Targeted Recruiting and the Re-imagining of the Senior Member Experience

Balance. Yes. 

I visited our squadron about 8 years ago and it was 'all business'.  Too formal in a bad way. People being run off. After visiting for a month, I realized it wasn't for me.

6 years later got invited back by a friend saying things were much better. He was correct. We have a great group of folks that I enjoy being around. The troublemakers are gone. In the 2 years I've been here no one has left and we have added several new folks. We all enjoy working AND playing together.

One thing that the Coast Guard Auxiliary has done in this regard is that "Fellowship" is considered one of the most important activities we perform.  In my flotilla that usually consists of a cookout 2-3 times a summer and our annual banquet/change-of-watch.  I think it does help give people a chance to bond with non-Aux talk.  That isn't really to be found at all in CAP. 

One thing that the Coast Guard Auxiliary has done in this regard is that "Fellowship" is considered one of the most important activities we perform.  In my flotilla that usually consists of a cookout 2-3 times a summer and our annual banquet/change-of-watch.  I think it does help give people a chance to bond with non-Aux talk.  That isn't really to be found at all in CAP.

I agree, but one of the issues is when?

Most of the more active members don't have time left for "cookouts", or anything else that isn't program-based or
"not CAP, I'm at home this weekend".  I can't even fathom where the time for a BBQ 2-3 times a summer would come from.

This is actually a core issue with the program, especially on the cadet side.  The expectations for QCUA, AEX, etc., now exceed the
recommended contact hours in a month / year, or are the exact amount, leaving little time for "social".

On the rare occasions we steal a 5th week, it's always made a difference, but the calendars just don't have enough days.

Yes, if you wait until you can schedule something where 'everyone' can attend , it'll never happen.  We have the one cookout and boating outing in the summer at the lake. About half attend. We have the Christmas Party that most attend.  5th Tuesday next month is Halloween, so we will have a fun night of games and costumes for those cadets and seniors that want to attend.

Last month's 5th Tuesday the cadets went bowling.

But back to my other post its mostly 2 or 3 at a time. Invite someone in your squadron you don't know really well to lunch. Or start up a group that meets for supper at a restaurant near the squadrons meeting place. We have a 'meat n three' a few blocks away that a group goes before nearly every meeting.

Its how you really get to know people. One on one outside the squadron. Learn their desires and needs. Have some fun. Explore each others' hobbies. Makes for a cohesive group with bonds that keep everyone happy and together.

We just did our annual picnic, attendance was awesome (maybe 70 - 80 attendees?) and it appeared everyone had a good time. The younger folks  played volleyball, us older types networked and told stories and laughed. All good, very worth doing.

I realize this sounds like an excuse, but anyone suggesting getting together before meetings for dinner, etc.,
must have the majority of the membership living pretty close to the meeting location.

In my wing, especially up North, where humans actually live, most of the members live 30-60 minutes
from the location, and have to slog rush hour traffic to get there, meaning they can barely make the
meeting itself, sometimes wolfing down a Big Mac during classes, and weekend activities need to
have a critical mass to make them worth the effort because of the distances travels and other conflicts.

This is especially true for the cadets.

With a third Sat already taken up by a curriculum-based activity, few families can give up another
weekend to CAP.

I realize this sounds like an excuse, but anyone suggesting getting together before meetings for dinner, etc.,
must have the majority of the membership living pretty close to the meeting location.

In my wing, especially up North, where humans actually live, most of the members live 30-60 minutes
from the location, and have to slog rush hour traffic to get there,

Sounds like its time to startup a new Squadron.

Yes, most of our members are probably a 15 minute drive, or less, to the airport.

I realize this sounds like an excuse, but anyone suggesting getting together before meetings for dinner, etc.,
must have the majority of the membership living pretty close to the meeting location.

In my wing, especially up North, where humans actually live, most of the members live 30-60 minutes
from the location, and have to slog rush hour traffic to get there,

Sounds like its time to startup a new Squadron.

Yes, most of our members are probably a 15 minute drive, or less, to the airport.

"15 minute drive" only makes sense as a local reference. It doesn't equate to distance on a national scale. That's an important point, because I've never heard of a new unit being started with time as the primary factor. Distance is far more common.

I worked 20 miles from where my Squadron met. Sounds close, right? Based on Google Maps, checked just a minute ago, if I left now, about 1630 local, I'd arrive at the meeting at about 1745. But I rarely was able to leave at 1630. For every 15 minutes I delayed leaving, I had to plan on at least an additional 20 minutes, not 15, due to increased traffic. When I reached a point on the route where more traffic came in, that went up to an additional 30 minutes for every 15 that I had delayed - I could have missed the bulk of it if I left earlier. And that was not including traffic variables.

