I need help with a photoshop project

[Falling Hare]

"...a paradigm shift for the Senior Program" is something that we have needed for a long time. 

Out of curiosity I have been ordering CAP publications circa 1950-1960 to try and get a handle on the structure and assignments of enlisted and NCO personnel in the old days.  A 1949 manual just seems to assume that it was a mirror image of what the Army was doing.

I'm sure this will help dovetail nicely with what the NCO group is working on; be sure you keep them in the loop.  And there will be some of us
(non-prior service) who were formerly CAP officers who would like to use our experience to rejoin CAP in the new NCO corps.

Would like to see a copy of your submission when it is done! :clap:

[Eclipse]

"...a paradigm shift for the Senior Program" is something that we have needed for a long time.

Agreed.

This is not the one needed. It will make things either worse then they are, or be nothing more then window dressing,
and we don't need more of that.

If, at the end of the day, the only person willing to be a Squadron CC is a CAP SrA.  That's who will be the CC, period.
Otherwise you fold the squadron, and add the patch to the pile.

And you can't even force that lady or gent to to training after the fact, since if you're in that position to start with,
you're also not in the position to be telling a volunteer who was your selection of last resort to do more work.

Lose the grade all together? You have my attention. 

Temporary grade for those in command jobs only?  I'm listening.

A real enlisted program within CAP.  Nope.

It.

Will.

Never.

Work.

But why?  I really want to be a CAP NCO!  They do all the real work and are the backbone of the military and other stuff I read!

Because, for the nth time, a real NCO program requires the caste system that will kill a volunteer organization,
but worse then the caste system is the idea that you can somehow create billets, manning tables, and job restrictions
in an organization which is seeing double-digit year-over-year, accelerating member loss.

"What's the big deal?  If we have to, we'll just let the NCOs do those jobs..."

Then you just broke your little ships, and the whole exercise was a waste.

You need 30-50% more active members, not to mention consistent, required initial and ongoing training,
and someway to compel volunteer to follow the rules (which people from NHQ have made very clear on this forum
is not possible for even the most basic things like dress), before you can even consider an idea like this.

[Spaceman3750]

... paradigm shift for the Senior Program.

There is no "senior program". The "senior program" which you refer to IS CAP. There is a "cadet program", because cadets are a mission unto themselves, but seniors are the core of CAP and the means by which we accomplish our three missions.

Maybe, just maybe, our members are doing great work in their communities, for free, and as such are worthy of the small token of appreciation that is officer grade. It's not much, but it means something.

CAP faces a pretty significant problem right now, on the local level, in almost every squadron in the country: CAP does not have enough qualified personnel to support current or future operations in all three of our mission statements. We should probably work on that one for a while before we decide to disenfranchise what few motivated and qualified members we do have by saying "thank you Major for your 15 years of dedicated service, but under the new structure you will be an A1C from now on."

[Storm Chaser]

"...a paradigm shift for the Senior Program" is something that we have needed for a long time.

Agreed.

This is not the one needed. It will make things either worse then they are, or be nothing more then window dressing,
and we don't need more of that.

If, at the end of the day, the only person willing to be a Squadron CC is a CAP SrA.  That's who will be the CC, period.
Otherwise you fold the squadron, and add the patch to the pile.

And you can't even force that lady or gent to to training after the fact, since if you're in that position to start with,
you're also not in the position to be telling a volunteer who was your selection of last resort to do more work.

Lose the grade all together? You have my attention. 

Temporary grade for those in command jobs only?  I'm listening.

A real enlisted program within CAP.  Nope.

It.

Will.

Never.

Work.

You had me at "lose the grade all together" or "temporary grade for those in command jobs only..." It may never happen, but I think it's worth discussing.

[Storm Chaser]

Maybe, just maybe, our members are doing great work in their communities, for free, and as such are worthy of the small token of appreciation that is officer grade. It's not much, but it means something.

Officer grades DO mean something and should NOT be used as a way to show appreciation to our members. That's why we have awards for.

[Eclipse]

Maybe, just maybe, our members are doing great work in their communities, for free, and as such are worthy of the small token of appreciation that is officer grade. It's not much, but it means something.

Officer grades DO mean something and should NOT be used as a way to show appreciation to our members. That's why we have awards for.

I agree on the intention, but from a practical perspective that's not happening, in either the positive or negative way it should.  PD awards are primarily
objective, and you can't really hold someone back from a Level, but grade, especially over Captain, is as much about being on the "good list" that year,
or at least not being on the "bad" list, as meeting some requirement or accepting more responsibility, and far too much of it is purely based
on timing.

Put in for your grade as a sitting CC or successful staffer with no intention of moving up or around, odds are it will be approved, hold off on the
paperwork until after that last SUI or until you step down as a successful CC and want to take a breather to go to NESA and be a mission pilot for a while?

