The only reason I’m still in the organisation is because of the cadets and the end product I produce.
My tolerance of nonsense has also dwindled, but it’s not just a tolerance decrease - there has been a definite increase in the volume and conceitedness of the nonsense itself.
Following trying to keep the squadron alive and cadets engaged throughout our shutdown, we have dealt with:
Return to F2F prep
Managing a plethora of restrictions
Regional and National events not following the guidelines we were busting ourselves trying to not fall foul of
RC needlessly blocking activities
Updating all RAs to a new form
RC and WingCo adding their own requirements to event applications
The ongoing dirth of flying opportunities
L144s still not in armouries
Additional mandatory training and kit requirements for shooting first aid
Changes to 1st Class syllabus but not able to get the books
CAC more fussed about rowing than flying
Death of hope via ACTO35
FSMS
Latest SOV BS
Multiple inspections by various people
And that’s just what comes to mind from the last 12 months.
Prior to that - death of gliding and flying as we knew it, fieldcraft switching across multiple different sets of CFAV training requirements and apparently doing so again, the “Volunteer Agreement”, the farce that was “admin burden reduction”…
That’s not including mismanagement and poor leadership within CFAV SLTs and WHQs which seems to have been gradually getting worse across the country. The wrong people have been promoted because the face was right. The faces were a combination of masquerade and ulterior motives, and the wrong things were valued by those doing the promoting.
None of the above is exhaustive. The organisation is going further and further down a dark path, and the end product - the thing keeping me here - is becoming more and more difficult to deliver, and less worth the effort.
I am, however, more likely to be booted than leave, because if I’m going then I’m swinging as I get dragged to the door. And I won’t miss it.
Under the current climate, every CFAV who leaves or has left this organisation will gain so much and lose only stress, and the organisation loses far more.
The ATC represents 17 years of my life. Until a few years ago, never did I think I would be better off without it yet that is the ever-growing feeling. But I’m not here for me, so I’ve been fighting it… I’m starting to lose that fight.