So, I was just scrolling through sharepoint (as you do) and noticed ACTO 8 has been changed to state that:
All cadets must get HeartStart within 3 months of joining
All cadets must then get YFA within 18 months of joining
All staff must have a minimum of Heartstart, but preferably activity first aid level.
This is WEF 30 Sep 14. Anyone actually had this promulgated anywhere, or another case of slipping out a rule without people knowing?
[quote=“pEp” post=21660]So, I was just scrolling through sharepoint (as you do) and noticed ACTO 8 has been changed to state that:
All cadets must get HeartStart within 3 months of joining
All cadets must then get YFA within 18 months of joining
All staff must have a minimum of Heartstart, but preferably activity first aid level.[/quote]
I think that we’ll run heartstart when we schedule it into the programme and while we will try to get cadets through YFA quite early though exactly when they get it is down to when we can run the courses, when they can come along to one and whether or not they pass the assessments.
This is just like YFA for leading. It could not be done on most sqns as FA training needs lots of expensive equipment eg annies, new lungs for each session, wipes new faces bandages fore training and trained staff. It went away before and it will go away again.
Lots of things are quietly getting compulsory within the aco…
I’ve got 6 staff who can teach YFA along with 6 or 8 instructor cadets. It is an easy course to run and gets the cadets their first qualification and more importantly a badge that isn’t a classification badge! A quick check of SMS shows that 74% of my cadets have YFA already! I guess its just the latest intake that don’t!
[quote=“the silverback” post=21662]This is just like YFA for leading. It could not be done on most sqns as FA training needs lots of expensive equipment eg annies, new lungs for each session, wipes new faces bandages fore training and trained staff. It went away before and it will go away again.
Lots of things are quietly getting compulsory within the aco…[/quote]
One annie is c£180 and a pack of four c.£700, then all the other bits. Yet again HQAC come up with something they aren’t having to fork out for. If they are making it compulsory where is the deal with a supplier to get discounts? They could start by giving all units 2 annies and a good supply of consumables.
Yes I know all the platitues about First Aid quals (been a first aider for years) but it does strike me that given flying is mostly (gliding for at least another 14 months) off the menu at the moment, someone’s thought we need something else to fill the time. Once your cadets have their badge what then? OK a few refresher sessions, but that’s it. I could get mine badged in a few weekends or parade nights, then once the new intake is in do them. Then effectively nothing. It will give HQAC something to crow about, but not really AIR CADET stuff is it.
I do wish our Lords/Ladies and Masters/Mistresses would focus on flying and not get distracted by sideshows. I’ve got 4 cadets who have been with me for just about 2 years and not one of them has been in the air, despite it being our USP. They’ve been on details that have been binned for one reason or another and gliding “paused” as we know for an indefinite time, which I can’t see being fully up and running at the point it was, much before 2017, despite the promises made. But it’s OK we can
How long before we become the St John Air Cadets? We can probably drop the Air.
They aren’t having to fork out for it because the British Heart Foundation provide it free of charge to wings who are registered HeartStart providers (and they need to be or they can’t run the course)
The question is actually whether every wing in the Corps is registered with the BHF and can actually provide HeartStart locally.
Once they have the skills then you can look to enter them in competitions, or you can use them as part of your initiative exercises and other activities.
The ACO has always been much more than just Flying and Gliding. Yes its the USP but to my mind the attraction of the ACO is that its a whole package of what everyone else can do, plus the Flying and Gliding. I have had cadets with no interest in aviation, or the RAF for that matter, but the variety and quality of the package is what attracted them, retained them and now sees them giving back as staff.
I don’t doubt that the Flying and Gliding situation is causing consternation at higher level, just as much as it frustrates us, but there is plenty we can still be doing to keep the ACO as an attractive choice for young people. Bitching and moaning about what we can still do is not really the answer,…
all our cadets do heart start as part of their initial training,
for a cheeper option on Annie
you could try these people
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Granted, but without flying what are we as an organisation? A bizarre cross between the scouts and Army Cadets. This how I feel we have been for the last couple of years.
I did loads of things as a cadet BUT it was the flying that attracted me to the organisation over the scouts etc and still is the major draw for most I see join. They don’t have an interest in aviation or the military per se, but when you tell a youngster of 10+ they can take control, do aeros and then if they tick the right boxes actually learn to fly, has a certain magic about it. I saw an air cadet stall when I was 8 and from that moment on my dad said that’s all I wanted to do, as they told me about the flying etc. He tried to get me to join Cubs/Scouts which my schoolmates were in and I wasn’t interested. Join the AIR cadets and do First Aid, some adventure training, sports, shooting if you’ve got staff qualified etc and if you’re really, really, really lucky who knows you might even get to fly, hasn’t got the same ring has it. Nearly everywhere does first aid of some description, my kids did it at school, our local schools do it, employers do it so it’s not really special. We did a load of defib training at work a couple of years ago and 75% were there because they were told to be, it was day away from the ‘desk’ and lunch was laid on, only the first aiders were taking any real notice. Since then the defibs have been replaced with the idiot proof ones that don’t need specific training, because it worked out cheaper to get them and not have to do the training courses.
