As there has recently been a new intake of cadets our Sqdn has told us that 2 of the current cadets will be promoted to Cpl. Our OC and NCOs and JNCOs keep bringing up that in Oder to become a JNCO your uniform has to be up to a certain standard.
Most of the six current eligible for promtion have stepped up there uniform I’m always praised for our uniform but my OC is still telling us to step it up more.
My question is to what standerd must our uniform be for us to be promoted.
Well… The best way to find out is to ask. Is the OC pushing you all just to see what will happen? Is he waiting to see who amongst his potential new JNCO’S will take the initiative and find out what is required rather than simply follow the instruction without knowing the details. :-).
Ask for actual clarity as to what it is they want, just saying “step it up”, sounds like someone vaguely making it up as they go along.
I know some who get very excited about shiny shoes, but for me it’s overall impression do they look smart, do they look presentable that’s enough. You can only do so much with clothes and shoes.
However the clincher is how involved are they in squadron activities and can they be an NCO and do what is required, not just uniform.
I agree a smart uniform plays a part but it’s a small part I’m looking for a good all rounder who takes part in all events within and outside of a Sqn. Uniform is something than can be worked on with support from.JNCOS/SNCOS passion comes from the heart
As well as looking noticelbly smarter than most the cadet population and definitley showing an effort. They need to show a working knowledge of AP1358c
Have to agree.Just because your uniform is brilliant doesnt mean you d make a good NCO. Theres much more to it than that.In fact ive never promoted anyone on the basis of their uniform being spot on.
Why a working knowledge of that or is that just a personal thing.
When the vast majority of adult staff don’t have a clue, why should teenagers who have more important things to worry about.
Its a personal opinion
Would you make a criteria wrt promotion?
I would - for cadets and for staff.
A working knowledge (and knowing where to look if you need to check) of the rules you are expected to follow is an important skill for any leader!
Also setting an example is a major leadership point! You lose respect if you criticise someone’s uniform when yours is not up to scratch.
It also sounds like your reaction may be part of the selection process.
The future SNCO course structure and “gold” Cadet Drill Course are based around having a working knowledge of ACP/APS
If this is right another massive spoon of deja vu, except we called it Staff P2 and had zero to do with knowing about dress regs or doing a drill course. I don’t know quite why the old Staff P2 was binned only to see it come back in bits. Staff P2 was, for us, several months of prep and being interviewed and questioned by a WSO and doing a minute lesson, not a course where you are fed info and spin.
However good luck with sifting through dozens of the word documents that now make up the ACPs and APs as opposed to the books we would sift through. We found out all sorts of things that we use to this day.
So the most important thing we need to know about is how to get dressed for a hobby?
Or is that, it is simple for the low intelligence types to bang on about.
I do miss the staff part 2 bit…i thought it was more beneficial for the cadet to gain the interview (and preparing for it) experience. Especially at the age they would be sitting it there was a real possibility that the cadet was trying to start a career.
“An important skill”, not “the important skill”.
Similar, then, to one’s reading comprehension.
Half the core dont know how to dress correctly never mind CV. To me uniform is something that can be worked on and I can assure you no matter how good your uniform is, someone will find fault with it. I rather have a good cadet promoted to Cpl for all their other skills. At the end of the day an evening with a good CDT SNCO or one of the uniform staff can soon improved the person uniform standards and I rather do that than lose a good CDT who would make an excellent NCO
Certainly, but when you consider those other skills will tend to be (neither exclusive nor exhaustive) the ability to manage their time, to lead by example, to represent themselves and their unit well, to earn the respect of their peers and seniors, etc… Then chances are their uniform is pretty good anyway.
When the stress is that cadets have to know the ins and outs of dress regs, it is easy to make the assumption that this is more important than everything else. The problem with this, as with the SNCO cadre you produce clones. Whereas it’s the more subtle and esoteric characteristics that you see in youngsters (and adults) that make them promotion candidates and good NCOs. But in today’s world of lists and boxes to tick this gets lost.
It’s hardly difficult to learn how to wear a uniform. There’s no need to learn every little detail of the dress regs and I highly doubt that any OC expects his SNCOs to know everything about them.