It still can and often does, if you measure the process from application reaching a unit to completing AVIP it could even be longer than that.
Just the DBS gets done quicker.
But the bigger hurdle is getting people into uniform. If you add the above plus need to complete probation as a CI then attend pre uniform courses, Wing board (and then RC interview for OF) - then another round of waiting to get on to a CiC.
We need a quick basic pathway for people who want to be a uniformed volunteer. Iâve said it before but the ACF PI model seems the way to go - on the job training as it were.
We could do 3 months pre uniform stint which starts as soon as the DBS is back, if we really wanted.
I have seen nearly a dozen in my time and only rate one of them - why that one? Because they made things happen - they put together Sector weekends -sometimes these were AT based, or First Aid/radio courses or simply day trips to a museum or airshow. they also would attend a parade night if we knew Staff were due to be absent and leaving us tight on numbers. They rarely taught but were onsite as a âsenior officerâ to help out.
Most Sector Commanders just create admin for Squadron staff. they want to justify their role and ask for X to be done or Y and then they take the credit.
part of the issue is their CoC, Wing Commanders are not tasking SCs with âmake this happenâ (whatever that is, be it save X Squadron or make put together a Sector BEL Walk) instead they appear to dicate that SC should be completeing admin checks and audits
Given SC are typically former COs they should know what is expected of the role and have the skills thus have everything they need to make things happen themselves.
if a Squadron is struggling, be it for a night or a month, they have the skills, experience and knowledge to help outâŚexcept they donât more often than not.
FWIW I think sector officers / sector commanders end up doing the first line of casework and handle interviews etc. Certainly mine has indicated a lot of the time he visits a Squadron itâs not for âgoodâ reasons.
I agree with the audits / checks stuff.
If sectors were to run things in the way you suggest, and I think that is a good idea, then really the sector would need a trg off and adj of its own. Not impossible but it is 2 more experienced volunteers whoâd be taken off Squadrons.
I am simply saying the best Sector Commander i knew put his skills, experience, knowledge etc from his time as an OC into the Sector.
it wasnât once a month, and not even once a quarter but there were maybe 2 or 3 Sector events a year he put together having identified a need - that need might not be universal across the Sector, some squadrons have good AT training programs or qualified Staff to run First Aid Courses, but there was an effort of him making things happen rather than just always add extra work for the Squadron.
that only takes one person - not a team of people to make something happen once a month.
Personally, I think the roles should be at that level. Just look at how the ACF works: the SNCO / JO detachment commanders have much less to worry about, with much of the admin being centralised in their âareasâ (generally better known as companies, which are equivalent to squadrons), with a CAA akin to a sector-level WExO.
Round our way companies are sector rather than squadron equivalents (I canât remember the exact number but there is a minimum number of detachments needed for a company).
I can see the equivalence youâre making, in terms of it being a cluster of dispersed small units commanded by an OF-3, but an Army company is equivalent to a squadron (in the Cavalry, Engineers, RLC, etc, theyâre literally called squadrons) whereas many ATC squadrons (there are exceptions) are closer to flights in terms of strength.
Another area where trying to map regular forces â OBATs onto the CFs doesnât work so well I guess
In infantry terms my unit would be below a Coy strength for sure but a lot bigger than a platoon, but then so are the ACFâs as they parade 40-50 odd cadets most nights. But they have other dets in the 20s, just as we have smaller squadrons.
In the infantry terms for units relate strictly to their size, and are used as such for reporting (section strength enemy patrol sighted, etc.) but in the RAF the title of flight is used for all sorts of differently sized units, usually but not always part of a squadron, which in turn are not always grouped into wings.
