I have been in the CCF for 6 years now and for the past 3 i have been running section as a FS. By running the RAF section, i mean from planning to rota, to asking for equipment and doing registers. This was without any help or supervision, just from my experience.
Recently, the staff of another section who are in charge of the whole contingent, have started belittling the whole section. We had 2 bookings for gliding yet they were cancelled due to paperwork issues as the SSI refused to complete it. The remembrance parade was a complete farce as only 1 out of 14 cadets has been RAF. When i asked about why we only had 1 cadet, i was ignored and later reported for using a ‘rude tone’. Bearing in mind I had been spoken too in such a manner today over a miss understanding.
My question is, is this a common practice within CCF? Or is it just my contingent?
It can be inter service politics that get in the way. However it does sound that the issues may well be with the admin bit of the school rather than the cadet side.
One advantage you have in the CCF is that you have school SLT responsible for cadet activities rather than just cadet world.
So it may be worth approaching them or even play the school side of asking your parents to put the complaint in. It gives you top cover & the school normally has to respond to parents concerns & will ask the SSI questions.
Out of curiosity does your section OC get on with the SSI?
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Yeah no, the SSI and OC don’t get along very well.
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Figured as much - use the school internal system rather than the MoDs to address.
Sadly it wouldn’t be the first example (if true) of a CCF dominated by the Army section and treating the RAF section as some kind of joke ‘not really military’ option. That was true to some extent of ours before I took over - the old SSI was AAC which only made it worse!
Agree, this sounds like a school issue. If the SSI isn’t supporting your admin for flying trips, and assuming they are a school employee, that’s a disciplinary matter for the school.
Sounds like your parents need to ask some questions of whoever on your school senior leadership team is the line manager for the CCF. (Some sort of ‘deputy head co-curricular’ or similar.)