I have a great activity in mind that would take quite a lot of time, planning, talent, and meetings. The activity would be throughout the wing, entirely run by cadets, obviously with senior member supervision. I intend to go through with this and actually submit paperwork and make trips to wing hq if necessary once I become an officer, and I am only an airman now so I have lots of planning to do and lots of time to do it. Who should I talk to about this later on and what kind of standards do i need to meet, etc. I would prefer not to reply to questions on the forum, please only post straight up answers if you have them, feel free to PM me any questions.
Thanks in advance,
C/Amn Roberts
I applaud your initiative, as a cadet airmen you should already have your hands full trying to fully grasp the organization you've joined and to become fully integrated into your squadron. Trying to plan a wing-level activity on top of that is definitely ambitious.
Every activity, regardless of who runs it, has the same basic requirements:
1) Purpose of the activity
You'll need a detailed and articulate explanation as to why the activity you have in mind will be beneficial to its participants. For example, the purpose could be emergency services training, aerospace education, leadership labs, and so forth. You'll need to sell your leadership on why this is a great idea and worth the effort.
2) Location
Obviously the purpose of the activity will significantly influence the location. As a cadet, you will likely need to rely on a senior member to assist in securing the necessary facilities for the activity.
3) When
Pick a date that's far enough out that you'll have time to properly plan everything. Factor in weather, holidays, and the wing's training schedule into your decision.
4) Funding
Everything costs something, how much is your activity going to cost overall and how are you going to pay for it? Careful, if the cost-per-participant gets too high, you'll find few people will be able to attend. I haven't seen a lot of activities get any funding from wing or an external source (such as a business), but it might be worth trying.
5) Operations Plan
You'll need a document that contains every detail pertinent to the operation of the activity. Information about the location, the nearest public safety and medical facilities, contact information, communications plan, travel plan, housing information, and so forth. It's the type of document that you would share with a parent and they'd feel comfortable sending their child to your event.
5) Senior Member Buy-In
Last but not least, you'll need a senior member to "sponsor" you during the planning stage. They'll be able to assist you in putting all the information together and helping move the plan through the chain of command.
What activity do you have in mind? My wing could definitely use a fun event to get the cadets together.
By the time that you are a cadet officer you will probably have most of the questions you have now answered such as who to talk to, what paperwork would be required, etc. etc. Having planned lots of different activities, I would highly suggest that you get your key people involved early and don't try to do it yourself. Even something as simple as a squadron "holiday" party can become very complicated very quickly. Find the people you need to help early and make sure all of your ducks are in a row before you present it to the person who will make the ultimate "Go/No Go" decision.
^What they said. I did not plan my first wing activity until I was a C/Capt. You should be focusing on phase I right now. You will have plenty of time to plan activities later in your "career." It should serve as motivation to get those pips.
With that said you will definitely need a SM sponsor. You also can ask your fellow cadets for help as staff members. You can't do everything yourself.
Just a brief run down of how I planned my activity- a 2 day drill academy with 2 courses. One for teaching cadets basic drill in depth, the other was a course for teaching cadets how to successfully lead a flight in drill. This course was necessary because D&C in the wing at the time was lacking quality. Cadets from various squadrons did it all differently and we wanted to promote uniformity.....
I first made a general plan of the activity and purpose. Then I selected the cadet staff. They planned their courses and submitted it to me for approval and integration into the master schedule. I also took care of the boring stuff like logistics and ORM. I planned some activities for the evening. It was a busy weekend for the cadets.
My SM sponsor took care of a lot of the behind the scenes work. Everything I sent to him for approval. He coordinated the location, SM staff, funding, certificates, sent wing emails out, and other things. He also reminded me of things I overlooked. This is why you need a SM who is more experienced to sponsor you and the activity. They are ultimately responsible. You may want to consider creating a continuity binder to help plan similar activities in the future. No need to reinvent the wheel every year if it becomes a regular activity.
Overall my activity was a success and a great learning experience. Afterward, I was required to submit an AAR. I compiled the AAR's from the cadet staff (3 cadet staff total, me included) and submitted them to the SM project officer. He forwarded them to wing. There were a total of three wing Drill Academies. Mine was the last and I don't think any cadets have carried on the tradition. As a C/Amn, I did not realize how much work went into planning such activities. A lot of work goes into even a simple weekend activity.
Good luck. I applaud your motivation. The first step for you is running it up your chain of command.