Iowa Wing CAP

[DNall]

As I have said before, NCO's translate the officers "what to do" into the Airmen's "how to do it." 

That's one function, then there is a nother one similiar to what staff officers do, which is to take the theory the officers are trying to get done & make it executable reatity, and then spit it back from underneath. Plus that guide/mentor thing you do with junior officers.

Yes....but that guide/mentor thing only works if you have some sort of moral/experience/age/skill advantage over the junior officers.  In CAP that is simply just not the case.

I'd disagree STRONLY with your word "only" in that sentence, as well as the framing. Obviously it's much easier with a young & dumb 22yo Lt that's 2 years in the Air Force, but you bet your butt that the CMSAF guides & mentors whole bunch of four-stars.

At this point you should very well understand how to lead your boss, or anyone else you don't have authority over. I didn't mean that NCOs should do staff officer work, but rather lie staff officers they should lead their boss from underneath. It's a differnt process than simply issuing an order, but you do very much have a degree of control over people that does not come from your age/experience/etc alone, but your ability to lead them respectfully to the right answers, and the credibility you earn, not based on your resume, but on the respect you establish for yourself as a man.

I'm 31, and very effectively lead/mentor officers much older than me, who may be prior service, who have all sorts of quals, etc. Establish a command presence for yourself & lead like you would for peers & superiors.

Also, about your framework, you're selling yourself very short if you don't think 21 years in the military & service as a SNCO in the AF especially is not a distinct advantage over 95% of people in the organizaiton including LtCols that have spent 20 years in CAP. You have a lot to teach us from your experience, just as there may be some things you need to learn from others with a different background, and in the end we'll come out strnger as a team.

The question is not whether these IOWA NCO's were instrumental in making the IOWA Experiment work or not....the question is could they have NOT gotten the same results if they were Lts, Capts,  or Majs.

Well, maybe. I'd certainly have to believe the same people could accomplish the same task no matter what they're wearing, but being NCOs rather than just another officer set them apart. It made them distinctive in a way that wveryone else could see what they were about & what they were there to do. That's important I think, or was in that case anyway.

That's Chief's plan to carry that forward to the nation. And by the way, on a per-capita basis, their 4 NCOs translate to 530 nationwide, and yes I think it takes more then that, but thats a good start. Put an NCO advisor or CAP-RAP in every Sq & have them drive the process toward the way it should work in a military unit versus the way it does work in CAP, and yeah then I think you're making progress. Pull those units up to see each other on the Gp or Wg level like Iowa does, and I think you get a lot of the attitudes drifting away. Yes, some people leave in that process, but then a whole new class of people come in as well.

[mikeylikey]

^^  While we are at it, lets get the local SQD's to start doing the same thing.  Instead of 25 SQD's operating totally different and unique, lets get a program that says, here is the "master schedule" these are the things your units need to complete, here is how you should be teaching this or that.  THEN the local SQD Commander says, we have these things to do, we are to do it this way......here is how we should carry out our directives.

When members from different units in a Wing meet up, the "my SQD does it this way, or my SQD does it that way" should NOT be going on.  A brand new member from SQD A should receive the same training a new member from SQD B gets.  Granted there are going to be instances of locality differences, because the varied communities the SQD serves. 

New training manuals should be written that go specifically with grade level and functional area.  So....there is a manual for a 2nd Lt, that lists things he or she should be doing to advance to 1st Lt and has the written curriculum that he or she needs to read.  Then there is a separate manual that details exactly what a Cadet Programs officer does, and is way more detailed than what we have now.  Those pamphlets are just not cutting it.

Sorry to go off on a tangent!  Resume discussing the Iowa Plan.  They are making good advances out there, and I hope within a year NHQ introduces the "Iowa Wing Organizational Plan" to all Wings.  It would follow how the "Virginia Wing Banker Plan" was introduced to us.  It sure would standardize the whole CAP Organization, and make us all part of CAP, instead of "MY WING".

[DNall]

^^  While we are at it, lets get the local SQD's to start doing the same thing.

So standardization. That's a big part of what IGs are supposed to do, but we need some serious command staffs to put that kind of power into the system. You saw Iowa have problems with Sqs that didn't want to get with the program & thought they had it better their own way. (tailored to their location & situation). You're going to demonstrate our major discipline problems as soon as you start down that standardization road. And that needs to be addressed with better initial entry training, which a lot of people have talked about with varrious ideas.

