Rather than query moving to one night, ask, why do we do 2 nights? Which is a more challenging line and one which has bugged me for several years. I saw coming out of the lockdown as an golden opportunity. I think one reason why we do 2 nights is the dangerous one for not changing … “we’ve always done it like that”, which is a barrier to change, which is the main line from sqn staff, when I suggested it. The hut usage point has been made, but is physical opening or hours the ‘thing’. I’ve long since abandoned the 12 hours a month rubbish, as that always gets done without breaking sweat.
It’s still on my agenda for the sqn.
The model I’m considering is one night a week and one or two Saturday mornings / afternoons a month. We already do Saturday sessions for weapons training, IET/DofE, uniform issue/care and drill, as they are a far more efficient use of time, than fafffing around on parade nights. If we do a Saturday we lose a evening somewhere so people don’t do more and seems to work for cadets and parents. With proper daylight you get more done in 4 hours with breaks, than 2+ parade nights with less daylight for 8 months of the year. None of this should be a surprise.
There seems to be an underlying sense from some that moving to one night a week is an indication of failing, why? With more moving to online, much of what we do can be done at home or work or sitting in McKingChirckenHut et al using a mobile device of some description. Not something I do, but it is there and many I know do this.
Frankly with the state of MoD finances I’m surprised that the directive isn’t one night a week so that cadet premises could potentially be used by all 3 CF on a once a week basis. ATC and ACF use them under RFCA and RFCA offer the SCC a peppercorn rent if they want to use the same premises. Old estate can be sold off and the remaining estate upgraded. This would create an easier environment for joint work.
To have something formal like this would need a senior management who are interested.
The problem with moving training to weekends is that it interferes with the Cadet’s wider family life and commitments. I have many who can’t achieve a single weekend day’s training without months of forward planning and even then, there are those for whom it is largely impossible so could never be used for required training, only optional. That would for me degrade the experience for a good slice of the Cadets.
You might find it is easier to find staff, as only one evening allows for greater family time usually when the family want someone at home, helping with homework, young children’s bedtime and social events. Saturday mornings mean you get away from under a partners feet for a couple of hours.
A case of your own milage may vary I guess In my household weekend days are household admin and ferrying little one to various activities. Evenings are my time, weekends are her time if that makes sense?
This will likely change as time goes forward of course - but I would wager of the CFAV’s with young families the story isn’t too dissimilar.
Yeap. I personally feel the move to 1 parade night a week is a one way street. Getting the mojo back for both staff and cadets to do two nights per week consistently as an expectation is going to be a significant challenge.
…and there is your risk. If you are in RFCA accommodation that they feel is not being used enough to justify cost plus you have another unit within a reasonable distance then expect to be merged/co-located
At the end of the day there is no ‘one solution fits all’ but once you ‘downgrade’ to something that becomes the norm then it is very difficult to ‘upgrade’ as everyone will be expected to contribute more than they currently do.
I have had some ‘suggestions’ from colleagues that we should consider 1 night a week* but I am resisting as I feel it is a slippery slope
*I think it is to appease their feelings as they only do 1 night a week
Out of curiosity do any Sqns have their parade nights on the weekends? I think I heard some Northern Ireland Sqns parade on a Saturday but it is the question of why parade Monday to Friday both nights?
You could then Have night one Tuesday night two Saturday (but afternoon rather than evening).
I think this would be the wrong approach. If a unit is functioning but needing supporting then it should get that support over a unit where everything is okay.
Yes there is a point of no return but a Sqn that went squiffy & can recover should have the support not to be expected to fight harder to stay alive.
Before HQ start closing units they should be going to Wg Cdrs & asking how the situation has occurred & what action they have taken in the preceding years to prevent it.
Most Sqns are cyclical in that they have good times and bad times - staff numbers and quals go up and down as do cadet numbers. It is about how WHQs go about enabling the wheel to spin to the good times quicker and slow down the turn to the bad.
If you knee-jerk close every down Sqn you would soon have none as even the best/biggest have down times
Don’t know if we have anyone who looks at area stats etc to see if we have coverage per population (sorry better words available but have lost the use of the English language temporarily)
It is so much harder to restart a unit than it is to keep one going.
Perhaps the detached flight system needs to be reviewed?
Rather than a full closure a Sqn reverts to a detached Flt status, one night parading as a Flt and the second night with the supporting Sqn. The detached Flt keeps going for longer but the original Sqn is kept stood down(not dissolved) until it can stand on its own feet again and restablish as a Sqn.
But locally, we have several which cannot staff themselves. Are constantly last minute cancelling parade nights due no staff and im being bombarded with requests to support them.
Frankly cannot. Not without jepodising my unit. #staff burnout.
There are 5 or 6 Sqns in the Wing which should be culled. They are completly non viable.
Less than 5 cadets each.
No staff to speak of.
Do i want to take on one of these as a DF. Not on your life.
100% more admin for 0% reward / benefit / reason.
Could, possibly they reopen in the future. Maybe, who knows.
But at present they are as good as closed anyway.
In Liverpool, the Corps moved totally outside the inner ring road which is Queens Drive and Breeze Hill to the North Docks, look at the map here, which isn’t up-to-date. The only CCF RAF unit looks to have closed. Within the M57 boundary there are only 6 Squadrons for an expanding population of 440,000, how many potential cadets are missing out?
The ACF has 5 units within the inner ring road and 8 within the outer ring road.
I was on a unit which was based in a school. It was such a popular venue the town had it booked out each evening and so the only way to get two nights in was Sunday snd Tuesday evenings. When a Friday night came up they jumped at it snd its been like that since
In my household weekend days are household admin and ferrying little one to various activities. Evenings are my time, weekends are her time if that makes sense?