No FG for you, because you are "stepping back", meanwhile less qualified / experienced people around you are getting promoted because they take an asst whatever job
at Group, wing, or region.

[Eclipse]

Further to this, this topic highlights how broken the current system is:  http://captalk.net/index.php?topic=20940.0

As mentioned before, this is not "fixed" on the low end until the high end is fixed as well.  Giving subordinates some
notion their grade has more "weight", while the commanders and staff with their weightless grade are stil in charge is
a good way to accelerate CAP's wind down.

All those FGOs have to be "up or out", and they don't return to the squadron after a wing or region tour.

[Eclipse]

One last thing on this.

The major ROI with CAP is adults bringing outside experience and skills to what would normally be internally, organically
developed resources.

Cadets dark-siding are going to be an issue because while they bring relevent experience to the table, but that experience
while useful in the macro, has very little to do with squadron operations, and far-between are 21 year olds who are capable of managing adults
twice their age and accomplishment, let alone volunteers.  Anyone who believes the average 40 year old CAP pilot is going to be
happy wearing mosquito wings and taking direction from a 21 year old CAP Captain doesn't understand human nature, nor one of the reasons
mission-skills promotions are granted today, and if special and mission skills appointments are allowed to continue, then again, Jean Luc, your little
ships are broken.

Supporting this point are the new members who walk in the door and accept director-level staff jobs at the wing level, sometimes before their
ID card is dry.  How much sense does it make for the Wing Director of Finance to be an A1C?  How about the Group ESO?  Evan at the Squadron
level it makes no sense.

"Fine. No more appointments like this."

Excellent.  More jobs going unfilled just so that the little ships aren't broken.

[USACAP]

What you said.
Spot on, 100% agree. 
Except about the NCOs doing all the work part.
I made it to E5 before I got commissioned and am now a field grade.
Different ranks do different work. I was never going to be a strategic planner on the E side and I will never again roll up my sleeves and change a thrown M1 track as an O5 or O6.

"...a paradigm shift for the Senior Program" is something that we have needed for a long time.

Agreed.

This is not the one needed. It will make things either worse then they are, or be nothing more then window dressing,
and we don't need more of that.

If, at the end of the day, the only person willing to be a Squadron CC is a CAP SrA.  That's who will be the CC, period.
Otherwise you fold the squadron, and add the patch to the pile.

And you can't even force that lady or gent to to training after the fact, since if you're in that position to start with,
you're also not in the position to be telling a volunteer who was your selection of last resort to do more work.

Lose the grade all together? You have my attention. 

Temporary grade for those in command jobs only?  I'm listening.

A real enlisted program within CAP.  Nope.

It.

Will.

Never.

Work.

But why?  I really want to be a CAP NCO!  They do all the real work and are the backbone of the military and other stuff I read!

Because, for the nth time, a real NCO program requires the caste system that will kill a volunteer organization,
but worse then the caste system is the idea that you can somehow create billets, manning tables, and job restrictions
in an organization which is seeing double-digit year-over-year, accelerating member loss.

"What's the big deal?  If we have to, we'll just let the NCOs do those jobs..."

Then you just broke your little ships, and the whole exercise was a waste.

You need 30-50% more active members, not to mention consistent, required initial and ongoing training,
and someway to compel volunteer to follow the rules (which people from NHQ have made very clear on this forum
is not possible for even the most basic things like dress), before you can even consider an idea like this.

[USAFRiggerGuy]

Honestly, without any education requirements in place to become a officer in CAP why would anyone over 21 want to be a AMN or A1C instead of just doing 6 months and becoming a 2Lt.  The only way that CAP can form a legitimate enlisted corps that is junior enlisted is by implementing education standards for SMs 21+. Sure it would be easy to make the FO grades AMN, A1C & SrA and allow the SM to continue as an NCO at 21+ but what about SM that join after 18? They will just want to go straight to the officer track unless there is something preventing them too. I mean would you really want to wear one stripe or a butter bar and get saluted if you had the choice? Just my .2


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[RogueLeader]

Short form is that the main difference is that the time commitment to CAP, and the expectations of Professional Development is going to be the determining factor.  Want/only able to do the bare minimums as they are now- Enlisted you are. Have the time and desire to go further than what is currently expected and step up to be unpaid professionals: Officer Track it is.  I'm not going to suggest that Officers must have a college degree- that's not practical or even necessary for CAP, but there is going to be more in the way of PD.

[JeffDG]

I'm not going to suggest that Officers must have a college degree- that's not practical or even necessary for CAP, but there is going to be more in the way of PD.

I think CAP's tie of grade and PD is something that needs to be broken.  You receive PD recognition with awards through the Wilson, why should grade also be given?

It would be far more practical to tie grade to positions of responsibility than to PD, IMHO.

[Spaceman3750]

We should probably try to make our existing PD meaningful before we start layering on more classes.

"More PD" is CAP's equivalent of throwing money at problems. Sometimes it gets results, but they're way more expensive than they need to be.