New training manuals should be written that go specifically with grade level and functional area.  So....there is a manual for a 2nd Lt, that lists things he or she should be doing to advance to 1st Lt and has the written curriculum that he or she needs to read.  Then there is a separate manual that details exactly what a Cadet Programs officer does, and is way more detailed than what we have now.  Those pamphlets are just not cutting it.

There's a reg, easy ref chart, and form covering what you have to do to progress. That's the prof dev program, and it's pretty simple. I'd certainly argue, and have vigorously, that it needs to be MUCH more involved & close to on par with the military (like NG officer standards versus active). I understand also that the spec tracks are total crap & that whole training process is pretty worthless. The intent is there, but not much to work with in making it a reality, which it never has been. I've also been involved in some dsicussions around here on revising those to a 4 level system w/ apprentice underneath to accomplish the tech level orientation & not earn a badge, then tech level is up closer to Sr & means you can do that job w/ zero supervision at the Sq level, new Sr & Master levels on top of that which take it to a new higher level. Integrate mission related tasks in the tracks (ex - personnel & admin should get training toward MSA & FASC). And add a specialty track manager at the Wg/Gp level seperate from the staff positon for that area, with the resp to oversee & coordinate training & mentor assignments for everyone working in their particular track area.

[lordmonar]

As I have said before, NCO's translate the officers "what to do" into the Airmen's "how to do it." 

That's one function, then there is a nother one similiar to what staff officers do, which is to take the theory the officers are trying to get done & make it executable reatity, and then spit it back from underneath. Plus that guide/mentor thing you do with junior officers.

Yes....but that guide/mentor thing only works if you have some sort of moral/experience/age/skill advantage over the junior officers.  In CAP that is simply just not the case.

I'd disagree STRONLY with your word "only" in that sentence, as well as the framing. Obviously it's much easier with a young & dumb 22yo Lt that's 2 years in the Air Force, but you bet your butt that the CMSAF guides & mentors whole bunch of four-stars.

Negetive...GR.  Even chiefs know their limits.  Granted the CSAF leans heavily on the CMSgtAF...but there is very little "mentoring" going on.

At this point you should very well understand how to lead your boss, or anyone else you don't have authority over. I didn't mean that NCOs should do staff officer work, but rather lie staff officers they should lead their boss from underneath. It's a differnt process than simply issuing an order, but you do very much have a degree of control over people that does not come from your age/experience/etc alone, but your ability to lead them respectfully to the right answers, and the credibility you earn, not based on your resume, but on the respect you establish for yourself as a man.

It's called the truth.  You give them the best answer you can for their problems, give them your truthful opinion of the subject, your recommendation based on your experience and skills and then you wait for them to make THEIR decision.

Don't be telling me how to lead and mentor in the Air Force.  But as we all know...CAP is NOT the Air Force.

I'm 31, and very effectively lead/mentor officers much older than me, who may be prior service, who have all sorts of quals, etc. Establish a command presence for yourself & lead like you would for peers & superiors.

I too very effectively lead and mentor officers older than myself.  But if I were just a CAP MSgt I would not be nearly as effective as I am.  As Shorning said....there are many out there who do not really know the real NCO relationship in the real military.  And 

Also, about your framework, you're selling yourself very short if you don't think 21 years in the military & service as a SNCO in the AF especially is not a distinct advantage over 95% of people in the organization including LtCols that have spent 20 years in CAP. You have a lot to teach us from your experience, just as there may be some things you need to learn from others with a different background, and in the end we'll come out strnger as a team.

Yes....and in the current CAP envirnoment...I will be more effective doing just that as a Capt then I would as a MSgt.

The question is not whether these IOWA NCO's were instrumental in making the IOWA Experiment work or not....the question is could they have NOT gotten the same results if they were Lts, Capts,  or Majs.

Well, maybe. I'd certainly have to believe the same people could accomplish the same task no matter what they're wearing, but being NCOs rather than just another officer set them apart. It made them distinctive in a way that wveryone else could see what they were about & what they were there to do. That's important I think, or was in that case anyway.

