New CAP Governance Structure

[Nolan Teel]

I kinda like where this is going.  Not much else to say other then woo hoo!

[Brad]

I am quite impressed and pleased with this outcome. Like others have said, now we don't have to wait for a NB meeting just to get a little procedural correction made. For once the chain of command has some force behind it. All it took was a little common-sense and Occam's Razor application.

[flyguy06]

I guess the corporatists won. The new structure is far more corporate based than military based.

How do you figure?  From a title perspective, maybe, but from a top-down chain of command, and from a "concentration of effort" perspective,
this is much more military then before.

Wing CC's in the USAF do not "vote" for the CSAF (etc.), he's appointed by people without a direct vested interest in who the appointee is.

You should also note that the COO now reports to the Nat CC for operational matters - this issue of the national staff competing with the
national CC has been noted by a lot of people as a factor in our inability to get trivial matters handled timely, and also in regards to
paid-staff usurping the regulatory-roles of volunteer staff and commanders simply because of expedience and access.

I agree. the National Commander should be appointed, not voted on by his/her subordinates. I am up and her the announcement. I am just gonna see how it plays out. Change can be hard for some people. Inclding myself, but I am learning to embrace it..

[flyguy06]

I guess the corporatists won. The new structure is far more corporate based than military based.

How do you figure?  From a title perspective, maybe, but from a top-down chain of command, and from a "concentration of effort" perspective,
this is much more military then before.

Wing CC's in the USAF do not "vote" for the CSAF (etc.), he's appointed by people without a direct vested interest in who the appointee is.

You should also note that the COO now reports to the Nat CC for operational matters - this issue of the national staff competing with the
national CC has been noted by a lot of people as a factor in our inability to get trivial matters handled timely, and also in regards to
paid-staff usurping the regulatory-roles of volunteer staff and commanders simply because of expedience and access.

We've always been aux and corp. The new corp titles for the volunteers are very much in line with their "military" titles. Like the AF, the "civilian" employees are now under the national commander. CC Trumps EX!

Did not mention if the Wing CCs are still corporate officers.

I dont think we have changed titles have we? I mean the National Commander hold the position of CEO of the corporation, but he will still be referred to as the NAtional Commander right?

[BillB]

Ned

I've completed Level 5, so where do I send my application to be National Commander?

[Eclipse]

I dont think we have changed titles have we? I mean the National Commander hold the position of CEO of the corporation, but he will still be referred to as the NAtional Commander right?

Correct, the "CEO" parlance might wind up being listed in a governance doc, or used in the context of donors and others who prefer that terminology,
but he or she will still be a 2-star.

Calling HEADCAP the "CEO" is as much a recognition of the new structure and to whom he is beholden as a title change per-se.  The line of command and decision-making authority has become very bright and clear - The Nat CC is the head of the organization, for both the paid and non-paid staff, but
will serve at the pleasure of a board which should be somewhat distanced from politics and the trivialities which have slowed our progress.

The BOG's authority is now final and absolute, with no ambiguity.  It may well have always been the case, but with all the voices in the room in the previous incarnation, it was hard to tell sometimes.

And since the BOG has members who are not CAP people, the assumption would that the decisions made would be more strategic "best practice" orientated (no matter who they make unhappy), vs. more tactical and related to personal needs and issues.

Having the Wing and Region CC's refocused on their AORs, without the politics of ascension involved, should be a big boost as well.  These jobs should
return to being the "hard-work / little recognition" roles of support the units and members that they are intended to be.

[Ned]

Ned

I've completed Level 5, so where do I send my application to be National Commander?

Be careful worth stuff like that.  That's how I got stuck on the BoG.

[RiverAux]

While my preferences for an organizational structure much more like the CG Aux are well known, I'd say that if a top-down structure is what the AF and CAP want, then this is a much more efficient way of doing things than was the case with the previous structure. 

Unfortunately, while it does solve several problems we are still going to be stuck with the Wing King/Queen situation which is now even going to be stronger given less oversight by the AF due to the reduction in State Directors. 

The number of people driven out of CAP due to high level politics is quite small, but the dictatorial powers of the Wing Kings/Queens is probably responsible for the loss of more good people than just about anything else having to do with the structure of the organization. 

[Eclipse]

You can't run a 1200+ person organization as a democracy, especially within the CAP paradigm.

With the politics removed at the national level, one would hope that ineffective Wing CC's would be more readily removed, since neither National CC, nor the BOG would need to be concerned about those decisions haunting them later on (assuming the proper process is followed).

[lordmonar]

I disagree with you RiverAux.

While we will always have local politics.....at the unit group and wing levels....the Wing Commander who wish to move up will have to do it more on PERFORMANCE at the wing level instead of political reliability or any sort of fuedal system.

Wing commander can now focus more on execution of the policies and guidance coming from HQ instead of splitting all their time doing staffer jobs and jokeying for position for their next position or election.

[NCRblues]

Well, I have been pretty critical of the studies and the planning phase of this...

But, I must admit that I am pleasantly impressed....

[BuckeyeDEJ]

This is all good stuff, folks. Very positive stuff for our organization. I'm eager to see how it all shakes out. Some of the best news I've seen in my 28 years in CAP!

[ltcmark]

The national commander will be selected from top candidates vetted by the BoG's Personnel Committee. Candidates must be a CAP member in good standing. Required credentials include a bachelor's degree, CAP Level V professional development and prior service as a CAP wing commander. Selection requires a two-thirds majority vote by the BoG.

