Ok, so I want to get a technician rating in Flight Operations. I was reading the guide online on the national website and a few things concern me.
The requirements "assume" a lot of things. They say;
-Assist the Operations Officer in developng SOP's for the unit aircraft. We have no unit aircraft nor do we have an Operations Oficer
-Assist in development of flight ops policies and procedures to ensure safe mission accomplishment for unit personnel. I am the only form 5 CAP pilot in the unit.
-Be aware of the ES Officers responsibilities. We dont have an ES Officer
-Assist the unit commander, finance officer and others in the administration of flying expenses. We dont have any flying expenses.
So, how am I supposed to accomplish these tasks and get the Technician rating?
I'm thinking that you'll need to go to another unit.
I don't mean to be glib, but another specialty track might be better to cut your teeth on. If you don't have an ES officer, might I suggest there? It sounds as though your squadron doesn't have ready access to an airplane, so in taking on the flight operations job, its unnecessary to begin with.
I understand your enthusiasm; I made a misstep in declaring my specialty track as Operations -- which is essentially simultaneous accomplishment of Flight Operations AND Emergency Services. I found the requirements to be overly cumbersome, and didn't really affect what I was doing at the time in the squadron. So... I switched to ES for the time being. Later on, I completed the requirements for Flight Ops and Operations (for giggles, really).
My $0.02.
That's a good point.
Fliers in units without an airplane is pretty common. You can still do these tasks for wing or another unit. You can also hold the position of ES officer in the unit, although I don't recommend it if you're Ops officer or another task-heavy job.
Same goes for the finances. There's not a wing DO who wouldn't welcome a little help from another member.
Quote from: flyguy06 on April 21, 2009, 05:43:01 AM
Ok, so I want to get a technician rating in Flight Operations. I was reading the guide online on the national website and a few things concern me.
The requirements "assume" a lot of things. They say;
-Assist the Operations Officer in developng SOP's for the unit aircraft. We have no unit aircraft nor do we have an Operations Oficer
-Assist in development of flight ops policies and procedures to ensure safe mission accomplishment for unit personnel. I am the only form 5 CAP pilot in the unit.
-Be aware of the ES Officers responsibilities. We dont have an ES Officer
-Assist the unit commander, finance officer and others in the administration of flying expenses. We dont have any flying expenses.
So, how am I supposed to accomplish these tasks and get the Technician rating?
To be totally honest, if you don't have an ESO, I'd be more concerned about getting that position filled before I worried about flight operations for a unit that doesn't have aircraft.
You can always do the full on Operations track, which requires tech level in Stan/Eval (you're a CFI, right?) and ES before you can even start on it. That'll keep you busy for a while.
Thanks guys. I appreciate that. I want us to start doing SAR missions. I am the only mission pilot in the squadron (thanks to Stephens tutuledge) and I want to make aircrews eventually. plus as folks on here that know me know my main concrn is O rides. SO flight ops officers arent just for ES. they also coordinate O rides which is what i really want to focus on.
So, once again we have a member with an interest and skill set that matches training for flight ops...but.....cannot do it.
I have heard the issue transfer to another unit or wing many times but geography or politics might not allow it.
CAP needs to figure out how to get members throught the specialty tracks without moving accross the state to find a unit with airplanes....
We find the same issues with ES. No training for flight line because the local FBO does the work. But we need people trained..... You don't actually need more than one plane to do the job, or with a qualified trainer and the right props even an airplane.
I guess the organization needs a post mortem like they did after Katrina to identifiy areas that need signifcant work. Then maybe we can get some momentum on fixing the isses.....of course the Katrina debreif identified the desparate need for FLM and FLS and it is not happening in my wing yet.....
V/R
One could make the case that going to extra effort to get a person rated in Flight Operations in a squadron without a plane isn't really necessary. There are definite advantages to getting that person qualified as an AOBD for example since they could potentially do that job at any mission but I'm not so sure that the same thing can be said to PD tracks that don't apply to your home unit.
Becoming qualified in an ES specialty that doesn't exist in your unit isn't easy. Who will be doing the training even if an airplane showed up? Since there isn't an ES Officer in the unit I can only guess that function is either being performed by the commander or group. Airplane assignments can be very political and also based on "what have you done for me lately" logic. If wing won't temproarily assign one, maybe wing will allow you to use a non-CAP aircraft for training and "O" flights.
One avenue to explore is to get to know some folks at other local squadrons, and do some shadowing of the positions you don't have locally.
The pamphlet never says specifically *your* unit -- it would be beneficial to develop relationships with qualified officers in other local units who can assist your development.
Talk to people who have done these tasks, and get them to walk you through how they did them, who they talked with, how they go about their processes, etc. That's the point of the OJT component of the PD program.
Since you're doing CAP flying, and your unit doesn't have a plane, try getting with the folks whose squadron hosts the plane you are flying. If they don't have what you need, branch out.
In your area, there's too much expertise floating around for you to leave it untapped. This is why I tend to be everywhere at once -- I'll pick the brain of anyone who will slow down in front of me. That's how I did a lot of my training/development, anyway.