I think that you hit on the key part of this.  Being an NCO in CAP is way way to set someone apart from the crowd.  Sort of like the NBB beret or the Hawk Mountain T-shirt.

I don't really have a major problem with instituting an NCO corp in CAP....but it should be for everyone...either as a stepping stone or as option a sort of career track.  Otherwise (leaving it for only retired/former/current AD NCOs) it only turns into an exclusive gloat club with not defined duties and no way to progress and no way to control.

That's Chief's plan to carry that forward to the nation. And by the way, on a per-capita basis, their 4 NCOs translate to 530 nationwide, and yes I think it takes more then that, but thats a good start. Put an NCO advisor or CAP-RAP in every Sq & have them drive the process toward the way it should work in a military unit versus the way it does work in CAP, and yeah then I think you're making progress. Pull those units up to see each other on the Gp or Wg level like Iowa does, and I think you get a lot of the attitudes drifting away. Yes, some people leave in that process, but then a whole new class of people come in as well.

What plan?  I asked about a plan when the Chief first posted here about his ideas to revive the NCO corps and all I got was "you should know what your need to do".  Sure...lets create a squadron, group, wing, regional NCO position.  Let's get it into CAPR 20-1.  Define their roles and responsibilities, let's educate our commanders on how to use them, develop the NCO professional development programs, rank progression system and then I'll be all over it.

Until then I'll not screw with a system that works.

[Nick Critelli]

Gentlemen

I'll try to give you our experiences and views.  The CAP-NCO corps was one of the most important things we did.   We have the benefit of four NCO's who combined have nearly a century of NCO experience in getting things done in an efficient, orderly manner. 

For example,  it is not unusual to get nearly 75% of the entire Wing at a WTA.  That's a lot of people in one place at one time. Think of the logistics, food requirements, health issues, etc. not to mention keeping them busy.  This takes a strong  and effective infrastructure.  No one over here had that type of personal experience.  As past president of the State Bar I've ran 10,000 person voluntary organization...but with a 25 person full time paid staff.  IAWG has one part time wing administrator.  I've hosted conferences and seminars for 1000..thanks to a fine hotel staff. We don't have that  benefit.  No amount of CAP training is going to prepare you for that constant logistical nightmare. Then came the Chief and his NCO's It was incredible.  They immediately took over and got things organized.  It was like watching a sheep dog herd sheep....methodical. 

NCO's bring operational organization.  Now at the WTAs leadership has the time to create strategic plans, operational plans, etc. in an environment that runs smoothly. 

I'm all in favor of a CAP NCO corps.

Nick Critelli

[Nick Critelli]

Someone wanted an update on the IAWG's progress. 

The reorg was a two phased six year project.  Phase I concerned building personal and operational relationships between the IAWG and state and local government and creating a legal framework to facilitate the relationship.  The three year Phase I closed out last year. 

Phase II turns our focus internally to create a Wing-centric consolidated operational theory.  As you know whenever possible we attempted to apply traditional  business organizational concepts, e.g. expectations, accountability, etc. in a vertical integration manner to the CAP structure. Thus the need for the infamous field grade officer transition order, WTA's, OTS, ICAPA and many more.  We estimated that Phase II would also take 3 years.  We will close year one of Phase II this fall.  It is still too early to have any meaningful historical record.  However we are starting to see the the fruits of our labor:

1.  The number of non AF missions have skyrocketed. We are now involved in almost all serious SARs in Iowa. By serious SARs I mean multi-agency missing person missions with multi operational days.  Those are up from an average of .03 annually from 2000 to 2004 to an average of one each quarter from 2005 to present. 

2.  The number of weather related missions, e.g.  multi operational day missions concerning blizzard, floods, tornadoes, etc. has likewise skyrocketed. from nothing prior to 2005 to one a quarter each year to the present. 

This translates to an average of a  multi day major statewide  mission each month.  Example, we are in the midst of a week long  flood related recon/transport mission at the present time. which came immediately on the heels of another the prior week.  Sometimes we go two months between major missions and sometimes they are back to back.

This keeps is extremely busy and we have had to learn about crew rotation, and the importance of communication.  So much so that we have had to establish a virtual Mission Command Center just to handle the internal communication, logging, etc.  We are experiencing a paperwork nightmare of sorts.

Today I learned that the State EMA readiness and response people have decided to become CAP members so they can better appreciate our capabilities. 