So, if I left work between 1700 and 1745, to go 20 miles, I was looking at arriving at the meeting between 1830 and 1930. No time for dinner with the guys. In fact, I'd be late.

Add more Squadrons? I actually drove past one Squadron between work and my unit. But I didn't belong to that one, because the unit I belonged to was closer to where I lived, which was exactly 30 miles from work.

 Distance is far more common.

Yep.  There is a 50 mile stretch of Interstate here. Two Squadrons on either end and one in the middle, each at an airport. Most members do not have to drive far in distance or time wise to be at a meeting.

I guess we are unique. But does make it nice, and easier for all of us to get together.

I realize this sounds like an excuse, but anyone suggesting getting together before meetings for dinner, etc.,
must have the majority of the membership living pretty close to the meeting location.

In my wing, especially up North, where humans actually live, most of the members live 30-60 minutes
from the location, and have to slog rush hour traffic to get there,

Sounds like its time to startup a new Squadron.

Yes, most of our members are probably a 15 minute drive, or less, to the airport.

"15 minute drive" only makes sense as a local reference. It doesn't equate to distance on a national scale. That's an important point, because I've never heard of a new unit being started with time as the primary factor. Distance is far more common.

I worked 20 miles from where my Squadron met. Sounds close, right? Based on Google Maps, checked just a minute ago, if I left now, about 1630 local, I'd arrive at the meeting at about 1745. But I rarely was able to leave at 1630. For every 15 minutes I delayed leaving, I had to plan on at least an additional 20 minutes, not 15, due to increased traffic. When I reached a point on the route where more traffic came in, that went up to an additional 30 minutes for every 15 that I had delayed - I could have missed the bulk of it if I left earlier. And that was not including traffic variables.

So, if I left work between 1700 and 1745, to go 20 miles, I was looking at arriving at the meeting between 1830 and 1930. No time for dinner with the guys. In fact, I'd be late.

Add more Squadrons? I actually drove past one Squadron between work and my unit. But I didn't belong to that one, because the unit I belonged to was closer to where I lived, which was exactly 30 miles from work.

My unit is 7.1/6.9 miles away from my house, depending on the route I travel. Both currently show 16 minute travel time. Many of our members live further away than I.

Most of the squadron's (and Wings) I've seen are white, white, white... and mostly pre-Gen-X...  including pilots, air crew, cadets, leadership, SM involved in Aerospace/safety/transportation/ES... etc.   A few years ago I noticed the same monoculture at NESA.  To me, it looks like our current recruiting is already "targeted".  And that targeted  recruiting seems to somehow miss whole segments of our population who might be interested and who might bring some very interesting skills/viewpoints to our mix. 

What are other squadrons (and wings) doing to broadly appeal across generations and across ethnicities/cultural groups? 

Most of the squadron's (and Wings) I've seen are white, white, white... and mostly pre-Gen-X...  including pilots, air crew, cadets, leadership, SM involved in Aerospace/safety/transportation/ES... etc.   A few years ago I noticed the same monoculture at NESA.  To me, it looks like our current recruiting is already "targeted".  And that targeted  recruiting seems to somehow miss whole segments of our population who might be interested and who might bring some very interesting skills/viewpoints to our mix. 

What are other squadrons (and wings) doing to broadly appeal across generations and across ethnicities/cultural groups?

I'm not one for diversity for diversities sake, but I think you're generalizing a bit. Yes, most members are Caucasian. Most are male too. But at least in my personal experience, most local units have non-white cadets and SMs, including immigrants from all over the world, some non citizens (as I was when I joined). Demographics of certain areas will be different, and being in the Chicagoland area we certainly have a larger mix of ethnicity and nationalities, but we certainly don't target recruiting at only one type of member. As for pre-Gen-X? We're talking people over 50. People who have been working for 30ish years, and may be seeking opportunities outside of the daily grind. Their kids might be teens/in college/away from home, and they need to fill the void, if you will. They are also typically better established financially, and may have the disposable income to get a pilots license. It's basically the same demo as Harley Davidson owners. But there are PLENTY of members who are sub 50, and yes, even a few of us in our 20s on the SM side. We just don't have the runway to afford work, family, home, car AND flight lessons.

We have a mixed group here for Cadets, but I think part of the problem may be that many minority teens who are thinking military gravitate to their high school ROTC programs. Its at their school, so no transportation or scheduling issues, etc. And many may have never even heard of CAP. We don't have enough recruiting officers to hit every school that first week to grab kids before they sign up for ROTC.

