Senior member help

[Flying Pig]

OK.....And Im not the slightest bit embarrassed to post this.  And fill this thread with ideas.

Since I took over Command of my Squadron we have gone from 2 cadets and about 3 Senior Members in March 2008, to now having close to 30 cadets and about 20 Senior Members.  We will shortly have a Sq of at least 50 members cadet and Senior by the end of the year I am imagining.

I took over as Sq. Commander in a rather abrupt manner when our Sq. Commander had to leave for family/employment reasons.  Then one of my most seasoned and experienced Mission/CD and Check Pilots decided that 20 years was enough and stepped away. 

My cadet side is locked on.  Im not worried about that.  I have 2-3 solid Seniors who run it completely.  My Senior side is moving along, but my Seniors, many who are brand new pilots who came to CAP looking to fly but who are now seeing there is a whole world to CAP and are getting excited about the program as a whole.  I have some others who are parents who are interested in the other aspects of CAP and the other Specialty Tracks. 

I am planning on having a "Grand Re-opening" at the next meeting.  Many of these members have joined in the last 2-3 months. Because of my work, I have only been able to go about 1 night per month.  My schedule has now changed with me becoming a pilot full time that I now have meeting nights off, as well as the weekends.  I have had a few of my members call me and tell me that things on the adult side are starting to get a little dull.

So.......What do I do now! What are you guys doing at your Senior Meetings?  What kind of courses?  My biggest priority is getting everyone done with their initial courses, CPPT, ICS, etc.  and getting them on track to 2Lt.  I am then trying to get everyone to look at the list of Specialty Tracks and find a job they like from the list of MANY duties that are ALL being held by a couple of people.  When I took this job, I never thought that less than a year later Id be yelling "I have to many members!  What do I do with them all!?"

Any other ideas, suggestions?  Anyone want to transfer and help me out?  Ill give you your own desk!!

[Rob Sherlin]

  While you figure it out and get them going....Ask them to do some research and put together a presentation in something that's CAP/Aviation related..........That should keep them busy, and it doesn't hurt.

[DogCollar]

Get everyone to at least have GES and work towards a rating in one of the ES specialties.  Plan to take as many seniors on SAR exercises as possible.

[jimmydeanno]

I find that Seniors are far more challenging to deal with than the cadets.  The CP has a well defined, structured program and cadets participate in "The Cadet Program."  The seniors are more challenging, as you have found out.

What I've found is that it is important to find a few of your seniors who are really "high-speed" and experienced in project management or management in general and ask them for help in developing each segment of your senior program.

There is always a "core" of people who keep programs on track and if you try to do it all yourself, you're going to fail.  

We actually subdivide our seniors.  The pilots have their own program/training they do, our non-pilot aircrews get training separately, etc.  There is a person "in charge" of those respective areas and they ensure that the people pursuing those arenas are getting the training they want/need.

This has proved to be very successful, in the last year we've picked up multiple CFIIs and CFIs - they're off and running.  They are putting more hours on our plane than we knew what to do with.  

As for specialty track training, this is going to be tough - but when all your people are "new" there isn't much experience, so you need to find someone that "gets it" to be the PD officer.  You need to get your core together and explain the situation.  I'm sure they will be understanding and I'm sure you will get more help than if you try to make it seem as though things are under control.

Also, you can pull in some help from surrounding squadrons, or the staff officers at the group level to provide training.

Get a plan, ask for help, ask for understanding - things should go well.

[Eclipse]

The key to the senior side is having the same structured meeting schedule as the cadets.

The second big thing is not wasting their time when they get there.

Provide training the need / want, make sure its coherent and on-topic, and includes missions and practical exercises so that they actually get things signed off.

Don't subscribe to the nonsense that seniors won't show up every week - they will when there is something there that interests them and when they see other progressing and leaving them behind.

The initial ramp-up can be a lot of work, but once moving it feeds itself.  Its also the best recruiting tool to have members telling people at home and work what they are doing in CAP.

One goal which is easily met and gets people motivated is to have every member o the unit UDF qualified, especially the pilots and other aircrew.  That gets everyone invested in the ES program - with two tasks they can start getting mission work (nothing motivates like a couple of actuals and a Find ribbon), and when accomplished you'll have an operational unit asking for more (many will want to go onto GTM, which will be already partially done with all the GT tasks).

[Phil Hirons, Jr.]

With your sudden growth into an actual composite squadron , I would be asking for some help from your Group staff. You need to get some "solid" people on the senior (officer, {insert next name here}) side of the house. Identifying a potential Professional Development Officer and asking Group to assist in training him/her will help you with the increased senior paperwork. You could repeat for almost any other staff position depending on availability.

[Camas]

 

What I've found is that it is important to find a few of your seniors who are really "high-speed" and experienced in project management or management in general and ask them for help in developing each segment of your senior program.
There is always a "core" of people who keep programs on track and if you try to do it all yourself, you're going to fail.  