Word has gotten out among Iowa's 99 county Emergency Managers that they have full access to CAP's air, ground,  communication and mission management capabilities and they like it and are starting to use it. 

Frankly, I'm afraid that we may have unleashed a beast...and I'm not being over dramatic.  To stay ahead of the game,  I am trying to forge training and operational  liaisons with NEWG, MNWG, MOWG and ILWG that surround us. Frankly I foresee that we will need them big time in the foreseeable future.

We have determined that the optimum size for the Wing is around 200-250 officers  75% of whom are active. We are approaching that parameter. We believe that the combination of OTS and WTA may have remedied our retention problem.  Prior to 2005 we suffered from a 54% dropout rate after the first year.  That is now down to 5%. 

This year we turn our attention to the CADET PROGRAM and Aerospace mission. ICAPA at the WTA has brought our cadet corp together. The bad news is that we only have 118 active cadets.  The good news is that number has been stable for 2 years. We are not losing cadets. We are now trying to find an appropriate organizational structure for ICAPA what will fulfill our criteria of 1. Ease of Administration at the squadron level and wing level; 2. Constitute the best use of our senior officers time and talent; 3. There must be a local presence in some form or another; 4. The program must be high quality and administered on a standardized statewide basis.
5. The program must create a critical mass of Cadets at the squadron level so as to maintain their interest level.

With a great deal of input from NEWG for which we are grateful we believe we can find the right structure shortly.  Once that is done we can turn our attention to AE. I personally believe that AE is the "jewel in the crown" and is the common link between ES and CP.

Forgive me if this reads like Warren Buffet's Annual Report to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders but we are excited about what is happening. 

Now the best for  last.....almost all of the bickering, negative personalities, sourness, complaining, etc. etc. that  dogged us is gone. By and large people are upbeat, happy and positive. When there is a complaint it is usually about something that we could be doing better.  Best of all people are starting to bring out the best in each other.

October 07 will close out year 1. I am sure we will have a formal report which I will post.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me at ncritelli@iawg.cap.gov.

NICK CRITELLI, Lt Col CAP
Chief of Staff -- Iowa Wing
CIVIL AIR PATROL

[arajca]

Gentlemen

I'll try to give you our experiences and views.  The CAP-NCO corps was one of the most important things we did.   We have the benefit of four NCO's who combined have nearly a century of NCO experience in getting things done in an efficient, orderly manner. 

For example,  it is not unusual to get nearly 75% of the entire Wing at a WTA.  That's a lot of people in one place at one time. Think of the logistics, food requirements, health issues, etc. not to mention keeping them busy.  This takes a strong  and effective infrastructure.  No one over here had that type of personal experience.  As past president of the State Bar I've ran 10,000 person voluntary organization...but with a 25 person full time paid staff.  IAWG has one part time wing administrator.  I've hosted conferences and seminars for 1000..thanks to a fine hotel staff. We don't have that  benefit.  No amount of CAP training is going to prepare you for that constant logistical nightmare. Then came the Chief and his NCO's It was incredible.  They immediately took over and got things organized.  It was like watching a sheep dog herd sheep....methodical. 

NCO's bring operational organization.  Now at the WTAs leadership has the time to create strategic plans, operational plans, etc. in an environment that runs smoothly. 

I'm all in favor of a CAP NCO corps.

Nick Critelli

A question, which has been brought up before, but not really answered: Would those NCO's have been able to accomplish the same thing if they had been CAP officers instead of CAP NCO's?

[cyclone]

A question, which has been brought up before, but not really answered: Would those NCO's have been able to accomplish the same thing if they had been CAP officers instead of CAP NCO's?

Doubtful.    Two examples.

1. They wear stripes that were earned in the military (and the Guard knows that) so when they go in to work with the Guard (which around here is about 85-90% enlisted) they have instant credibility to help get things done and make relationships more quickly.

2.  The stripes transform them.   For example, we had on gentleman who had been with us for several years as a Lieutenant.   Not a drain on the Wing, but not a sparkplug either.  His uniform was so so and his C&C was so so.  He was uncomfortable as an Lt and did not understand what he was supposed to do.  One lunch with the Chief and he was convinced to put his stripes on.  The next WTA he shows up in New BDU's sporting his stripes.   You would swear the Gunny from Full Metal Jacket had squared him away.  Now he is a sparkplug that fixes problems behind the scenes and pushes everyone to work harder and gets the job done because he understands what to do as an NCO.

