Morale at my squadron has recently reached an all time low. Nobody looks forward to going any more, we used to have an awful CO who made us feel like we were crap but we’ve recently changed over and (hopefully) things will naturally get better with that. In the meantime, does anyone have any ideas of how to boost and improve everyone’s attitudes?
a quick and dirty weekend away - doesn’t matter where or doing what (as long as its not just footdrill and academics…) - just a fun, hard working weekend away with pizza on the saturday night.
ties morale to a Saturn 5 rocket and shoots it into space. the easiest and cheapest weekends to organise - ime - is to your local DTE range, stay either on camp or on the training area, and you can just do walks/nav/tent pitching/field cooking. you need to find food and transport, the rest is free.
where are you - ish?
we’re from the devon and somerset wing,.
We have another problem with respect too, as in none of the cadets respect the ncos, any help there?
Fair play Palfrey. Good luck with the new boss. The place needed a kick up the ■■■■. The last time i popped in it was a bit of a graveyard atmosphere.
In the meantime, why don’t you suggest something simpel like bowling at [a convenient local place near to his now anonymous squadron from which I certainly never stole any bowling shoes in the distant past]?
thanks for the idea, will keep it in mind in the meantime we will keep it small, and build up to something really fun that everyone can enjoy, how does that sound?
i’d edit your post to remove your unit if i were you - wing is enough, and you don’t want to be that identifiable if you come back in 2 weeks honking off that your new OC is as big a throbber as your last!
your last OC might also be reading this thread…
good shout, thanks
Oh, you just haven’t been there long enough… 
Just to qualify my trite remark: ALL units go through troughs and peaks and the swing between the two can be remarkably swift. Cadets aren’t normally around long enough to see more than one or two ‘troughs’, but I can assure you that your unit will have been in exactly the same position before (possibly even worse) and has bounced back to greater things. So stick with it and do what you can to help the new boss - it’ll turn around.
If the sqn is suffering from low morale, would an OC approve such an event; that is the question… Doubt it.
Although I will admit, it does gel the team.
If the sqn is suffering from low morale, would an OC approve such an event; that is the question… Doubt it.
Although I will admit, it does gel the team.[/quote]
The last point qualifies why you would.
But I just go for a few socials that most squadrons do, but why it needs the squadron to arrange it is beyond me. My NCOs organise cadet nights out, bowling, skating and so on just as mates going out. Works well and with no staff to worry about. We did them all the time as cadets, skating, pictures and the like and even a couple of things that would be frowned upon in the modern day. But we had a good feeling on the squadron in these times, even if actual ATC side wasn’t all that.
GOM’s point about peaks and troughs is spot on. It when you hit the low and build up is when the good feelings start. It just needs cadets to stick it out and get involved. Mostly troughs happen because cadets stagnate and sit around the squadron waiting for something to happen abd then leave, rather than getting stuck in to the wider organisation.
[quote=“romeo bravo” post=20638]…If the sqn is suffering from low morale, would an OC approve such an event; that is the question… Doubt it.
Although I will admit, it does gel the team.[/quote]
what else has he got? if the Sqn is on the bones of its bottom, its probably got low attendance, if the OC wants to crack it with footdrill and exam results he’s going to be shouting at an empty parade square - his ‘nice things’ bag is pretty limited, and some of the stuff in it, like flying or camps, is not in his gift anyway.
the flogging till morale improves line doesn’t work, if the OC tries the ‘hard work gets you good things’ line on a Sqn with rock bottom morale the kids will just walk, you’ve got to give them something pretty quickly - and he needs to present his regime as being very different to the last OC’s - and then you can do the ‘hard work gets you more good things’ line.
Spot on! The cadets who get stuck in to doing things with other squadrons, such as camps, training weekends, etc, are the ones who stick with it. The ideas they bring back into the squadron can also reinvigorate it. However, some OCs just see that as a threat…
Organise a joint SQN “night ex”, everyone should enjoy that?
SAM
Just make sure you have your backside covered: You need staff with the necessary quals and you need to follow ACP16 to the letter.
Thanks for all the help, the sqn’s morale has picked up now as there are an increasing number of fun nights for the cadets to enjoy and I can safely say things are looking up now. We haven’t managed to do some of the things suggested but are in the pipeline. Thanks for the help!
[quote=“angus” post=20635]i’d edit your post to remove your unit if i were you - wing is enough, and you don’t want to be that identifiable if you come back in 2 weeks honking off that your new OC is as big a throbber as your last!
your last OC might also be reading this thread…[/quote]
I am sorry. I disagree about the whole last OC might be reading it. Who cares? If they were crap, then why beat about the bush?
This is whats wrong with this country, cant go around “upsetting peoples feelings”. If he was a toilet of an OC then why didnt someone step in earlier rather than drag down kids and then have all this trouble to rebuild?
That requires effort and there are a lot of staff on squadrons who just like the idea of moaning about how little their OCs do, without fully understanding it’s their squadron as well and by not getting their finger out and maybe doing something will help the situation.
As the OC I try to do as little as possible in terms of actually organising things. I now largely act as the person to initiate contacts, but then leave to those staff who have said they want to do things or have expressed an interest. Some relish this and some don’t like it as they find out it’s not just about turning up. They also discover the frustrations around getting things organised and making them happen.
There is a very easy trap for sqn cdrs to fall into of trying to do it all and not really doing anything. There are also a number of squadrons where staffing is ‘one man and a dog’ which having been there is little fun, especially when you have your own family and life as well, but the ATC just sucks up all of your time.
I will admit when I was first a member of staff activities weren’t the mindless box ticking admin fest as they are now. Wanted to do something you do did it. On more than one occasion we’d arrange things little more than a week in advance, those were the days!! .
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On more than one occasion we’d arrange things little more than an hour in advance, those were the days!! .