Hi,
Are recommendations for CWO generally made without the knowledge/without promoting of the person being pit forward. My Sqn hasn’t had one appointed in my 5 years there yet we have certainly been large enough. I’m considering making it known to my oc that this is something I’d like to do but is this inappropriate?
Thanks
It is good practice so not necessarily standard to speak to the individual beforehand. Having said that you would know before any conversation that you were being considered.
HOWEVER what is your Wing profile like? If you are well known around the Wing then it would almost be a shoe-in, if not it would need more work. IF you look around the Wing I bet 99% of the CWOs are all ‘Wing faces’ and I know of 2 squadrons of average size who have 2 CWOs. Therefore squadron size has nothing to do with it. The number of CWOs that could be on a Wing used to be number of sqns on the Wing plus two-thirds, which I remember learning for my Staff P2. Also it is a Corps appointment hence the need for the interview with WSOs and so on and the certificate from HQAC.
My WSO interview for CWO was
Hello [my name],
Hello Sir,
Do you want to be a CWO,
Yes,
Excellent. End of interview. Needless to say I was a ‘Wing face’.
Playing devil’s advocate I have to say that the ‘modern’ CWO is little more than a box tick in a 3822, based on the upper age limit and the age when the majority get appointed. I still don’t know why we keep it. I became a CWO when I was 18½ and then spent the next 3½ years as one. One of the things that I would be considering if I had someone I deemed suitable, is what am I and the cadets on the sqn going to get from it. All of my cadets who are over 17½ are infrequent visitors due to juggling part-time jobs and college or being at work or Uni.
In my experience the OC will usually have an initial discussion with a potential candidate where they will explain about the role of the CWO and state that they are considering submitting a recommendation to WHQ for their promotion.
It may be the case that no cadet on your unit has met the promotion criteria. As a minimum you must be a Master/Instructor Cadet, aged at least 18 on appointment and have a minimum of 6 months cadet service left. Individual Wings may set additional local requirements such as attendance on advanced leadership courses.
This is a Wing appointment and as such they are limited to appointing a certain number of CWOs, this used to be set at 1 per squadron plus an extra percentage.
I would say no harm in speaking to your OC and making it clear that you aspire to become a CWO. Just make sure that you have proved yourself as a competent, experienced and efficient SNCO before you do so.
MB