Now I know that this miraculous transformation is not going to happen with every prior NCO, but even if each wing had 2-3 NCO's that operated on this level and at this speed.   I think you would enjoy the help.

[Nick Critelli]

Adding to what "cyclone" said, the question as to whether the NCO's could have accomplished the if they had remained a CAP officer or joined as one has been give a lot of discussion.

Only they can truthfully answer the question and they say NO. They tell me that they are doing what they have been trained to do. Coming in as an officer puts a whole different dynamic.  My initial impression was that it was a difference without a real distinction.  After all CAP officers, etc. are not the same as military, there's no UCMJ,  rank can be disregarded at will (e.g. 1 LT as  squadron cc in charge of LTC) But they and their performance have convinced me otherwise. 

It truly one of the best things we did here.
NC

[mikeylikey]

Doubtful.    Two examples.

1. They wear stripes that were earned in the military (and the Guard knows that) so when they go in to work with the Guard (which around here is about 85-90% enlisted) they have instant credibility to help get things done and make relationships more quickly.

2.  The stripes transform them.   For example, we had on gentleman who had been with us for several years as a Lieutenant.   Not a drain on the Wing, but not a sparkplug either.  His uniform was so so and his C&C was so so.  He was uncomfortable as an Lt and did not understand what he was supposed to do.  One lunch with the Chief and he was convinced to put his stripes on.  The next WTA he shows up in New BDU's sporting his stripes.   You would swear the Gunny from Full Metal Jacket had squared him away.  Now he is a sparkplug that fixes problems behind the scenes and pushes everyone to work harder and gets the job done because he understands what to do as an NCO.

I don't know this gentleman, but he sounds sort of ate-up.  HE can't get his uniform to look squared away because he had on embroidered bars instead of stripes?  Come on!  Bad example at the least!  He did not do his job correctly, but the addition of stripes "transformed" him over night?  What was he doing as a LT that he does not now do as an NCO.  It must be very dramatic differences in work for that transformation to take effect. 

His C&C were so-so.  What does that mean?  What changed his customs and courtesies practices over night?  Adding stripes?  I doubt it!!  He was prior-service and an NCO, and his C&C stunk, but he miraculously changed over night! 

Wow.....all I have to do to make a so-so CAP Member awesome is throw some stripes on their sleeves.  WOOSH....instant awesome CAP Member! 

??

[CadetProgramGuy]

Doubtful.    Two examples.

1. They wear stripes that were earned in the military (and the Guard knows that) so when they go in to work with the Guard (which around here is about 85-90% enlisted) they have instant credibility to help get things done and make relationships more quickly.

2.  The stripes transform them.   For example, we had on gentleman who had been with us for several years as a Lieutenant.   Not a drain on the Wing, but not a sparkplug either.  His uniform was so so and his C&C was so so.  He was uncomfortable as an Lt and did not understand what he was supposed to do.  One lunch with the Chief and he was convinced to put his stripes on.  The next WTA he shows up in New BDU's sporting his stripes.   You would swear the Gunny from Full Metal Jacket had squared him away.  Now he is a sparkplug that fixes problems behind the scenes and pushes everyone to work harder and gets the job done because he understands what to do as an NCO.

I don't know this gentleman, but he sounds sort of ate-up.  HE can't get his uniform to look squared away because he had on embroidered bars instead of stripes?  Come on!  Bad example at the least!  He did not do his job correctly, but the addition of stripes "transformed" him over night?  What was he doing as a LT that he does not now do as an NCO.  It must be very dramatic differences in work for that transformation to take effect. 

His C&C were so-so.  What does that mean?  What changed his customs and courtesies practices over night?  Adding stripes?  I doubt it!!  He was prior-service and an NCO, and his C&C stunk, but he miraculously changed over night! 

Wow.....all I have to do to make a so-so CAP Member awesome is throw some stripes on their sleeves.  WOOSH....instant awesome CAP Member! 

??

This will get me canned here....  Mikeylikey....I cannot tell you how wrong you are.