Yes, this thread is about Seniors ... but we need to grow a very mixed Cadet membership that will one day be the Seniors.

Most of the squadron's (and Wings) I've seen are white, white, white... and mostly pre-Gen-X...  including pilots, air crew, cadets, leadership, SM involved in Aerospace/safety/transportation/ES... etc.   A few years ago I noticed the same monoculture at NESA.  To me, it looks like our current recruiting is already "targeted".  And that targeted  recruiting seems to somehow miss whole segments of our population who might be interested and who might bring some very interesting skills/viewpoints to our mix. 

What are other squadrons (and wings) doing to broadly appeal across generations and across ethnicities/cultural groups?

When I was recruiting I did nothing to broadly appeal across generations and across ethnicities/cultural groups?

I told people who we were and what we did, all the people who stopped at my table regardless of age, race, ethnicity.  The ones that were interested took information, the ones that weren't didn't. 

My unit is 7.1/6.9 miles away from my house, depending on the route I travel. Both currently show 16 minute travel time. Many of our members live further away than I.

It depends on whether or not your unit is working well and includes all members in activities, and has reasonable expectations of participation to justify the drive, especially with the price of liquid gold these days.

My first (best) unit, whom I served with for six years, was 30 miles one way from where I lived.  It was well worth the drive for the first and third Tuesday of the month, and the three CC's I served under (two were not prior-service military, and one had been an Air Force nurse in Vietnam) all had reasonable expectations of balancing family/work/other activities/CAP.  If you were not going to be there, a call or e-mail sufficed with a usual response of "too bad, see you next time," and it was all good.  They were my friends as well as my CAP colleagues and I looked forward to seeing them.  The distance didn't matter to me.  In fact, I asked my last CC to be one of the groomsmen in my wedding but the distance was too far for him to make it.

My last (and quite probably worst) unit, whom I served with for just over two years, is about 10 miles from where I live and meets every Monday night, though the CC set "activities" for Saturdays and Sundays and you were expected to be at every one unless you were near-death (and you got an unexcused absence - cadet or senior - if your reason did not meet with his approval).  Family?  Get them to join CAP.  Church?  CAP outranks God.

The other units (I have moved a lot) were somewhere in-between in driving distance, expectations and quality of service, except for a senior squadron where if you weren't a pilot, you were "baggage," and they wanted nothing to do with cadets (including providing O-flights).  One cadet squadron was really good, even though it was 40 miles one-way, until the commander (who I liked very much) had a tiff with the wing commander and she left CAP entirely (for good reason).  The two CC's after her were fair-to-middling; one tended to play favourites with his son who was a cadet and I didn't care much for that.

My CGAux unit is only about six blocks away from me but I wouldn't care much about going if I didn't like the people and/or they had unrealistic expectations.  Fortunately, so far that hasn't been the case.

My point?  Make your unit an active, but well-balanced, one and one that your members will want to attend.

My point?  Make your unit an active, but well-balanced, one and one that your members will want to attend.

Wanting to attend doesn't change the physics of being able to attend. There are activities all over my Wing
and Region I'd like to play at which simply don't work for my schedule. That's on >me< not an indictment of CAP,
or some conspiracy against me personally to stifle my participation and progression.

Should I go blame the people signing invoice checks for making me work so much my motorcycle has been sitting
on the stand for a couple months because it's their fault I don't have the time to fix it?

I wanted to go zip-lining last weekend with my family, however my proclivity towards snacks and genetic predispotion
towards gigantism force me to be a spectator.  Some things simply "are".  Should I harbor ill feelings towards the
cable installers for not putting in stronger cables, or Gaia for making cows so tasty?

As to your comment about Sats and Suns, when else are weekend activities supposed to occur?

One a month is considered a best-practice, and is all but required in order to keep up with the
expectations these days, especially on the cadet side.  Somehow thousands of members
are able to maintain their religious obligations and still participate in weekend activities, and
few even mention the conflicts these days because CAP is hardly the only conflict in people's
busy lives.

Most of the major religions CAP members would be a part of have alternative ways to services
beyond "Sunday go to meeting". If Muslim members can attend encampments with few to no issues,
surely Christians and Jews can find ways to do what they need to do, not the least of which is
taking advantage of the presence of Chaplains when they are available.

But if they can't, no foul, but maybe CAP isn't an option, any more then for a cadet who has Boy Scouts
or Future Farmers on a CAP meeting night.  Life is choice.  Make one, move on.

