Group HQ

[Private Investigator]

Not to hijack another thread, "GP/CC".

For those with a Group HQ. Do they meet weekly, monthly? Conference Calls? Commander Calls? Because I am thinking with 23 units I would just use "skype"   

Just wondering. Thanks in advance. 

[Walkman]

We've been doing a semi-monthly online meeting using GoToMeeting.

[Private Investigator]

I was wondering if people still got together for Saturday morning Commander Calls and such.

Thanks for the tip.   :clap:

[dwb]

In my old Group, we met the third Thursday of every month. Usually at the Group HQ, but a few times a year we'd meet at the mission base facility we had at another airport, just to spread the commute time around.

The meetings were for all squadron commanders and the group staff. But we only had six squadrons and about 15 staffers. With 23 squadrons, I would probably do semi-annual meetings in person (possibly quarterly), with monthly teleconferences in between.

[FlyTiger77]

I have a Command & Staff Meeting for my group of 5 squadrons on the 4th Thursday of each month. We rotate between three different locations to make it less onerous on everyone (except for my one squadron that is way out in the boondocks).

[Eclipse]

I was never able to get good traction on regular meetings - with only 4-5 people on staff, and in almost daily contact, there just wasn't
anything to "do" at a regular meeting.   Most time was spent visiting units or putting out fires, etc.

For a short time we tried rotating the meetings at the unit locations, but that became a forced PITA as well.

Same challenge for a lot of us on wing staff - 30-120 minute drive just to sit and look at each other for no other reason then to sit and look
at each other.   There's no substitute for in-face energy when you've got something to do, but it's hard to work the motivation just to
check in and leave.

[dwb]

I had the opposite problem -- I couldn't get people at my Group meetings to stop talking and leave the building so I could lock up and go home. We started adjourning to the all-services club on base for a post-meeting meeting, and that would usually clear out the HQ in a hurry.

[Woodsy]

Not to hijack another thread, "GP/CC".

For those with a Group HQ. Do they meet weekly, monthly? Conference Calls? Commander Calls? Because I am thinking with 23 units I would just use "skype"   

Just wondering. Thanks in advance.

The 20+ unit FLWG group I was on staff with before going to wing did not have in person meetings.  Phone calls and emails for the most part. 

[NIN]

23 units? Crikey, span of control or range of action anybody?

[BillB]

Florida Wing is noted for having large Groups. At one point in the 1970's there were 25 Groups with an average of five Squadrons per Group. Currently there are (I believe) nine Groups and the local Group has 14 Squadrons. Of course that Group is larger than four different Wings in geographical size.

[Storm Chaser]

When I was in Group HQ back in the mid '90s, our building was opened weekly on Saturdays and staff members would come and go throughout the day. We had formal staff meetings from time to time, but for the most part we just did work there or would go visit units. Now a day, with computers and mobile devices, it's so much easier to work from home and communicate when needed. I like being able to work from anywhere, but I still prefer the face-to-face interaction.

[NIN]

When I was in Group HQ back in the mid '90s, our building was opened weekly on Saturdays and staff members would come and go throughout the day. We had formal staff meetings from time to time, but for the most part we just did work there or would go visit units. Now a day, with computers and mobile devices, it's so much easier to work from home and communicate when needed. I like being able to work from anywhere, but I still prefer the face-to-face interaction.

My old group was like that, sort of, too. We had an apartment in base housing, and the CO worked on base. So he'd go by in the afternoon of group meetings, open the doors, and hang out in his office doing admin stuff as people filtered in, conducted the business of the group, and then we'd have a little staff meeting once a month. I think Group HQ was open twice a month, one night as a work night and one night as the staff meeting night.

I know there are groups bigger than my old wing, but geez.  23 squadrons is bigger than SEVERAL wings put together. I'm thinking Maine, NH & Veromont, for example.

[ol'fido]

My group(IL Group 1) is actually an amalgamation of two old groups, 12 and 19. This was done about 6 or 7 years ago as the number of units in this area went down. I prefer to have face to face staff meetings. It has been difficult in the past to get a good representation from both ends of the group even when we would move the meetings around. When I took command, instead of trying to buck it, I just went with it. I now hold my staff meetings the first two weekends of the even numbered months. One week, I am at Marion, IL and one weekend, I am at Scott AFB. Which weekend is held where just depends on the schedule and what needs to be discussed. It may not be pretty, but so far, it works.

I am also beginning to notice that I am sometimes the only one at the meetings that doesn't have an IPad. Not that I feel like "Gee, I wish I had one". I imagine that one of these days I will need to get some sort of tablet, but I'm not sweating it. Actually, I can get really annoyed when everybody automatically set up their IPad or laptop and spends the whole meeting looking at their screen instead of actually looking each other in the eye. It may be the corporate or business model for a meeting but I would rather have everyone concentrating on the discussion and not checking their status on FB. I admit that sometimes you need to look up regs or info and I would have no problem with one person sort of acting as the librarian and IT person for the meeting but not everybody.

[Woodsy]

Florida Wing is noted for having large Groups. At one point in the 1970's there were 25 Groups with an average of five Squadrons per Group. Currently there are (I believe) nine Groups and the local Group has 14 Squadrons. Of course that Group is larger than four different Wings in geographical size.

We currently have 6 groups, 1-7 (minus 4.) 

[ZigZag911]

We met twice monthly, a commanders call (with group staff present), and a staff work/planning meeting.