Yes, think so many are flatlining in spirit - think the repeated deferrals have worn many down: it’s not the despair that kills you, it’s the hope!
Sure we’ll all feel better once back, tho won’t be “normal” for a bit - just a shame we have to climb the paper mountain first…
Staff retention recruitment and morale may need to come before cadet recruitment on many squadrons!
Flying blind, flying on empty, looking for landfall down there in the dark…?
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My OC has sent out their ‘stuff i want the Sqn to do/achieve in the next two years’ paper:
Good effort - I think it’s a very good thing for everyone to understand the Commander’s Intent, to know what the objectives and preferred methods/pathways are.
Pity it’s all tedious indoor crap - it’s all stem stuff, just without any explosions.
They are utterly tone deaf. The (few remaining) staff have no interest in this stuff, the cadets have no interest in this stuff.
No Sqn camps, no AT outside of DofE - that’s piggybacking on other Sqns. Just £#@(±& maths…
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It’s unfair (and wrong) to say cadets aren’t interested in STEM
But STEM is a very broad term… if you’re building spaghetti towers then you may be right; I can’t see proper hands on engineering being unpopular (the SCC do it well)
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Maths is cheap.
Maths is environmentally friendly.
Maths is Commandant ‘excitement’ material
But it isnt shooting, flying, drill, AT etc
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Problem with STEM is that delivery by unqualified staff can be very dry. To keep costs down, STEM activities are limited to stupid egg challenges. Why not ask STEM qualified CFAVs for input and be prepared to spend a few quid from sqdn/wing funds? Do something a lot more ambitious and exciting! Not every cadet is interested in STEM. Building spaghetti bridges every parade night will put the rest off STEM. I work in a STEM field in my day job, so I recognise the issues. Senior staff in work places typically aren’t STEM qualified; they simply don’t understand STEM. The same is true in the ACO. Hence STEM is perceived as being an exceedingly boring activity, much like classification training (which needs to the the topic of another thread). My advice to the ACO: We won’t be returning to the sort of activities we enjoyed before March 2020, so now is the time to recruit/retain STEM qualified staff. Appoint them to wing staff positions and listen to what they have to say. The ACO offers practically nothing in terms of flying opportunities (I mean proper flying, where cadets fly solo). Fieldcraft and shooting would be better farmed out to the ACF for delivery to cdts. What else is there, apart from lame blues activities, such as endless D&D & pointless aeromodelling, etc? The world is shifting to STEM (UAVs, AI…) better fully embrace it within the ACO or risk losing cdts to the Scouts and Brownies.
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What we need are properly thought out, ready to go kits from HQAC.
And stuff that isnt aimed at 6 year olds.
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Define STEM qualified.
I have STEM qualifications, but currently work in the SHAPE field which I (personally and professionally) find more appealing. By not offering challenges in these fields alongside STEM I think we’re missing a trick. But nobody seems that bothered.
And before somebody rolls out the RAF don’t have SHAPE roles, they very much do.
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That’s a new one for me?
Please tell me what SHAPE is. Otherwise I will imagine you standing at the front of a class cutting shapes to some cheesy dance music.
@Batfink is a professional cookie cutter 
Perhaps we should have a separate topic for STEM/SHAPE.
My personal motivation has increased a notch after a staff development range day and this week off work to finalise the return paperwork.
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Supreme Head Quarters Allied Powers Europe…
?
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(feel free to repurpose / expand this)
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