No, everybody gets to take a bite of that turd pancake.
It is true, I assist and help assess on these courses now. To clarify, I donât brown nose whatsoever, I am concerned how I come across because If Iâm going to stand in front of cadets and give constructive criticism I need to have the up most credibility and swanning around like godâs gift only destroys it
I think youâd need to ask a few discrete questions about their age or just ask them directly. That would mean that there were 21 on taking the sqn, your Wing staff would need IMO to have banged their heads or had no one more experienced Officer OR SNCO to take it.
At 23 they would have been known to you or some of the older cadets when you were a young cadet, given that most people carry on in their local area when they become staff. Plus unless you were made a CWO on your 18th birthday and you are almost 20, they would have been in post when you were promoted.
I know things are desperate in some areas, but this, if it is correct, is verging on the ridiculous. That said regardless of age they are still the CO and itâs their decision ultimately.
I think youâd need to ask a few discrete questions about their age or just ask them directly. That would mean that there were 21 on taking the sqn, your Wing staff would need IMO to have banged their heads or had no one more experienced Officer OR SNCO to take itâŚ[/quote]
i can think of half a dozen sqns within 40 minutes drive of me - and i donât live in a city - where the OC would be on the sunny side of their mid-twenties. 20-odd years ago a VR(T) in their early 20âs would be something of a curiosity, and an OC in their mid to late 20âs would have been riding a Unicorn - now however, where i am, mid to late 20âs is the norm, with early to mid 20âs a minority, but less of a minority than a female OC in her mid thirtiesâŚ
i see lots of Sqnâs with, to me, very young OCâs and a collection of Sqn Officers in their late 20âs to mid thirties. to me it looks like two things: firstly that the age demographic has ben turned on its head, and secondly that there are lots of Officers who donât want to be OCâs.
So⌠your CO* probably has twice the experience (in simple years) as you do.
Your CO* will have specific training which you do not have. They will have experiences that you do not have. The first 1-2 years in uniform have an extremely steep learning curve. Same with the first 1-2 years in command.
Look at yourself in 4/5 years time against yourself now, and see how much growing up youâve done.
As a squadron commander myself, I know that not everyone likes every decision I make, all the time. In fact I can pretty much guarantee that someone dislikes every decision, at some point.
By all means have a respectful chat with your squadron commander, and make your case. But dont get all stroppy if they dont choose your way - its their trainset and will almost certainly have a different view of it than you.
*Oh and by the way - itâs OC.
I think youâd need to ask a few discrete questions about their age or just ask them directly. That would mean that there were 21 on taking the sqn, your Wing staff would need IMO to have banged their heads or had no one more experienced Officer OR SNCO to take itâŚ[/quote]
i can think of half a dozen sqns within 40 minutes drive of me - and i donât live in a city - where the OC would be on the sunny side of their mid-twenties. 20-odd years ago a VR(T) in their early 20âs would be something of a curiosity, and an OC in their mid to late 20âs would have been riding a Unicorn - now however, where i am, mid to late 20âs is the norm, with early to mid 20âs a minority, but less of a minority than a female OC in her mid thirtiesâŚ
i see lots of Sqnâs with, to me, very young OCâs and a collection of Sqn Officers in their late 20âs to mid thirties. to me it looks like two things: firstly that the age demographic has ben turned on its head, and secondly that there are lots of Officers who donât want to be OCâs.[/quote]
Currently in our Wing most OCs are 35-55+, there are a few younger but they are in the minority. However I think you are right in that older people are going to be less likely to be duped / impressed by the crap role that being a CO has become now. Having said that I know of only one young officer who is gagging for one of us oldies to bin it. Iâve got 3 young CIs 220 and 122 and all 3 laughed at one of our WSOs when he spoke about taking a Commission. Shot myself in the foot there by not dreaming up some positives in the modern ACO.
By all means have a respectful chat with your squadron commander, and make your case. But dont get all stroppy if they dont choose your way - its their trainset and will almost certainly have a different view of it than you.
*Oh and by the way - itâs OC.[/quote]
Oh sorry, Well I certainly wonât get stroppy if he does go with his way⌠That just poor on every level. I just want to put as much of my input in as possible⌠to ensure we promote worthy cadets
Vents, Iâm a CWO as well so I know exactly where youâre coming from but I think youâre worrying just a bit too much. Often cadets will surprise you by how they behave when they get promoted. On our squadron we have an Acting Corporal system which gives senior cadets the opportunity to show us what theyâre capable of over a 1-3 month period which then gives our OC a better viewpoint to make a decision from. I personally find it very refreshing to have new guys on the NCO team regularly because they see things we donât! From the way youâve been posting it appears your NCO team has been pretty static for a while so maybe new blood would be good for you plus itâd be a good opportunity to test one of your current NCOs by appointing them as a mentor.
I parade on two squadrons, one with the A/Cpl system and one without (until very recently), the NCO team on the second squadron is good but had been stagnating somewhat with no one feeling particularly challenged. After suggesting a couple of promotions to the OiC of the second squadron and him appointing them as A/Cpls the entire squadron has been invigorated with everyone wanting to be next, including those in the NCO team!
I think you just need to let go a bit and trust your OCâs decision making process. If it doesnât work out at least everyone will have learned something.
Thanks, I agree with you⌠Iâm all for the underdogâs though⌠It makes me so proud when I see an underdog succeed!