CAP Paralegals

[Dragoon]

Talk about kicking a hornet's nest....remember I'm not saying these folks are worthless to CAP, because they're not.  We need 'em.  We just don't necessarily need 'em in every squadron.

Back to the criteria I laid out - can you run a good unit without these folks?

You betcha -

Most squadrons have no dedicated IT officer and do fine with eServices, WMU, etc.  Don't need geeks to figure out how to press buttions - most of us do that just fine.

Most squadrons don't have an actual historian and do just fine.  It's a "nice to have" - but not keeping history doesn't really get in the way of accomplishing the squadron missions.

PAOs are nice, but I've seen too many good units that don't have one, and it doesn't seem get in the way.  PAOs can assist with recruiting, but that's actually the Recruiting and Retention Officer's job.   A few well placed PAOs across the state, working for the Wing PAO, can handle coverage just fine by talking with the squadron commanders.

Health Services....unless the guy is also a first aid instructor, there isn't much need at the squadron level. On the other hand, you do need some medical support for things like encampment, so there is value for these guys at the Wing Level.

Legal - already stated.  If the squadron commander is in legal difficulty he needs to be talking to Wing anyway.  Wing NEEDS lawyers.  Squadrons aren't corporate entities, and really don't.

I'd also add one more - most units don't need a Comms Officers, unless the unit has a whole bunch of radios.  If you are lucky enough to have a qualified BCUT instructor, it's nice.  If you've got a guy who can fix stuff, it's nice.  But having a full time officer who pretty much handles the squadron's single radio mounted in the van is...overkill.  But of course, you need a strong contingent of comms folks in the Wing to handle everything from licensing to repair to repeaters to training.


We need all these guys in CAP.  But not having them isn't death to a squadron.