I suppose that I may be like a lot of people who have been active in ES for some time in that I have a bunch of qualifications in all three major areas (ground, air, and base) and since our "new" system in which each qualification expires separately based on the date when it was earned, I seem to have one qual or another expiring every 4-6 months.
I've been considering whether it is better to keep going as is or make some attempt to "consolidate" these qualifications so that as many as possible expire at the same time.
From a CAP perspective it is actually probably better to continue as is so that I'm constantly working on maintaining some of these qualifications. Otherwise, I could be tempted to let some of them slide until the last minute and just end up doing the bare minimum to keep them.
On the other hand, it sure would make the paperwork flow a lot easier if I could take care of a bunch of them at one time.
To some extent you can work it so that all your ground quals expire at the same time, and the same goes for the air quals, and some of the mission base quals. If I could get them staggered out so that in any given year I only need to heavily concentrate on one of those areas, it would still work out for the best.
Of course, I could drop some of these quals and concentrate on others. However, I am of the opinion that even if I'm not a "high performer" in one area or another, its better for the team if I am available for use in a pinch even if I don't do something every mission.
Thoughts?
Quote from: RiverAux on October 17, 2009, 02:46:33 PM
I suppose that I may be like a lot of people who have been active in ES for some time in that I have a bunch of qualifications in all three major areas (ground, air, and base) and since our "new" system in which each qualification expires separately based on the date when it was earned, I seem to have one qual or another expiring every 4-6 months.
I question the way the entire system works. Lets say that I participate in the same function (e.g. MRO or CUL(T)) for 3 training and/or actual missions right in a row. Shouldn't the active participation actual adjust/change my qualification date further out based upon the last mission date?
IF you are active in the ES program participating in training exercises & actual missions, that expiration date needs to be continually adjusted based upon your participation. IF you are one that just goes after numerous ES qualifications and NEVER participates in any actual or for that matter recurring trainingexercises (until your qualification is up for renewal) than that's another matter. I'm not sure we gain much from an experience SAR force by having members qualified for ES that are never seem to be available when missions come up or just participate in the minimum amount of training exercises to retain their qualifications
RM
Think of it as a progressive annual. You're never more than XXX away from expiration of you work on some of that stuff constantly, when the chance arises.
As for doing only what you can at "the mission", I'm of the consensus that every little bit counts.
Of course, it would be absurd to have 10 CULs each doing one thing, but you know what I mean.
QuoteI question the way the entire system works. Lets say that I participate in the same function (e.g. MRO or CUL(T)) for 3 training and/or actual missions right in a row. Shouldn't the active participation actual adjust/change my qualification date further out based upon the last mission date?
You're forgetting that in order to renew, the mission needs to have you supervised by one of the evaluators. It is doubtful that there is a qualified evaluator on every flight or ground team mission. Its more than just doing a couple of missions every few years.
Quote from: RiverAux on October 17, 2009, 05:48:25 PM
QuoteI question the way the entire system works. Lets say that I participate in the same function (e.g. MRO or CUL(T)) for 3 training and/or actual missions right in a row. Shouldn't the active participation actual adjust/change my qualification date further out based upon the last mission date?
You're forgetting that in order to renew, the mission needs to have you supervised by one of the evaluators. It is doubtful that there is a qualified evaluator on every flight or ground team mission. Its more than just doing a couple of missions every few years.
This is where I've had trouble recently with my GTL, etc. qualifications. In all the actual missions and SAREX's I've been on since being a GTL, I've never deployed with another qualified Ground Team Leader. So renewing a specialty like that takes some planning with other GTL's in your area. MO and MS aren't as hard, nor are the mission base tasks until you hit IC.
To answer your original question, I think it's best to have a staggered expiration system. Almost all of my specialties expired sometime during this year, so it has been a bit of a pain getting renewed in all of them. I certainly won't be waiting until the year they expire to renew them again, especially since we haven't been conducting as many SAREX's as we used to.
Also, use the sortie equivalency chart on the National Webpage to the fullest advantage. Link here: http://members.gocivilairpatrol.com/emergency_services/operations_support/education_and_training/sortie_equivalency.cfm (While there is the possibility for debate on what functions should or should not be equivalent, this is what the current standard is).
Don't wait until you are close to expiring either. Start working to renew once you go over the two year mark. It might take a while to get all the stars and planets aligned so you can get renewed...