When I went to my first OC Conference in 1995 one of the things mentioned was lack of officers generally and this wasn’t the first time it had been mentioned, as a WO running a DF it was interesting. Then when I was on Wing 3 years or so later, at every WSM those of us with area responsibility were tasked with trying to get people to commission and giving progress reports. But there were enough willing to take sqns, so it was a case of keeping topped up. But was there any interest or help from HQAC, to address the number leaving vs joining, nah. They were as they are now, equally clueless, eyes shut, fingers in the ears and la laing like you expect from small children, hoping the nastiness will go away. This level of senior management complacency almost saw the company I eventually worked for nigh on 27 years, nearly go out of business in the mid 80s, not long after I started. It is a big local employer and the fact it had got to that shocked a lot of people.
Am I surprised that people don’t want to be a Sqn Cdr now, no. Being a Sqn Cdr has become a job that eats into your life and if I was being offered a command for the first time, I wouldn’t touch it with someone else’s. There is little to suggest that we have real jobs and families, is respected. Back in the day and there may be some rose tinting but it seemed a much more relaxed existence, post once or maybe twice a week, no compulsory training, no expectation to provide activities most weekends and things seemed to be planned better, with long deadlines. Even when email crept in, it wasn’t used very much. Compared to now with compulsory training, lots of weekend cadet activities/courses, an unwritten expectation that we are available 24/7 because you can do it on your phone or other device wherever you are (something to be avoided, unless the device is supplied), emails that need an instant response, shortened deadlines, activities that need approval with reams of electronic documents for the easiest things and the Bader “big brother” watching your every move, plus we have the HQAC know nothings fiddling with things that do not need fiddling with.
Pontificating about what we do is all well and good, but this IMO lets HQAC off the hook. If people said no and things didn’t happen, it would or should if they were bothered, force HQAC to get into the nuts and bolts of why people won’t and don’t. They have ignored it for probably 3 decades and created the situation of people feeling compelled to do other things. We have had surveys where the awkward things are ignored and just continue. Ad campaigns for cadets great, but if you haven’t got the people on the ground to do the things the kids want and a bigger picture of the advertised things not available, kids walk.
I’m sorry the problem lies firmly and squarely on the door mat of HQAC. The sort of inward blame culture and culture of pressure exerted by CFAV on their fellow CFAV that goes on and evidenced in some of the attitudes expressed here, does not help things. As has been said for years, we are not employed or paid, we are unpaid volunteers and whatever that volunteering experience looks like for each individual is fine, regardless, the organisation has to resect and go along with it and the organisation has to change, not people change to the organisation. This happens elsewhere in the voluntary sector. So, why not within the Air Cadets, what is so special about the Air Cadets that it seems incapable of changing to suit the people volunteering?