This is very well stated. I can only add; delegate - delegate - delegate. Perhaps you're doing this already. A high speed deputy commander for seniors should be held responsible for developing a solid ES, operations (flying), and professional development program. You state that a couple of seniors are holding most of the jobs; this isn't a good thing.  I'm sure you've checked out CAPR 20-1; this will help you utilize your abundant number of seniors to the max and set up a solid chain-of-command within the senior side of your unit. Granted, most of the members might be fairly new but don't let that stop you from appointing them to responsible positions such as operations officer, deputy commander for seniors and professional development officer. You know these people better than anyone so take advantage of the skills they bring to the unit. As you've stated your priority is getting them started with Level I, GES and so on; that's a great start.

[Stonewall]

Rob,

Sounds identical to what I experienced back in 1996.  Seriously, identical.

I involved the seniors in almost everything the cadets were involved in during the meeting nights.  Believe it or not, you can actively engage 20 seniors for a couple hours and you will wonder where the time went.

Divide the meeting nights into two parts of 45 min each (or 30, or an hour).

1900  Opening formation/announcements (seniors/cadets)

1915  Period One (seniors working on wing comms plan/policies, cadets drill)

2000  15 min break

2015  Period Two (Seniors & Cadets conduct AE classes/project)

2100  Clean up

2115  Closing formation/announcements

2130  Lock doors

Don't feel like you have to have a full 2 hour class, lecture, briefing, etc. for seniors.  Let them do their jobs.  Managing files, finances, equipment, ES quals, future planning, logistics, etc is an actual job.  Have your seniors holding primary positions like Logistics Officer work with someone you've assigned to be their assistant.  Not assistant as in a "helper", but in the event they can't show up to the meeting.  Your primary test control officer on a non-testing night can do a monthly safety report as assistant safety officer.

When I get home, I think I have some old 6 month squadron calendars that I used.  They work perfectly.  All you have to do is change the dates.

[darn] it, I wish I were there with you Rob.  I'd love to experience what you're going through right now...I could be your DCC.

[bosshawk]

Rob: a few suggestions that I have seen work in other Squadrons.  Plan one training course for every meeting: one for ES, one for Flight Ops, one for Safety, one for support of the Cadet program, and then leave one meeting a month for them to get up to speed on their paperwork.  If you don't have a deputy for Seniors, as has been suggested, get one.  Also, an Ops Officer is critical for getting them up to speed on ES and the flying side of things.

As has been said, don't try to do it yourself: you need to delegate and then stand back.

Since I am close to you, let me know if you want me to come down and help.

Unfortunately, your Group Staff is nearly useless to you.

[Gunner C]

Rob: a few suggestions that I have seen work in other Squadrons.  Plan one training course for every meeting: one for ES, one for Flight Ops, one for Safety, one for support of the Cadet program, and then leave one meeting a month for them to get up to speed on their paperwork.  If you don't have a deputy for Seniors, as has been suggested, get one.  Also, an Ops Officer is critical for getting them up to speed on ES and the flying side of things.

As has been said, don't try to do it yourself: you need to delegate and then stand back.

Since I am close to you, let me know if you want me to come down and help.

Unfortunately, your Group Staff is nearly useless to you.

Since group can't help, go to sister units that have a solid program.  Have a development plan and ask them to help out.  Have targeted dates with specific goals, plug in seasoned instructors.  Use the heck out of the suggestions above.  I was in the same predicament in 1999-2000 when I came back in.  Our group headquarters was worthless so we got help from another squadron.  I was just getting back in so there was a pretty steep learning curve.  I worried too much about the hanger fliers rather than building on the eager newer members.  It was a learning experience.  Just don't try to do it all yourself.  As was said above, delegate.  Start giving out small managable tasks to staff officers.  Let them get experience and confidence.  Then build on that.

It's not easy, but it is doable.

As pointed out above, have something every week.  Keep them excited; make the program a series of small bites where they accomplish something every week.

Gunner

[SarDragon]

Make sure you get people trained up in the staff positions. It sounds like you have enough folks to have a primary and an alternate in all the really important billets. All the ES stuff is fun, but dumping the same people in staff positions for half of forever leads to massive burnout.

[Duke Dillio]

I've never been in a squadron that experienced that type of growth.  Perhaps it is my BO keeping them away.....

Actually, I have heard that a great way to get the seniors involved is to get them into planning squadron activities.  Granted, you will probably want some of the cadet staff in but it gives the seniors something to do.  Bivouacs are great for this because each senior can have a certain piece of the pie that they are in charge of.  Some may not want to go sleep outside on the ground, but that's okay.  It gives them something to do.

One thing my commander instituted in my current squadron is that all seniors have to earn their Yeager Award.  This can take a couple of weeks as we normally give the other members some instruction prior to them taking the test.  I think it helps keep them interested but YMMV.

[tarheel gumby]

My commander makes sure that everybody has a job that they can do when they join. We have about 82 seniors and 51 cadets in our Squadron.
We work with our sister Squadrons to help them and we network to find the best practices for any thing that we are doing. When a new member joins the senior side we will find a job assignment for them as well as a mentor.