New ADJ - tips and advice

Hi all,

I am going to become the new adj of my sqn ASAP.
I want to make a to do list and was wondering what everyone recommeneds.
What is the typcial role of an ADJ?
I will be sitting down with my OC to talk to her about what she wants me to do.
Also if anyone has any tips and tricks that would be great!

Thanks all!

There’s a document on SharePoint called Junior Officer Development.

Despite the name it’s a good guide to the different Squadron executive roles. That and any Terms of Reference you have is a good place to start.

Also speak to Adjs on neighbouring units.

ETA it is ACTO 094

I’m glad someone pointed it out - a lesser known document that should be more well known!

Some of it will be very specific to your OC and other staff on your Squadron. But your Oc will be able to enlighten you there :slight_smile:

It might be worth as suggestions come on here looking at what isn’t currently done on your Sqn as those things will probably be a definite then work from there.

Things such as Sharing to Cadet Portal - a lot of activities don’t get shared, not because the Sqn doesn’t want them shared just because time. This could come under Adj or Trg but if it’s not being done (or done often) it’s a nice easy quick fix one and makes a big difference to cadets

Regularly updating registers - again hopefully it’s being done but if someone is staying till late to get it done, or it’s being done monthly instead of nightly. Is it something you could pick up and spend 5 minutes doing at the beginning of the night.

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Never seen this document before! Is there an equivalent for SNCOs? Can’t see anything myself

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The standard ToRs of an adj are vague but cover pretty much everything you need to be. I would definitely make sure, if you have a training officer too, you aren’t treading on their toes which a staff meeting can easily iron out expectations. I would say you are the go to from the OC and training officer and making the squadron tick. Make sure you have a solid DBS/cadets about to reach 18 process with at least 6 months notice to get them through AVIP as your number 1 priority. The biggest learning curve for me is there isn’t a right way to do things as plenty of Sqn’s do things in a slightly different way whether that’s register recording, new recruits etc but there are certainly many things that can go wrong, ask your OC about the Sector Commander or see if you can sit in their next visit, they will give you an idea on things that need focus.

Get a notebook. Listen to everyones moans and try and fix them. Try and be organised and as others have said.
Dont try and do it yourself ask people to help you. Some things you are asked to do are complicated and you have to guess how to do things, like ordering uniform!

I think there should be some formal training for these posts. Not everyone is in uniform. It should be for competent C I s too.

Any Officer/SNCO/CI can take on the role. Just watch out if you’re in uniform; being a competent Adj can lead to being pestered to take on OC role at a later date! Well, that’s my experience anyway…

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Fixed that for you.

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Very true!