Not to mention the fact that you will be dealing with parents, too, and they have the potential to be the worst of the lot.
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Nobody has yet mentioned the value of a good SNCO.
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Oh, and a good SNCO /SWO is invaluable 
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But better to have No SNCO/WO that a bad one.
Biggest source of stress, frustration & misery I have had as an OC has been caused by the adult SNCOs.
Thankfully the WO who nearly destroyed the Sqn is no longer in the organisation but the damage they did was phenomenal.
A good Adj and/or a good training officer is critical, an adult SNCO that gets your philosophy & doesn’t cause waves is great. If they cause you issues be brutal & get rid.
[N.B. Others will disagree with this & have a point because they had a good experience with SNCOs while I had a horribly poor one. Everyone is different, so don’t make assumptions but be robust. The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli is worth reading before taking over.]
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Nail, head, nice tight grouping. I’ve had both.
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I echo what has been said already and I will add the following;
If you feel you are ready to take on the ‘Hot Seat’ go for it, dont worry about what may or may not happen.
If you have a good number of staff, invest your time on them initially. Make sure that you have a good adjutant and training officer.
Delegate as much as you possibly can to your staff and your staff cadets (if you have them).
When planning, look at the strengths and weaknesses of your staff. You will be limited to what they can do and what they are willing to support with. There is no point stressing yourself about this as there is very little you can as we are all volunteers.
Remember you are a volunteer, if you spend time at home on admin, keep it focussed to a few hours a week. You dont get paid so your job comes first and your family are more important, dont lose sight of that.
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Dodged the hot-seat for a long time now, and it’s looking more and more likely that in the new year I’ll be taking up a post. Been an adj and training officer on squadron… I might not need to become an OC, but it is looking more and more likely.
So reading with interest, although I have a very, very good idea of what will change when/if it happens!
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Read and inwardly digest the 100 Top Tips for Squadron Commanders.
This was put together based on peoples experiences as an OC. Not every slide works for everybody and their style of leadership - but I found it an invaluable resource to help keep me sane and grounded when I was in the hotseat.
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Second that - i found it good starter for ten.
The Role of OC is one of those roles where everyone experiences it differently.
There is always a debate about what preps you best for being OC but in the end it is one of those more art /philosophy than a science - nothing to be scared of, a mini-right of passage and your fellow OC will have plenty of ideas.
https://forum.aircadetcentral.net/t/preparation-for-co-training-officer-vs-adjutant/
I enjoy being an OC but only because I have an incredible staff team behind me.
We have a large Squadron of just over 90 cadets and provide a very active Air Cadet experience. Sometimes being OC can feel like you’re trying to navigate a cruise ship down a small river but the smiling faces of both cadet and staff makes it worthwhile.
My advice (most has been said above a few times)…
- Give your staff team roles that motivate them, are realistic for their ability, and then trust them to do that job for you.
- Encourage (tell…) your Committee meetings will be every 6 to 8 weeks.
- If the Squadron doesn’t have this, set a level of discipline you want and get everyone to deliver it.
- Use your NCO through your SWO.
- Be part of the training programme so that you are with cadets.
- Allocate time in your month to be available for cadets and staff to talk. A lot can come your way and you need to be accessible.
- Hook up with another OC locally that can guide, motivate, and advise you.
- At the end of the day nobody is perfect and you can only do your best.
Clench your fists tight, screw your face up and squeak to your Wing Staff Officer…“OK I will do it”…
Good luck.
It was all going so well until this bit.
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If you had a big enough staff team which were capable, couldn’t you delegate 99% of your tasks to them and you just supervise and make sure everything runs smooth? In which case I as OC could get involved and do stuff other than stressful stuff.
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Ok, I know a lot of relationships do start in the ATC but I fear Mrs WS might object to that being in an OC’s TORs
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Yes kinda sortof, not really, no
Delegation needs a structure & you can’t delegate everything as not everything is appropriate for you to do so. A basic Eisenhower box method can be a good start.
Then there is the challenge of the more people you get the more complex the personal relationships become (the hard bit of a CO) delegate too much authority & you end up with factions & balkanisation- think a cross between house of cards & game of thrones but with out the ruthless pragmatism or the fluffy empathy for others.
Third issue is that a large cable staff team is only for that moment in time. Society, people & policy is changing all the time which means as CO you have to constantly implement mini change programs as otherwise your team become de skilled & may not be acting lawfully any more. Oh & volunteers hate change & if the change has come from above, has been hap hazard of poor thought out or is on top of other recent changes that haven’t bedded in then you will get kick back from the staff.
Oh & that’s if your staff actually listen & understand & remember your orders in the first place
The job as a CO is create a suitable environment that everyone can operate in. It’s like a fish tank when it’s gets a bit murky & the fish get ill. You don’t take the fish out, scrub them then put them back in. You clean the dirty water & the tank that’s making them sick in the first place.
You want a decent sized staff team that is kept moderatly busy but not so big that people get bored & cause trouble or so busy that they break.
One thing that learnt as a CO is that the influence of the Wng staff officer isn’t that great compared to that of a CO.
Tick the boxes a little but don’t try to emulate their style. You’re the CO & if you want the WSO just to do the basic job with regards to you then that’s fine - you don’t have to invite them to dinners or functions or anything.
Worry more bout your staff than the WSO & you’ll be fine - the WSO has other Sqns kicking off at them so if you avoid giving them problems & make things easy for them they should just you crack on.
Sounds like a way of saying, the more authority you delegate the less you have. If you delegate away too much you’re not really the OC any more
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Difference between delegating authority and delegating responsibility…
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If it’s any help, I went from CCF section officer > section OC (roughly Sqn OC) > Contingent Commander (in charge of 200+cadets of all three services, 11 uniformed staff, etc.) then back to section OC a couple of years back.
By comparison with Contingent Commander, Section OC is a dream job… The higher up I got, the less time I was spending on activities which benefited the cadets, and the more on activities which placated the chain of command. That was mostly an Army CoC, not RAFAC, but both sides gave me sleepless nights. As the OP rightly said, the worry is you have messed up and cadets will miss out. And often it’s not even your fault - you get a call a week out from an activity from DTE saying your training area or range is no longer available; or even the day before to say a range has been closed…
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Ive yet to give my 2 pennies worth to this. Much good advise given.
A couple of things i would add not already mentioned.
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Without people willing to take the plunge and do the job of Sqn OC. The org has no future.
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It is singuarly the hardest job in the Org.
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It is also the most rewarding.
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It is also (probably) the role with the greatest amount of flexability. In that as OC you and you alone can decide the true future for your Sqn.
Some units are basically AT centres, others mere youth clubs, a few, the Hitler Yugen.
Evntually every unformed CFAV, if they are in the Corps long enough, must make the decision.
Do i have the time, drive and willing to run a unit or not.
Finally, there are huge differences between taking on a fully formed Sqn in steady state Ops vs taking on a failing or failed unit.
Both have challenges. But one will take a magnitude more time and commitment to get right.
Good luck.
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So noone is going to step in and say, your sqn is too lax, or you’re taking it too serious? Cos imagine beeing a teen really excited to join the cadets thinking it’s going to be everything you see on the website and your sqn is all slackers and people who don’t care.