Team Rubicon has been looking very attractive to me as an alternative to CAP, but the reality is my
life doesn't allow for me to be more then an edge player in an organization that generally requires
deployment to other states.  Business travel is one thing, but ES tourism simply isn't an option
for me today.  I'm not going to resent TR because they won't change for me.

Comments like "CAP outranks God", when a Unit CC is just doing his job, aren't cricket.

Does the same apply for CAP people and other ES workers helping in the South right now?

It depends on whether or not your unit is working well and includes all members in activities, and has reasonable expectations of participation to justify the drive, especially with the price of liquid gold these days.

It's a very interesting thing to watch.  I've only been in for 2 years, but have already seen a lot of the challenges locally.  New people coming in being sold on the mission, then becoming disappointed and going away.  Sometimes as rapidly as just a couple months.  Others hopping around unit shopping, trying find/make a place for themselves.

I used to travel about (for other, non-CAP volunteer activities), not worrying about cost so much.  The last few years though money has been a lot tighter, so I'm a lot less willing to travel for things unless I know it's a good value.  I've got 2 nearby CAP units.  The "best" fit for me is a really painful 35 minute drive (other side of the river, just a couple bridges and I swear they're always torn up causing terrible traffic).  Used to brave that traffic all the time when the unit was very active, but now it's rebuilding, with the new SMs doing things I've already done.  The other unit is only 20 minutes away and not a bad drive at all.  However, while it's chartered as a Composite Squadron, in practice it's really a Cadet Squadron without things for SMs to do.  I attend when I think I've got something to offer, but lately that's not often at all.  The Group meetings are also about 35 (easy) minutes away, but those have a lot more value to myself as a SM, so I make a point to attend those whenever possible.  That's where it seems like the action is locally.  I wonder how much better recruiting and retention might be if we could get more people from the local units to attend Group meetings?  Getting people interested is easy.  Trying to get them to sign up after going to a local unit meeting though is hard.  If they do join (often despite misgivings), retention fails when they don't feel like they're making any progress in the local units.

 The Group meetings are also about 35 (easy) minutes away, but those have a lot more value to myself as a SM, so I make a point to attend those whenever possible.  That's where it seems like the action is locally.  I wonder how much better recruiting and retention might be if we could get more people from the local units to attend Group meetings?

What is a group meeting? I haven't heard of that.

Larger wings have Units report into a Group HQ which then reports into Wing HQ to
reduce the span of control for the Wing.

That's on >me< not an indictment of CAP, or some conspiracy against me personally to stifle my participation and progression.

'Tis most unfortunate indeed, Bob, to point out that, in at least one instance, there was a structural failing in CAP based upon personal bias and of this former member being told he could not participate except as a patron member, doing nothing, or ghost squadron member to sit out until accruing 20 years so I could have a piece of paper saying "Civil Air Patrol Retired."  Your refusal to acknowledge it does not make it less so, sir.

I wanted to go zip-lining last weekend with my family, however my proclivity towards snacks and genetic predispotion
towards gigantism force me to be a spectator.  Some things simply "are".  Should I harbor ill feelings towards the
cable installers for not putting in stronger cables, or Gaia for making cows so tasty?

No comment as I do not know what zip-lining is.  I plead ignorance.

As to your comment about Sats and Suns, when else are weekend activities supposed to occur?

One a month is considered a best-practice, and is all but required in order to keep up with the expectations these days, especially on the cadet side. 

This was averaging three weekends a month, with all cadets and seniors required to attend, or accrue unexcused absences if reason for absence did not meet with said CC "approval" - seniors too.  Sometimes said "weekend activities" were little more than cleaning the airplane (whether said bird had flown or not) or sweeping the hangar.  This was in addition to required weekly meetings.

Somehow thousands of members are able to maintain their religious obligations and still participate in weekend activities, and few even mention the conflicts these days because CAP is hardly the only conflict in people's busy lives.

Most of the major religions CAP members would be a part of have alternative ways to services beyond "Sunday go to meeting". If Muslim members can attend encampments with few to no issues, surely Christians and Jews can find ways to do what they need to do, not the least of which is taking advantage of the presence of Chaplains when they are available.

These were not encampments, sir.  These were "activities" thought up by CC at the squadron level.  If I found "Sunday go to meeting" more fulfilling than yet another marathon session of cleaning dead bugs off a 172 or sweeping out a hangar that had been swept out the week before...nolo contendre.  I would offer my services for a Saturday but not a Sunday...which still resulted in an unexcused absence as said CC found that unacceptable.

If a Chaplain were available, my own particular denomination would not permit me to receive the Sacraments (if offered), unless said Chaplain was a called and ordained pastor of my denomination (the concept is called "closed communion").