[Mustang]

Giving E-3 for Mitchell in the Air Force is fair, since the skills learned in CAP fit the E-3 skill set. In order to become an E-4, you need to have skills in a job field. CAP does not furnish these.

On the other hand, a Spaatz cadet has many CAP skills that could carry over to an NCO status in CAP.

Cadets who earn the Spaatz generally seek commissions, not enlistments.

[PHall]

Giving E-3 for Mitchell in the Air Force is fair, since the skills learned in CAP fit the E-3 skill set. In order to become an E-4, you need to have skills in a job field. CAP does not furnish these.

On the other hand, a Spaatz cadet has many CAP skills that could carry over to an NCO status in CAP.

Cadets who earn the Spaatz generally seek commissions, not enlistments.

But there has been a fair number of Spaatz Cadets who have gone the Enlisted route. Just because you got your Spaatz doesn't mean you went to and finished college.

[riffraff]

My $0.02: Implement the unused USAF WO-grades, WO1 thru CW5 for SMs. Temporary commissioned ranks for command/leadership positions. Vacate the position? Revert to your permanent WO rank (or WO equivalent of the commissioned rank held). TIG/qual gates for movement within the WO ranks similar to todays O-1 thru O-4.

Result: All SMs get to be officers (apparently still very important to some); zero confusion with USAF officer ranks; no more bizarre formations of commanders outranked by their formations; ability for former Wing/Region staffers to revert/return to squadrons as CW5s.

Using the US Army model, CW3-CW5 are 'field grade' ranks so these folks could go with 'farts and darts' service caps.

[PHall]

My $0.02: Implement the unused USAF WO-grades, WO1 thru CW5 for SMs. Temporary commissioned ranks for command/leadership positions. Vacate the position? Revert to your permanent WO rank. TIG/qual gates for movement within the WO ranks similar to todays O-1 thru O-4.

Result: All SMs get to be officers; zero confusion with USAF officer ranks; no more bizarre formations of commanders outranked by their formations.

Using your reasoning, ALL Senior Members should be Senior Members Without Grade. Commander, Administration Officer, etc. would just be a position.
No need to link a  "rank" with a position.

There, "problem" solved.

[riffraff]

My $0.02: Implement the unused USAF WO-grades, WO1 thru CW5 for SMs. Temporary commissioned ranks for command/leadership positions. Vacate the position? Revert to your permanent WO rank. TIG/qual gates for movement within the WO ranks similar to todays O-1 thru O-4.

Result: All SMs get to be officers; zero confusion with USAF officer ranks; no more bizarre formations of commanders outranked by their formations.

Using your reasoning, ALL Senior Members should be Senior Members Without Grade. Commander, Administration Officer, etc. would just be a position.
No need to link a  "rank" with a position.

There, "problem" solved.

I would be okay with it.  You'd still need some visual indicator of 'position' for interacting with other squadrons/agencies. Squadron X may know "Bob" is in charge but Agency Y would probably prefer "Bob" to be wearing something indicating he's in charge.

However, we are wed to the military rank model and our model does not align with it much, if at all. WO grades would allow all the 'rank and file' to still be officers; still have a means of showing career progression; and still fit within the military rank model we all espouse to being part of. Commanders would hold commissioned rank. All other SMs would be WOs.

[JeffDG]

I would be okay with it.  You'd still need some visual indicator of 'position' for interacting with other squadrons/agencies. Squadron X may know "Bob" is in charge but Agency Y would probably prefer "Bob" to be wearing something indicating he's in charge.

Most outside agencies I interact with (like EMAs), the standard uniform is polo shirt which has zero indication of grade, and the same amount of confusion (zero).

[PHall]

My $0.02: Implement the unused USAF WO-grades, WO1 thru CW5 for SMs. Temporary commissioned ranks for command/leadership positions. Vacate the position? Revert to your permanent WO rank. TIG/qual gates for movement within the WO ranks similar to todays O-1 thru O-4.

Result: All SMs get to be officers; zero confusion with USAF officer ranks; no more bizarre formations of commanders outranked by their formations.

Using your reasoning, ALL Senior Members should be Senior Members Without Grade. Commander, Administration Officer, etc. would just be a position.
No need to link a  "rank" with a position.

There, "problem" solved.

I would be okay with it.  You'd still need some visual indicator of 'position' for interacting with other squadrons/agencies. Squadron X may know "Bob" is in charge but Agency Y would probably prefer "Bob" to be wearing something indicating he's in charge.

However, we are wed to the military rank model and our model does not align with it much, if at all. WO grades would allow all the 'rank and file' to still be officers; still have a means of showing career progression; and still fit within the military rank model we all espouse to being part of. Commanders would hold commissioned rank. All other SMs would be WOs.

The only indication that somebody is a Commander right now is the Commander's Badge.
And I don't expect anyone outside of CAP to know what that looks like.