SAREX training questions

[SuperCAP]

My wing is doing a SAREX with the specified intent of training individuals.  Ive been working on my Mission Scanner and this would be a great time to get qualified. Problem is that Im not completely done with the 'Familiarization and Preparatory' training yet, I only have a few left to do.  I assume the 'Advanced Training' is what I would be doing at the SAREX itself.  Can I still go get trained or is it mandatory to have the 'Familiarization and Prep' portion done before I show up?  The member who was helping me in the past is MIA so Im trying to find some answers before I block off two days of my schedule for the SAREX.  Thanks

[a2capt]

The staff of the event is the best place for that question, or the materials they have circulated.

If they want the whole Fam & Prep section done for the rating, or .. if they're building in classroom time for it on the Friday evening perhaps, or.. however they're working it.

[Eclipse]

You cannot get mission participation credit until you have Fa,/Prep finished and CC approved. 
You're not supposed to be signed into anything that has a mission number, real or training
before then.

Whether there will be time to do task evaluations and get those things done in parallel to the
actual activity, only they will know.

[Luis R. Ramos]

You are not supposed to even attend a SAREX without the Familiarization and Preparation tasks.

Having said that, sometimes you get lucky.

Recently I attended one of my state's SAREX. I stated my cadets would participate as GTM3. I cannot sign as SET for this, but I can sign for MSA. So I told my cadets "sometimes you get lucky, but if there are cadets with these tasks signed off you may be turned off." So I made sure my cadets also had an MSA T SQTR.

When we showed up at the Group hosting the mission, the IC yelled "We have our Ground Team!"

Turns out, all that Group's cadets were at other Group's events. Without my cadets, they would not have been able to field a Ground Team.

My quals include GTM3, I am renewing GTL, there was one GTL, another cadet that was GTM3 T but had all tasks signed off, another cadet that had attended one of the advanced GT schools. Another senior member who did not have any prep tasks also joined us for a first sortie, a second senior member with no prep tasks either joined us for a second sortie.

Later another cadet showed up at that Group mission base without even Gen ES. He was allowed entry but did tests only.

Like I said my two cadets were lucky. They knocked off almost 20 tasks, some preparatory and some advanced.

This does not happen very often...

Edited to add: There was almost a one - to - one supervisor to trainee ratio.

Flyer

[Storm Chaser]

You need to complete familiarization and preparatory (Fam & Prep) training and get commander approval to start advanced training and fly sorties. Normally, a SAREX is not the place to get this training. That said, sometimes Fam & Prep training is scheduled before the SAREX starts or if you only have a couple of easy tasks to be evaluated on, you may find a skills evaluator to take care of you. You definitely need to coordinate this ahead of time because everyone will be focusing on the mission once the exercise starts. Good luck!

[JeffDG]

When you arrive at a SAREX, you really need to have a "*" on your 101 card for what you want to train in. 

Having run a number of SAREXs, having folks show up without proper trainee status is a huge time-suck for the staff.  The alternative is, generally, to send you to stew in a corner while we get the folks qualified to train going, and then look at what we can do to get you up to speed, and that's only if we get a lull in the action to be able to think of it.

Our pre-registration system now flags this type of thing.  We ask people when they sign up for a SAREX what they want to do, and we pull your "ACTIVE" and "TRAINEE" quals and look at it ahead of time.  I will often let a commander and ESO know if someone signs up to be a GTM3 trainee who doesn't have trainee status, and let them know to either get them through the Fam/Prep, or not send the person.

-TN Wing ES Training Officer

[Eclipse]

Edited to add: There was almost a one - to - one supervisor to trainee ratio.

But who was the actual trainee and supervisor?  (i.e. can someone being evaluated themselves evaluate someone else at the same time)

I wold argue "no", but not sure it's really addressed in the curriculum.

[Fubar]

Our pre-registration system now flags this type of thing.

Can you shed some more light on this system?

[a2capt]

Eyeballs, look up the members records. Flag them on the pre-registration list, to reply back for further clarification.

[JeffDG]

Our pre-registration system now flags this type of thing.

Can you shed some more light on this system?

Sure.

We use Google Docs extensively in our wing.  When we spin up a new exercise or other event, we build a registration for in the "Forms" part of it.  Basically, the basic stuff like CAPID, when you will be there, what you want to train to do, etc.

Once we have a CAPID, pull qualifications out of our wing's CAPWATCH database.  So alongside each row in the spreadsheet that gets generated (automatically from the Form fill), we have columns that show all the member's current active qualifications, and another column that shows their "Training" qualifications.  So, if I see someone who has signed up to train as a GTM3, and I look and see no "GTM3" under the training column, I look at the "Unit" column (also derived from CAPID) and send a note to the Unit Commander and Unit ESO, saying "Hey, Cadet Snuffy has signed up for the SAREX as a GTM3 trainee.  However he doesn't have a "trainee" qualification.  If you can get his fam/prep done before he comes, that would be fantastic.  If not, please advise him that without that done, he cannot train as a GTM3."

We had a recent SAREX where someone signed up but had yet to complete his GES.  Well, the problem was, he was driving 2 1/2 hours to get to the SAREX.  By catching that in the pre-registration stage, I was able to save that member 5 hours on the road only to be told "Um, Sorry, you can't really do, well, anything."  I'd rather have the local commander/ESO deliver that bad news before wasting that much of the member's time...and perhaps they can even fix the issue!  In that case, they couldn't, but saved the member from driving all the way to the mission base and back for no good reason.

It's one of my hot button issues with IT people (and I am one in addition to my other duties)...most IT folks focus on the "Technology" part, and not enough on the "Information" part of it.  The technology is a tool, the information is the important part, and putting the right information in front of the right person can make a tremendous difference in operational capability, as well as just plain customer service.

[JeffDG]

Eyeballs, look up the members records. Flag them on the pre-registration list, to reply back for further clarification.

Yep, we've just built a system that puts the member's records right there in the pre-registration list automagically.  Putting that information there makes these checks take seconds to complete, rather than a bunch of hunting around for each member that generally gets the "too long; didn't do" treatment from busy exercise staff!

[Eclipse]

^ My wing is doing essentially the same thing, the system has some issues, but generally works pretty good.

It's akin to the Encampment management system for missions.  The days of "call Jimmy if you can make it"
and then Jimmy doesn't show up, etc., are long gone.  YAY CLOUD!

I would imagine it will reach a "final" stage somewhere about .10 hours before NHQ decides to release their own
MMS which will be back to pre-Alpha stage and we can then spend 3-4+ years relearning something that
is essentially the same but uses a different gradient background.

The other issue is that since OPS Quals doesn't allow live access, there's no way to squirt data back in - when someone
knocks that hurdle down, we'll be in good shape.