Filling gaps which is how I perceive this latest initiative is fine, but then it should be funded / equipped by HQAC and they supply us with all that we need. They’ve passed on enough expense to squadrons and now it’s another one.
Did you know several types of pine tree kill themselves?
The Acid sap kills the pine needles below the new growth.
Thats why pine tree only have green on the ourside edges
Its is also why the ground is dead in a pine forest.
Eventually the pine tree kills itself when the acid kills the roots.
Can you see where I’m going with this?
The kids spend all day in school doing book stuff. So what does the ACO do? It gives them yet more school work, more books to fill in.
I know why but is it the way forward? I see the ACF going out all year round, I see them shooting on ther range on the same site as we are. We can’t use the range as HQAC ‘need to inspect it’ WHY? Its good enough for the ACF kids!! Its covered by the same regulations !
I see the RM cadets going flying in Merlins several times a year (and its an RAF Merlin, not navy, yet) and the Merlin comes to them !!we’re lucky to get a slot during schooltime, let alone a weekend and then we have to drive several hundred miles
With all the compulsory this and that for staff and cadets the organisation is slowly withering, maybe the big squadrons with a huge bank balance can buy in fun stuff but little squadrons in poor areas are dying.
I will now sit back and wait for the flak from the six toed banjo-playing corporate clones…
[quote=“ddr61” post=22016]Di
I see the ACF going out all year round, I see them shooting on ther range on the same site as we are. We can’t use the range as HQAC ‘need to inspect it’ WHY? Its good enough for the ACF kids!! Its covered by the same regulations ![/quote]
Someone is telling you porky pies with this. PM me and I’ll help you sort it
[quote=“ddr61” post=22016]Did you know several types of pine tree kill themselves?
The Acid sap kills the pine needles below the new growth.
Thats why pine tree only have green on the ourside edges
Its is also why the ground is dead in a pine forest.
Eventually the pine tree kills itself when the acid kills the roots.
Can you see where I’m going with this?[/quote] Not really…
[quote=“ddr61” post=22016]The kids spend all day in school doing book stuff. So what does the ACO do? It gives them yet more school work, more books to fill in. I know why but is it the way forward?[/quote] Its all about how you deliver the syllabus, not what it is!
[quote=“ddr61” post=22016] I see the ACF going out all year round, I see them shooting on ther range on the same site as we are. We can’t use the range as HQAC ‘need to inspect it’ WHY? Its good enough for the ACF kids!! Its covered by the same regulations ! [/quote] This is clearly a local issue, and I hope you take up Leeroys offer to get it sorted.
[quote=“ddr61” post=22016] I see the RM cadets going flying in Merlins several times a year (and its an RAF Merlin, not navy, yet) and the Merlin comes to them !!we’re lucky to get a slot during schooltime, let alone a weekend and then we have to drive several hundred miles[/quote] And Have you tried Writing to the same Squadron and asking them if they will do the same for you? Most of these ‘specials’ are down to people getting off their backside and organising it, not the central machine.
If the organisation is withering, its because we at local level are fialing to make the best of it. I know the current debacles around our central provision don’t help, but I also disagree that 1 flying place a year, and the chance of a Gliding Schorlarship at 16 were all the cadets ever stayed for.
Whats that? If we don’t agree with your jaded world view we are banjo playing corporate clones? Nice!
Stop eating popcorn and start asking what can I do to make this better? How do I get my cadets out and about? How do I get some more flying? What other ranges can we access?
I think an awful lot of people will always seek to hid their own failings behind those of others.
The ‘clone’ comment only applies if the cap fits !
I get tired of the’ think an awful lot of people will always seek to hid their own failings behind those of others’ type remarks. They usually come from those who have everything . For example We dont have broadband - why? because there are no phone lines available with BT. The nearest line is up to capacity. Mobile broadband is very weak if not unavailable. By going ‘on-line’ for things it has made runing a sqn difficult to say the least.
How often do you hear of ATC unit having jollys where the aircraft comes to them? Rarely I expect. Why do the RM cadets get these flights? Because their management supports them and does it at a high level.
I can dress up and sing the syllabus to the score of HMS Pinafore but its still involves more ‘school work’.
I have been involved with the ACO on and off since 1977 so I’m no newby. Many activites have disappeared from the menu. Mostly through lack of RAF facilities and the H&S police. Why are some activites safe for the ACF, SCC & RM cadets but not for the ATC?
It is true that activities are out there if you have the means to get the cadets to them. This is where catch-22 comes in. To have funds you need cadets, to get cadets you need funds to keep them interested with variety. Some units are in areas with cronic unemployment and povety . Fund raising is difficult and every organisation and their dog is after any funding and grants - if yu are a small unit you have no chance as they dont think you have enough people…we have tried time and time again. Lottery funding will pay for things like IT …but not for connecting it to the outside world even if you can get a line
I will continue to do my best for the cadets we have but we are fighting on several fronts, one of which is the stuff which comes from ‘above’