Anyone here had their squadron shut down before? :( GLR-MI-075..does not exist anymore:(
I have never been in one, but have seen several shut down for various reasons.
I've joined units that were on the verge of closing, only to bring them back to life. Some Wing Commanders would rather shut down under-performing units that provide them with assistance to become healthy again. It's a shame, really.
Quote from: jimmydeanno on March 14, 2012, 06:44:19 PM
I've joined units that were on the verge of closing, only to bring them back to life. Some Wing Commanders would rather shut down under-performing units that provide them with assistance to become healthy again. It's a shame, really.
Agreed, it really is a shame.
I had to close down a squadron in 1986. Just a matter of not having enough members, losing our meeting place, and couldn't afford to pay for things out of my own pocket.
Quote from: brennasinischo123 on March 14, 2012, 06:00:21 PM
Anyone here had their squadron shut down before? :( GLR-MI-075..does not exist anymore:(
Interesting, I attended their meeting only a week ago and all was well. Why do you believe it has been disbanded?
Sure have and ill tell you, it's tough. A real shame has been done (for reasons unknown). Don't let this shut down discourage you, though!
If you would like to transfer and do not know what squadrons are near you can use this squadron locator.
http://www.gocivilairpatrol.com/ (http://www.gocivilairpatrol.com/)
Just wondering if your unit closes, do you auto transfer to a unit? Or what happens?
Squadrons open and close all the time.
Sometimes they could have been saved, other times nothing in the world could have saved them.
When I was a cadet, I was in a largish (30 cadets but only 3 SM's) squadron that had to close, the squadron commander passed away and no one was willing to sign for the responsibility. We were almost 2 hours away from the nearest squadron so no one would travel down once a week to take it over from outside the squadron. So it was closed and out of those 30 cadets, 4 of us kept on with CAP. Not the best situation in the world, but it happens. Real life gets in the way of our CAP life sometimes.
Quote from: Extremepredjudice on March 15, 2012, 02:10:56 AM
Just wondering if your unit closes, do you auto transfer to a unit? Or what happens?
The membership is automatically transfered to the next nearest unit.
Quote from: MSG Mac on March 15, 2012, 02:24:13 AM
Quote from: Extremepredjudice on March 15, 2012, 02:10:56 AM
Just wondering if your unit closes, do you auto transfer to a unit? Or what happens?
The membership is automatically transfered to the next nearest unit.
Sometimes they get transferred into group, or somewhere else... it just depends
but they do get transferred "somewhere"
Usually the only thing that can save a unit in poor shape is one or two people (senior members) who are willing to keep pushing it into existence. No amount of 'assistance from wing' will help a squadron that doesn't have that one or two motivated and dedication senior members (minimum). And your guy who is willing to drive in from an hour+ away to help out for a while isn't going to want to do that forever. So he can either find some locals who want to make CAP go, or he can't...
It happens.
CAPR 20-3
QuoteOn all deactivations, the CAPF 27 should be annotated to include the unit to which members of the deactivated unit will be assigned. In the absence of this information, National Headquarters will automatically assign all members to the wing headquarters at-large units (XX000).
My first squadron no longer exists.
I was a member of this unit from the time I joined CAP (1993) until I moved away (got married) in 1999. I rose from SMWOG to Captain and Deputy Commander during that time.
A couple of years after I moved, my commander, who was a good friend and excellent commander, apparently got tired of CAP and either quit/retired.
Not long after that, the unit was downgraded to a flight, and then to nonexistence.
It is unfortunate when that happens.
When I shut my last unit down, we asked ahead of time where everyone wanted to go, and so were only 2 or 3 people actually assigned to the unit when we closed the doors. Everyone else had already been transferred.
Quote from: SarDragon on March 15, 2012, 05:44:30 AM
When I shut my last unit down, we asked ahead of time where everyone wanted to go, and so were only 2 or 3 people actually assigned to the unit when we closed the doors. Everyone else had already been transferred.
SarDragon were you in Lindbergh Senior Squadron? 8)
Quote from: coudano on March 15, 2012, 02:34:53 AMNo amount of 'assistance from wing' will help a squadron that doesn't have that one or two motivated and dedication senior members (minimum).
I didn't mean the "I'm here from wing and I'm here to save you all" type of help, but the intervention before it gets to the point of closing. Looking for and helping with recruiting efforts in the local area, getting the political machine in the area working to find some people to help through the networks that they can pull from, etc.
Instead of being so reactionary, wings can be proactive about maintaining their units' health instead of just demanding reports and sending threats about shutting the unit down if stuff doesn't get better.
Quote from: Private Investigator on March 15, 2012, 12:15:03 PM
Quote from: SarDragon on March 15, 2012, 05:44:30 AM
When I shut my last unit down, we asked ahead of time where everyone wanted to go, and so were only 2 or 3 people actually assigned to the unit when we closed the doors. Everyone else had already been transferred.
SarDragon were you in Lindbergh Senior Squadron? 8)
Nope.
Sometimes closing a squadron is like cancer surgery. An unproductive unit that is just walking in the same wheel ruts without any real idea "why", may be holding back otherwise productive members from a god experience. Closing the unit forces change.
The one above with 30 cadets and no one to step up is just a crime - 30+ parents who did not see the value in CAP enough to step up.
I was once asked to take command of a cadet squadron that mostly existed on paper. In fact, even though it was supposedly close to where I lived at the time, I had never heard of it before being asked to command this unit.
There were, as I remember, a handful of cadets and no adult officers on the nonexistant staff.
I'm no magician and there's no way I could have done anything to save that.
I hope the cadets found useful endeavours in other units.
Which brings to mind having active members as much as possible across the board.