Well it is about time :clap:   This means an end to popularity contest of commander selection.  This will definitely eliminate a lot of the good-ol-boy network and a lot of the butt kissing.

I do not agree with the bachelor's degree requirement.  There are a lot of college educated idiots trying to run other government programs.   We can all see how that works out   Motivation and dedication are a much better judge of how smart a person is.

A good point on this is that 7 out of the 10 richest people in the US are college dropouts - you do not make that much money being stupid or not knowing how to lead.

Did not mention if the Wing CCs are still corporate officers.

According to an email put out by our Wing CC, they will no longer be corporate officers.  All contracts will have to go to NHQ for approval.

[afgeo4]

I hate to be the troll, but an authoritarian system only works when the person higher up is honorable. Give someone like the former National CC whose name shall not be mentioned these powers and we'll all regret it. Also, this in no way removes politics from the equation. Now the National CC can remove any Wing CC he doesn't like (for a personal reason) knowing that he won't be second-guessed.

Be careful what you all wish for, folks. Power corrupts and absolute power...

[lordmonar]

I'll take my chances.

[LGM30GMCC]

I hate to be the troll, but an authoritarian system only works when the person higher up is honorable. Give someone like the former National CC whose name shall not be mentioned these powers and we'll all regret it. Also, this in no way removes politics from the equation. Now the National CC can remove any Wing CC he doesn't like (for a personal reason) knowing that he won't be second-guessed.

Be careful what you all wish for, folks. Power corrupts and absolute power...

While a National Commander could do so they certainly would be second guessed. If they were not justified (documentation) that is the kind of thing that would quickly go through an IG complaint and would hit the BoG in a very ugly manner. I would not want to be the CAP/CC that removed someone without just cause. It likely would be one of the last things they did as CAP/CC.

Also, Wing CCs are selected by the Region CCs, who are picked by the Nat CC, and the Nat CC is picked by the BoG.

I suspect the BoG will have the time, inclination, and ability to do a pretty thorough investigation into any applicants. Interviews, the whole works. Previously, a Nat CC campaign might include very limited amounts of knowledge by the majority of folks doing the voting. And I know some candidates for CAP/CC would try to pander to ANYONE who was at National Boards.

I was there last year, in civies, looking to chat with some of my NSC classmates and looking for them and suddenly one of the candidates approached me, tried to give me a button or sticker or something and a campaign speech. I found it repulsive.

I live and work in the authoritarian system of the USAF, sometimes you get bad leaders. Some of them may even well be dishonorable. With term limits on the CAP/CC and the various levels of command, and a greater emphasis on actual evaluation of performance, I see a lot of the people out for their own political ends being flushed into the open, and not doing so hot.

More importantly, I forsee people that may not have otherwise wanted to work on the NB due to the politics, and asinine procedures (Why do we have to vote on this? Seriously? I don't care what PRWG calls itself. I really, really don't, why are we wasting the time of the whole group on this?) but have otherwise served well as commanders and staff officers at other levels be willing to step up to higher levels. A lot of it will depend on what issues are put before the NAC.

Hopefully, they will be big strategic ideas that the Commander wants to hear some discussion on. But the nitpicky details (like uniforms) will be left to staff officers and a smaller group like a committee and then the CAP/CC can simply make a decision and press without having to worry about winning over the vote of the NB. And if the next CC doesn't like it, they can change it again. That's a lot like how the USAF does things, and frankly, I think it works pretty well.

[MSG Mac]

I guess the corporatists won. The new structure is far more corporate based than military based.

Looking at what they handed out at the NB and what I heard in the general assembly, the new governance seems to follow either the Catholic Church or the Soviet Government forms.

Wing Commander=Bishop or Commisar
Region Commander=Cardinal or member of the Supreme Soviet
National Commander=Pope or Premier
Board of Governors= Apostles or members of the party's governing Council. The Chairman of the BOG must be either Jesus or Lenin.

In reality the BOG in trying to bring about a new structure has gone from being an oversight group to taking over the entire organization. Ironically of the 10-12 members of the BOG only 4 are required to be members of CAP.

[BillB]

MSG MAC.  The Governence report says no powers are added to the BoG other than what they already have. The BoG could change the CAP Constitution or By-laws at any time under the authority theat already exists. They already showed they could remove the National CC, so what is your point? I still say the BoG should have one more SECAF appointee, any retired former Commander of CAP-USAF he selects as a voting member.

[RRLE]

This means an end to popularity contest of commander selection.  This will definitely eliminate a lot of the good-ol-boy network and a lot of the butt kissing.

Sorry to burst your and some other bubbles but the first thing a reorg of this type does is just change whose butt must be kissed.

Some of the politicians under the old school may not survive the new butt kissing, other will thrive and new players will come to the fore but there will be butt kissing and politics.

The politics may be even less transparent then they are today since the majority of the BOD are not even CAP members. The winners will be those who figure out how to kiss those butts, which will probably not occur in CAP view.

[Brad]

In reality the BOG in trying to bring about a new structure has gone from being an oversight group to taking over the entire organization. Ironically of the 10-12 members of the BOG only 4 are required to be members of CAP.

A lot of organizations have a board that is "disconnected" from the membership, in order to keep its mindset on the overall big picture instead of wanting to fall back into the more specific operational concerns because "well I remember we did this" or whatnot.

The county fire district that my fire department is under for example, I'm willing to bet a good number of the Board Of Directors have little to no fire experience. But they have the "pulse of the community." Same with the CAP BoG. This gives them more ability to center on the customers we serve, Air Force or otherwise (some people may forget that).