 2 (Intro and ICS Review). Then on Saturday and Sunday, we do the rest of the modules from 0800- 1700 (usually a little earlier on Sunday). About 5-6 months later, we hold a Sat-Sun ICS 400.

There is no cost and the course is sponsored by the NM Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management and the Clovis / Curry County OEM. I will be the lead instructor. If you want to come, you are more than welcome; just register through www.preparingnewmexico.org . Go to the calendar, click on the date and it will prompt you to register to the website and enroll in the class. Prerequisites are IS 100, 200 and 700 (you will need to upload the class certificates to be confirmed).

[Eclipse]

To get more people interested, you need to address the Safety Program from the top down, and
have it become meaningful beyond checking boxes.

[Private Investigator]

^ well that.

But you got to have team players. I was a MSO for several years. I figure I can not fly every mission so I will be part of the team and help at the Mission Base. But lot of pilots have the attitude if I can not fly the mission I will not play. JMHO, YMMV    

[jeders]

But lot of pilots have the attitude if I can not fly the mission I will not play.

This is unfortunately true and is why it is so hard to get people qualified for anything having to do with support, from branch director up, not just MSO. That said, it seems that 14 (my report says 12 currently) MSOs ought to be able to handle the load; maybe I'm wrong, could be. But if you include the number of MSOs in training, then GAWGs numbers more than double to 23, so they must be doing something right to get that many people training.

For some perspective, GAWG currently has 14 ICs.

[Private Investigator]

... Or is being a Safety Officer and MSO that much taboo?

It depends on the Unit culture. As a Commander I never put a new member in as the Unit Safety Officer. Maybe as a deputy or assistant so they have a mentor. But when I was the IG I visited Units and they throw new people in positions just to fill spaces. If the member thinks all they have to do is read the Safety Bulletin once a month you can guess the Unit Safety Program is on the lowest acceptable level.   

[Private Investigator]

But lot of pilots have the attitude if I can not fly the mission I will not play.

This is unfortunately true and is why it is so hard to get people qualified for anything having to do with support, from branch director up, not just MSO. That said, it seems that 14 (my report says 12 currently) MSOs ought to be able to handle the load; maybe I'm wrong, could be. But if you include the number of MSOs in training, then GAWGs numbers more than double to 23, so they must be doing something right to get that many people training.

For some perspective, GAWG currently has 14 ICs.

Very good point sir.

I remember at one time we had 30 ICs and 6 MSOs. The only other position that was hard to fill was FASC and Logistics.   

[James Shaw]

This is unfortunately true and is why it is so hard to get people qualified for anything having to do with support, from branch director up, not just MSO. That said, it seems that 14 (my report says 12 currently) MSOs ought to be able to handle the load; maybe I'm wrong, could be. But if you include the number of MSOs in training, then GAWGs numbers more than double to 23, so they must be doing something right to get that many people training.

For some perspective, GAWG currently has 14 ICs.

I am not trying to degrade the number that we have. I simply thought there would be more. If that is a good number then that is a good thing. I was curious how that number could increase. I was told that it is a difficult one to obtain and after looking at the requirements I would have to agree. There is alot involved.

I spoke with the DO for GAWG (he lives in my area) about doing more ICS300 classes and volunteered to get qualified to do so myself. I have taken the ICS300 and ICS400 and understand the importance of having enough people to teach as well as enough students to fill the seats.

I am fortunate that my boss has told me that we could use one of our other facilities to hold the training as long as I was there the entire time. We actually have enough room for several hundred people in one of our complexes. He is also a CAP member (just passed 2 years) and so is his daughter.

I am being selfish in this as well, I am working on my MS in Emergency Services Management and it gives me the opportunity to learn, teach, and participate.....hopefully make a contribution.

[Garibaldi]

This is unfortunately true and is why it is so hard to get people qualified for anything having to do with support, from branch director up, not just MSO. That said, it seems that 14 (my report says 12 currently) MSOs ought to be able to handle the load; maybe I'm wrong, could be. But if you include the number of MSOs in training, then GAWGs numbers more than double to 23, so they must be doing something right to get that many people training.

For some perspective, GAWG currently has 14 ICs.

I am not trying to degrade the number that we have. I simply thought there would be more. If that is a good number then that is a good thing. I was curious how that number could increase. I was told that it is a difficult one to obtain and after looking at the requirements I would have to agree. There is alot involved.

I spoke with the DO for GAWG (he lives in my area) about doing more ICS300 classes and volunteered to get qualified to do so myself. I have taken the ICS300 and ICS400 and understand the importance of having enough people to teach as well as enough students to fill the seats.

I am fortunate that my boss has told me that we could use one of our other facilities to hold the training as long as I was there the entire time. We actually have enough room for several hundred people in one of our complexes. He is also a CAP member (just passed 2 years) and so is his daughter.

I am being selfish in this as well, I am working on my MS in Emergency Services Management and it gives me the opportunity to learn, teach, and participate.....hopefully make a contribution.

If there was an ICS 300 class held not on a weekend, I could pass the final barrier to GBD and eventual IC. As it is, I will be working weekends until June. Kinda puts a crimp in my plans, but I have time off approved for Frostbite. See y'all All-bennians there again?

[Eclipse]

If there was an ICS 300 class held not on a weekend, I could pass the final barrier to GBD and eventual IC. As it is, I will be working weekends until June. Kinda puts a crimp in my plans, but I have time off approved for Frostbite. See y'all All-bennians there again?

The majority of ICS classes are held during the week, and CAP is on the list of approved agencies for free classes.

Hit up your county or town EMA sites, or even start at FEMA and work down.  Availability during the week should make this easy.

That or the wing ESO - I used to get hit up all the time for participants.  Municipalities are always looking to fill seats so they
can train their own people. Most fire and police departments do these classes on a regular basis.

[LTCinSWR]

The majority of ICS classes are held during the week, and CAP is on the list of approved agencies for free classes.

Hit up your county or town EMA sites, or even start at FEMA and work down.  Availability during the week should make this easy.

That or the wing ESO - I used to get hit up all the time for participants.  Municipalities are always looking to fill seats so they
can train their own people. Most fire and police departments do these classes on a regular basis.

In New Mexico, the State Police has statutory responsibility for SAR and use the NM SAR Council as the conduit for control and consistency. We have an excellent relationship with these entities and we frequently get students for ICS 300 and 400 through them. I have long said 'don't be exchanging business cards at the scene'; having interdisciplinary training is valuable and helps develop trust when the hammer goes down.

[LTCinSWR]

I am fortunate that my boss has told me that we could use one of our other facilities to hold the training as long as I was there the entire time. We actually have enough room for several hundred people in one of our complexes. ...
I am being selfish in this as well, I am working on my MS in Emergency Services Management and it gives me the opportunity to learn, teach, and participate.....hopefully make a contribution.

Ouch - you may be optimistic  , but even with a co-instructor, 35 is probably the best you can do while not having a 300 run for a week. The small group exercises are where the real work is done and the conversations, both in the small groups and during the read-back presentations across disciplines, make them valuable (and lively!). When you get a room full of LEOs and Fire Service people, you want to be part lion-tamer.

Welcome to the 'dark side'! A MS in EM definitely makes you gain a totally new perspective. I found it made me focus on the strategic, rather than the tactical.