Assuming you have never served in a military unit, you will never know what it is like to belong to a corps.  As an NCO you have clear cut objectives, knowledge of what exactly will work vs. what will not work.

As a prior service soldier (Army) I had clear cut knowledge of my job and my tasks.  When I became an officer in CAP I didn't know what I was supposed to do.

The same happened with this Lt returned SSgt.  As an Officer he had no idea what to do.  His Officership suffered, and his appearance and CC suffered as well.  Honestly he had a bad rap within the wing.

Now he is SSgt again.  He knows what works, what doesn't work as far as getting a job done.  He IS an NCO again.  Back in the comfort zone he became a better Officer be being an NCO.  He has become one of those in the wing that we rely on the most.  Give his a task, I have no doubt it will get done.

I challenge all of you, if you have earned NCO stripes, file the paper work, get your stripes back.

It made a difference in One Officer.

[ddelaney103]

In truth this is the classic example of someone being out of their "comfort zone."  This is why they kept NCO's as an option - a chance to utilize someone who just didn't want to "play officer."

It could either him being "lost" in a new org or him adopting the standards of those around him.  In those cases, something as simple as that could make a big change.  However, I don't think it's the optimal solution.

If we could come up with a standardized culture, and a means by which to impart it to new members, I think this would be less of an issue.  It would work without setting up a "lower tier" of membership and cover any of our new guys: officers, NCO's and civilians.

Of course we would have to determine our place on the "Volunteer FD to Old Guard" STRACNESS axis...

[CadetProgramGuy]

If we could come up with a standardized culture, and a means by which to impart it to new members, I think this would be less of an issue.  It would work without setting up a "lower tier" of membership and cover any of our new guys: officers, NCO's and civilians.

Of course we would have to determine our place on the "Volunteer FD to Old Guard" STRACNESS axis...

Emphasis added by me....

I do not see NCO's membership as a lower tier of membership. In fact to assume that their membership is not equal to an officer is downright wrong.

NCO's have actual experience that is highly valuable to CAP.

[ddelaney103]

If we could come up with a standardized culture, and a means by which to impart it to new members, I think this would be less of an issue.  It would work without setting up a "lower tier" of membership and cover any of our new guys: officers, NCO's and civilians.

Of course we would have to determine our place on the "Volunteer FD to Old Guard" STRACNESS axis...

Emphasis added by me....

I do not see NCO's membership as a lower tier of membership. In fact to assume that their membership is not equal to an officer is downright wrong.

NCO's have actual experience that is highly valuable to CAP.

Didn't say they weren't valuable to CAP.  However:

If we are going to have NCO's, and

If we're going to pretend to be military,

Then, NCO's must defer to officers.

I consider myself to be an expert in my field - through training, experience and education.  I consider myself much better in my field than my Captain.

However, while I can suggest and attempt to influence my Captain, she has the costume jewelery and the note from the President and I don't.

NCO's in the military are lower tier - just look at our pay rates. 

[mikeylikey]

This will get me canned here....  Mikeylikey....I cannot tell you how wrong you are.

Assuming you have never served in a military unit, you will never know what it is like to belong to a corps.  As an NCO you have clear cut objectives, knowledge of what exactly will work vs. what will not work.

As a prior service soldier (Army) I had clear cut knowledge of my job and my tasks.  When I became an officer in CAP I didn't know what I was supposed to do.

The same happened with this Lt returned SSgt.  As an Officer he had no idea what to do.  His Officership suffered, and his appearance and CC suffered as well.  Honestly he had a bad rap within the wing.

Now he is SSgt again.  He knows what works, what doesn't work as far as getting a job done.  He IS an NCO again.  Back in the comfort zone he became a better Officer be being an NCO.  He has become one of those in the wing that we rely on the most.  Give his a task, I have no doubt it will get done.

I challenge all of you, if you have earned NCO stripes, file the paper work, get your stripes back.

It made a difference in One Officer.

I have and continue to serve in an Officer Corps.  That is not a point.  The point is, CAP Officers are totally different than AD Officers.  The skills are learned as a CAP Officer through experience in the program and dedication.  This NCO you are referencing seemed to not have the dedication.  It takes dedication and attention to make sure your uniform looks good.  He lacked that.  As an NCO.....he should have transfered over his C&C and uniform skills.  No difference between Officer and NCO C&C and uniform prep.  Granted different terms and different uniform items of course, but the same skills for both are needed.  He could have taken the time to learn what was require of him as a CAP Senior Member.  Instead he chalked up his lack of preparation to "I was an NCO.....what I did has no bearing on the CAP Officer corps". 

