I feel bad and have no idea how to fix this...
I've voided the chain of command in two instances.
1. I was thinking about putting in 60 hours of Community Service and my mum was about to pay her employer who was conveniently the parks and rec director for the area, so I tagged along to ask if maybe she needed anything done.
2. I used this forum to contact someone about the KSWG winter encampment
I feel really bad about it, I mean its like I've completely forgot about my squadron commander :/
Fire away ladies and gentlemen.
Simple solution is to Soldier up and approach your chain of command and admit your mistakes.
Take the heat, learn from it and move forward.
Um...why is your mom paying her employer?
Quote from: Eclipse on July 31, 2009, 04:20:32 AM
Um...why is your mom paying her employer?
Incomplete sentence
My mum was paying her employer a visit.. I cant type when I'm worked up
Got it.
Neither of your above examples is usurping the chain.
There's no reason you can't ask around regarding who needs help before submitting the idea to your CC as a CSR project. From what I understand there are herds of old women roaming around your area needing help with various tasks. :D
And an encampment is outside the chain and purview of most CC's beyond their approving your participation your asking around about it just makes sense.
I wouldn't see either as a chain issue.
One piece of advice I might give you - lighten up a hair. Your enthusiasm is commendable, but giving yourself grief about stuff like this is just going to wind up wearing you to a nub by the time you're a C/TSgt.
Quote from: Eclipse on July 31, 2009, 04:29:50 AM
Got it.
Neither of your above examples is usurping the chain.
There's no reason you can't ask around regarding who needs help before submitting the idea to your CC as a CSR project. From what I understand there are herds of old women roaming around your area needing help with various tasks. :D
And an encampment is outside the chain and purview of most CC's beyond their approving your participation your asking around about it just makes sense.
I wouldn't see either as a chain issue.
One piece of advice I might give you - lighten up a hair. Your enthusiasm is commendable, but giving yourself grief about stuff like this is just going to wind up wearing you to a nub by the time you're a C/TSgt.
by the time I'm a C/SSgt I'll be plucking the last red hair out of my soon to be bald head
As far as taking the initiative to look for community service opportunities, you did not do anything wrong by not consulting your chain IIRC. You are doing community service outside of CAP, which only has to be made known to your unit if you desire the ribbon, and that requires having the hours validated.
Now, regarding using CAPTalk to contact someone about an encampment, that is a bit more iffy. I would simply use your chain and say, "Hey, (grade and last name), I was curious about the KSWG encampment and found an email contact through a CAP forum and contacted them to ask for information. Was I in the wrong for not going through my chain regarding this? If so, I am sorry, as I did not know." I don't think your DCC or CC will be too upset with you about it, but just keep your chain in mind, especially for official business. Hope this helps.
I have to agree with Eclipse. Relax and have fun, while keeping in mind to do what you need to do in the CP. If you mess up, someone should be there to tell you that you messed up and help you learn from that moment.
Just to add on to what LT Sauerwein pointed out- the community services projects should be done outside of CAP. We had a cadet volunteer the entire summer at the VA hospital reading books to the men in there. We have another 4-5 cadets who go to the Air Museum each and every weekend to help out there. Get out there and volunteer. It is great for building character.
I am not so sure asking about encampment was wrong. It's no different that using Bing to search for it- well I suppose a little different, but just asking about it isn't a problem. Look at the cadet stuff forum. They talk about stuff like that all the time. If you apply for encampment without going through your chain- different story.
You would be in the wrong if you came on here and vented about every command decision your cc made or complained about every class that was taught. I think you are doing fine- we have seen worse!!
I've been a DCC at my squadron for three or four years now, and if my cadets were researching encampment and seeking out community service opportunities on their own time I'd probably applaud them.
As was mentioned above, you haven't usurped any power from your chain of command. For encampment, if you want to attend, you'll have to submit an application through your squadron command anyways. And community service is supposed to be done outside the purview of CAP; the only time CAP gets involved is if you decide to submit your community service for consideration for the ribbon. But CAP doesn't organize nor need to approve in advance the community service for you.
Also as was mentioned by previous posters, don't worry so much! ;) It's admirable that you want to make sure you're doing the right thing. For sure. Too few cadets would even think about their actions in that light, let alone care enough about doing the right thing to potentially get upset by it. And though we all here certainly can't speak for your command, I can say that if you were in my unit, I'd say you were doing just fine -- so relax, and keep your level of enthusiasm for the Cadet Program.
Absolutely. You did well by researching the encampment issue on your own. It always aggravates me when members, more often than not, want me to do research on their problem when they are more an capable of performing a simple google search or using resources available via the CAP website and having the answer much quicker. I applaud your initiative.
You did not violate the chain of command in either instance. Chill out, relax, and have fun!