But if they can't, no foul, but maybe CAP isn't an option, any more then for a cadet who has Boy Scouts or Future Farmers on a CAP meeting night.  Life is choice.  Make one, move on.

In my case the choice was made for me, sir, and if I chose not to Come And Pay just to be on the "ghost squadron" books, guilty as charged.  You - nor anyone else - do not have to like, acknowledge or believe it, but it does not alter the facts.  Thankfully, I have found another outlet with much more compassionate leadership and who I am making fast friends with.  However, and call me an old, sentimental softie on this, I still harbour enough affection for an organisation I gave 17 years of my life to, and earned several commendations with, and made many friends in prior units, to hope it has it in itself to change the way it does things and acknowledge that not all of its members can be "active duty CAP."

It (CAP) was an option up until the very last unit I served with.  A very good, and fulfilling, option, in fact.

Team Rubicon has been looking very attractive to me as an alternative to CAP, but the reality is my life doesn't allow for me to be more then an edge player in an organization that generally requires deployment to other states.  Business travel is one thing, but ES tourism simply isn't an option for me today.  I'm not going to resent TR because they won't change for me.

Again I plead ignorance, because I do not know what Team Rubicon is, and I have not even heard of it until now.

Comments like "CAP outranks God", when a Unit CC is just doing his job, aren't cricket.

They are "quite cricket" (have you ever played cricket, sir?) indeed.  I knew a lot of good commanders in CAP, some of whom it was my pleasure to serve under, who did not feel the need to be Emperor Palpatine in "doing their job."

I am up for a leadership position in the CGAUX soon, and one thing I am taking away from my last CAP experience is how not to "lead."

Does the same apply for CAP people and other ES workers helping in the South right now?

Apples and oranges, sir, unless you can find a logical comparison between mandatory make-work/busy-work at the local level just so a squadron can say it is "doing something," and the many dedicated CAP people putting their heart and soul into relieving suffering in Texas (and soon enough, Southeast Region, once Irma passes).

I believe the Herr Oberstleutnant allows his personal feelings toward me, whom he has never met, and his perceived need to defend the actions of my former CC (incidentally, in the two years since I have left CAP, my former squadron is down to five people, according to their published website), perhaps because he is/was a CC himself, even though he has also never met said former CC, to colour his responses.  But that's OK.  I've long accepted that not everyone likes me, nor do they have to.  As a paraphrase of my sig line goes, "I'm just not his kind."  Fortunately, there are others who do like me and who do find me to be "their kind," so this former 17-year CAP Captain sleeps with good conscience.

If the Lieutenant Colonel feels the need to defend maintaining status-quo CAP practise just to keep malcontents like myself out, then that it is his option...and if other posters on this board want to line up with Bob...that is their option, and if I am to be censured/banned just for being a dissident voice...what was that possibly-apocryphal Groucho Marx quote?

It's a very interesting thing to watch.  I've only been in for 2 years, but have already seen a lot of the challenges locally.  New people coming in being sold on the mission, then becoming disappointed and going away.  Sometimes as rapidly as just a couple months.  Others hopping around unit shopping, trying find/make a place for themselves.

Agreed.  I saw it a lot.  My last unit lost a member who was a retired Navy Commander rotary-wing instructor who I thought would have made an excellent CC.  As I told Lieutenant Colonel Bob Eclipse, that unit is now down to about five members.

My first unit, as I said, was about 30 miles one-way to drive, two times a month.  Fortunately, they were a darn good bunch so making the effort/drive was not a problem.  The unit also had an almost-CGAUX concept of "fellowship."  We also partnered with another unit that had an airplane, which is how I got to earn Observer status.  Getting up at zero-dark-thirty, driving to my home unit, and then driving another 40 miles to the unit with the airplane and spending all of a Saturday there did not seem like a sacrifice at all because we got a sense of fulfillment.  Maybe I just got spoilt because I struck gold with such a good unit right away.

However, while it's chartered as a Composite Squadron, in practice it's really a Cadet Squadron without things for SMs to do. 

And I belonged to a Cadet squadron which functioned more as a Composite squadron.  I must admit that the need to have the two perplexes me as there is so much overlap in the way they operate.

The Group meetings are also about 35 (easy) minutes away, but those have a lot more value to myself as a SM, so I make a point to attend those whenever possible. 

One of my last gasps at staying in CAP was enquiring if there were any spaces at the Group level.  I was told there were not.

If they do join (often despite misgivings), retention fails when they don't feel like they're making any progress in the local units.

A lot of it depends on how the local unit is run.