I consider myself to be an expert in my field - through training, experience and education.  I consider myself much better in my field than my Captain.

However, while I can suggest and attempt to influence my Captain, she has the costume jewelery and the note from the President and I don't.

NCO's in the military are lower tier - just look at our pay rates. 

I hardly think of my insignia as costume jewelry.  Anyway....you may think you are better than your Officers, but they are paid more to make sure you are an expert in your field.  Officers are generalists in a vast area of skills, abilities and knowledge that your ONE LITTLE expertise area falls into.  I have 12 different MOS fields working under me, and I have to know about each.  However, each NCO usually only needs to be concerned with his or her little area.  What an enlisted soldier learns at his or her AIT is usually taught to Officers in as little as a week at a Officer Basic Course. 

Pay rates are different because of the differences in expectation between Officers and Enlisted.  I owe a great deal more to my boss than my NCO's owe to me.  I work longer hours, and ultimately when the time comes have to get in front of my soldiers and lead them into war (Which I have done twice).  Not to be insensitive, but NCO's work for their Officers, not the other way around. 

As far as NCO's in CAP......great, more power to them.  However, when it comes down to it, the CAP Officer is still the Officer even if he or she never served a day in the military.

[ZigZag911]

I think the dilemma for AD/retired/former NCOs coming into CAP is that CAP officers don't have a very solid sense of identity.

As long as we have this schizophrenic division between 'corporate' and 'auxiliary' mentalities, this problem will remain.

I can see where an experienced NCO would feel a sense of relief returning to familiar duties --- focusing on the completion of the mission and the care of the members, which is the heart of the NCO's duty -- and getting out of the squabbling political nonsense that all too often characterizes the leadership in groups and wings, and sometimes even squadrons.

[Dragoon]

A few thoughts.


Sounds like we've boiled down the value of CAP NCOs to three things.

1.  They understand "military stuff"

2.  They are good at "Organizing Things" like arranging logistics and the like for events.

3.  They are good at interfacing with the Guard (presumable as part of #2 above) because they are wearing stripes (like most of the guard guys) and their former service gives them credibility.


Alright, time for the analysis......

1.  They understand "military stuff"

A good thing.  Of course, so do our members who are former officers.  And yet they always seem to get left out of the discussion.  We feel comfortable giving anybody Captains bars', but we zealously protect Staff Sergeant stripes to the prior service types.  Weird.

2.  They are good at "Organizing things" like arranging logistics and the like for events.

No doubt.  Of course, we have non-military members who are good at this too.  Folks whose real jobs are things like construction foreman,  police desk sergeant, or even party planners!  And some of them aren't really good at high level policy/admin/vision officer stuff.  Seems like they'd be better off as CAP NCOs than CAP Officers.  Too bad they won't be allowed in.

And there are NCOs who really don't have a whole lot of NCO experience.  I'd LOVE a former infantry platoon sergeant to help organize things.  I don't know how much help I'd get from an E-7 financial specialist or bandsmen.  Like officers, not all NCOs are created equal.

3.  They are good at interfacing with the Guard because they are wearing stripes (like most of the guard guys) and their former service gives them credibility.

This is most definitely true, and in fact was one of the reason given for the NB looking at NCO grade a few years back.  They are "in the club."  Of course, our  former warrant officers and officers have some street cred as well, if you could tell them apart.


So all in all, it's a mixed bag.  It's one way to utilize a small group of people to their fullest.  But it does ignore two other groups of people (prior military officers and those civilian CAP members who are best suited for NCO work).

So, besides that, is there a downside?

I think possibly yes.   We have to avoid the "big head" syndrome.

If the NCO Corps begins to look down on the CAP Officer Corps because of their lack of prior service.

If the NCO Corps begins to operate outside of the chain of command, or think of itself as the guys who can go out to any unit, look around and then tattle to the commander.

If the NCO Corps stops learning about CAP because well, they don't need to.

If the CAP Officers stop doing certain things because it's NCO business, and then they end up in a unit with no NCOs.....


