Well you are. What have you done about it?
I saw that myself as a SWO and an OC. Mind not on any sqn I served on.I always found the uniformed staff and CIs got on well together.Of course you can never plan for the power trip loons who you sometimes find in the corps.
CIs are the backbone of the organisation without whom the whole thing would collapse overnight.
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Iād like to think Iām not like the officers described above - and hope that anybody who felt that way would challenge me on it - just as Iāve challenged Officers and NCOs where Iāve witnessed (or heard) about their lack luster attitude towards CIs.
In the last year Iāve heard āCIs arenāt allowed access to Baderā, āCIs cannot do X/Y/Zā, and āon my squadron only Uniformed staff can run canteenā.
One OC I challenged on it said they were using the Bader access concept as a ātoolā for āencouraging the CI onto uniformā- without realising that the consequence of their action was actually doing more harm than good.
Often the biggest culprits of the "them and us divide (although not exclusively this group!), are ex-cadets who transitioned straight into uniform roles whoāve never been a CI. Those that have done time as a CI often have a far more supportive attitude.
As has been said over and over, whilst cadets are the heart of this organisation, its CIs who give it the backbone.
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#justsaying
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Them and us is institutionalised.
This then spawns the rest of the nonsense. I wouldnāt blame the cadets coming through straight into uniform per se, they are not intelligent enough and only mimicking the actions and words of older uniformed CFAV so they can fit in. But the older CFAV should know better as many would have in all likelihood been CIs themselves.
This is also a problem where we ape the RAF and other armed forces where the badge(s) you wear delineates what you can and cannot do and who is in charge of who. Those CFAV in uniform, generally follow the party line. As CIs donāt fit into the Forcesā norm they are discriminated against in a way that in modern thinking would be frowned upon. There is also the fact if CIs were allowed to absolutely everything why go into uniform? Therefore some of the games have to be restricted to uniforms otherwise as I say who would want to wear a uniform.
You can liken this to CS civvie WExOs being appointed the ārankā of Sqn Ldrs, for no other reason than people within the forces arenāt able to reconcile speaking to someone without a rank. I asked the question why they have to have a rank and was told this.
I felt I should comment seeing as I started this thread. Firstly, thanks for all who have given quite the insight into things and also Iām afraid to say Iām still struggling. My emails are often unasnwered and Iāve decided that whilst Iām not going to give up, Iām going to slow down even more, as I learn more about the organisation and what to do next. Ultimatley I think Iām going to move to another Squadron, and try again there. If I experience the same issues there (and assuming itās not me, I know itās not, but none of you do of course) then Iāll call it a day having known Iāve given it everything.
Whilst I canāt say too much I know Wing are not happy with our Squadron at the minute, commenting on some of the things Iāve experienced first hand (especially around communication & admin) at least justifies me somewhat, that itās not just me. Iām not sure whether volunteering for the RAFAC is ultimatley worth my time, considering what I want to get out of it.
The people Iād consider āniceā are still in their minority, with almost everyone I meet across the organisation in uniform having this strange Borg-like indoctrination about them, it seems more a cult than a youth org.
Anyway.
Thankyou
Si.
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Sad but true in a lot of cases not all thankfully.
You really have had a bad experience!!
Some people can have a fixation on their status and rank, but there are lots more who do it for the cadets!!
I take some of the advantages of being in uniform, but that doesnāt make me superior to anyone!
I wish you luck at your new Squadron!
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Dunno how I missed the ending of this post, have you walked away or have you moved to a different Sqn?