If this stuff can be kept in check, it's probably OK. I hope we can keep this stuff in check.

A system based on the experience only 4 guys may or may not work well when extended nationwide.  It may be that Iowa just happens to have 4 really great (but unique) guys.

[RiverAux]

Nick, thanks for the general update on the program.  Regarding the "optimum" size of the wing, upon what is that based?  Given the stresses you're beginning to experience under the higher operational tempo, it seems that somewhat more people would be good to have, at least more people doing ES work. 

I don't know if this is still current but the CAP homeland security resources page says you only have 16 mission pilots for 7 corporate aircraft.  That seems WAY WAY understrength to me though your number of scanners and observers probably isn't too bad (46 & 84). 

[cyclone]

Nick, thanks for the general update on the program.  Regarding the "optimum" size of the wing, upon what is that based?  Given the stresses you're beginning to experience under the higher operational tempo, it seems that somewhat more people would be good to have, at least more people doing ES work. 

I don't know if this is still current but the CAP homeland security resources page says you only have 16 mission pilots for 7 corporate aircraft.  That seems WAY WAY understrength to me though your number of scanners and observers probably isn't too bad (46 & 84). 

We had a bloated number of mission pilots before we transitioned.  Guys who would do a CAPF 5 once a year and a CAPF 91 every 2 and would not be seen since.  We also happen to have some guys right now who fell out of CAPF 91 or CAPF 5 on 30 Apr and between WX and other things have not taken one yet.  That should bring us up a bit in May.

Now we are re-building our Mission Pilot Corps.  We had three trainees at our March / April ES Academy and have four more planned for July / August.   I think that this number will continue to get up to where we want to sit at.

In the mean time we are trying not to kill the qualified and current guys.  Between all of our pilots we have flown over 20 hours on the current flooding mission with probably another 5-6 to go in the next few days.

[Nick Critelli]

RIVERAUX

In response to your question:

As we settled into Phase II we had to take a realistic look at our capabilities. In phase I we made new and better relationships. However we could not know the  type and frequency of the missions it would generate.  Several things developed.  We immediately began getting multi day, multi agency missing persons SAR missions.  About six months latter we began getting weather related disaster relief missions. Both required  deliverables which translated into a completely different training and response approach. Keep in mind we had been essentially an ELT hunting organization.

The first thing we did was to identify our manning needs for both SAR and WX-DR missions. We did this be creating a Unit Manning Document. (UMD) For example, we determined that a squadron with an aircraft should be able to staff it three deep, i.e. 3MP, 3MO and 3MS.  Likewise ground teams should be staffed 2 deep. We also established manning quotas for other staff.  Each unit was required to submit the UMD.  The UMD was divided into mission staffing  and administrative staffing.   An analysis of the UMD gave us a very realistic and sometimes shocking picture regarding our strengths and weaknesses.   In some situations we had and still have officers that are multi billeted,e.g. holding several positions within the squadron. The UMM  allowed us to  more truly focus our recruitment efforts.  We have now gone to slot recruitment. When a slot is open we target recruit it.

Based on the UMD's we quickly determined that while we had members in some situation they were the wrong kind of members for the positions that were needed.  Through the UMD we have seen our squadrons get stronger.  By no means are they where they need to be.  But we now we have plan to get them where the need to be instead of leaving it up to blind luck. 

The last time I looked most of our squadrons are at around 48% of UMD standard for both mission and around 55% for  administrative positions. 

Iowa has 99 counties which are divided into six regions of around 17 counties each.  We have assigned a  squadron that has an aircraft to each region and advised the region emergency coordinator that the squadron is "theirs."  They now have their own field force for the tasking.  As anticipated we are starting to see requests for CAP tasking and has put a lot of hours on the books.  But like I said earlier, we may have unleashed a monster.  For the time being we can control it because all requests for our services must be up channeled from the local EM Director to the State Emergency Management Director or the Iowa National Guard.  They act as filter.

Right now our biggest problem is a lack of CAP agency liaisons or CAP incident commanders.  We have very few who are trained in what we do and how we do it. 

If you want a copy of the UMD give me instructions on how to post it or e-mail me at ncritelli@iawg.cap.gov

NICK CRITELLI, Lt Col CAP
Chief of Staff -- Iowa Wing
CIVIL AIR PATROL