Preventing the death of a section

[trufflehunter]

Most of you being adult instructors, i'm hoping that you'd be able to give me a different point of view on this.
I'm the senior cadet in what had been up till now a very succesfull CCF RN section, winning last year's school intersection competition for the first time ever. Last year the section CO changed. The new CO is an ex-regular (a couple of years as a seaman officer in the early 70's), and has a compulsion to stick rigidly to syllabi, teaching material that our cadets will very seldom or never use. This has meant a reduction in opportunity for adventurous training/outdoor activities (i've spent the last 7 weeks in a classroom teaching our basics (year 9's)) and a noticable reduction in new recruits (6 basics this year compared to 60 for the RAF and 100 odd for the army) along with a large drop-out rate in the more senior year groups. I am deeply concerned that this will lead to the rapid death of the section. I have voiced my concern at our recruiting figures and suggested that we alter the focus of our schedule, but this has had a hostile reception. Could any of you advise on what action i should take next to prevent the haemorraging of recruits...i really don't want my legacy as senior NCO to be the death of my section.


Many thanks
Cadet Cox'n Trufflehunter


ps. i'm aware the syllabus is there for a reason, but the role of the CCF is not to provide military training, it's to instill leadership and group skills, self discipline/pride/respect and a sense of community through FUN, and i'd like to focus on that more than military/maritime skills

 

[Rincewind]

The answer is simple.

Leave and join the Sea Cadets.

Adventureous training is on the up and up and funding is getting better now more and more UMCs are pulling thier fingers out.

R

 

[chockhead819]

we had this happening in my local unit, kids were basically doing class work every night, for some reason the CO wouldn't send CIs on courses to get the training done to allow the kids to do different stuff.
You should have a word with the committee about this if you feel strongly & explain the reason why the kids are leaving, They are there to oversee the running of a unit.
Luckily the CO left, the new person got things going & as a result a good number now have sailing qualifications.

 

[trufflehunter]

The answer is simple.

Leave and join the Sea Cadets.

Adventureous training is on the up and up and funding is getting better now more and more UMCs are pulling thier fingers out.

R

Sorry rincewind...in my experience the only thing sea cadets are good at is stealing our bloody CCF berets...wouldn't mind if it was a fair swap for a proper lid though.

oh, and looking a shambles on the march from Bristol to Excellent Jr's mess and back

 

[Richard_SCC_Officer]

Sorry rincewind...in my experience the only thing sea cadets are good at is stealing our bloody CCF berets...wouldn't mind if it was a fair swap for a proper lid though.

oh, and looking a shambles on the march from Bristol to Excellent Jr's mess and back

I don't think attacking each other is the answer as I am sure we can all come up with stories of shambles etc of each other.


Ultimately the CO of any Cadet Unit / Detachment is accountable for the number of Cadets on the books, attendance, qualifications gained etc unfortunately damage can be done very quickly but recovery can take a lot longer

 

[trufflehunter]

Sorry rincewind...in my experience the only thing sea cadets are good at is stealing our bloody CCF berets...wouldn't mind if it was a fair swap for a proper lid though.

oh, and looking a shambles on the march from Bristol to Excellent Jr's mess and back

I don't think attacking each other is the answer as I am sure we can all come up with stories of shambles etc of each other.


Ultimately the CO of any Cadet Unit / Detachment is accountable for the number of Cadets on the books, attendance, qualifications gained etc unfortunately damage can be done very quickly but recovery can take a lot longer

Thanks richard, i think you're right. My comments were supposed to be tongue in cheek, with a little friendly rivalry in there too. I guess they didn't come out that way

 

[Karma]

Trufflehunter

It's about 12 years since I was staff on a Cadet unit, on a unit I was serving in, so I'm not into the politics at the moment.

Appreciate that it's difficult, you're in a disciplined environment and going round the back of your CO probably just doesn't feel right. To take things any further you probably need to get some hard figures on paper, go back a few years for recruitment and attrition figures.

One of your jobs, as Senior Cadet, is to get a good feel for the undercurrents; what's being said and how much of that is there. If it supports what you're thinking then that reinforces any argument you take forward. Don't start any though!

Once you have something written down then you can either take the concerns to the CO directly, or one of the other Officers whom you might get a decent hearing from. I'd recommend the latter initially, get yourself an ally. If that doesn't work then the committee is the next option.

Look at it this way, it's good interview fodder to talk about a situation where you had to deal with a problem.

Best of luck with it.

 

[Rincewind]

One of the things we are assessed on during the RNP is staff quals and courses...

Failure to send staff on courses results in the CO being torn a new arrse hole.

R

 

[Potential_Officer]

Well unfortunatly the Naval Sections of all cadet forces tend to get fewer recruits, its something across the CCF and SCC.

I would advise having talking to the CO first, fortunatly when I was a senior cadet the staff recognised the link seniors can provide between the staff and junior cadets, and asked us on our opinions and inputs.

Perhaps also ask what the cadets want to get out of being in the CCF, point out the oppourtunities, do you have an equivilent to the SCC Square Brig TS Royalist, or TS John Jerwood, I found after a week in the English Channel the cadets engage in the class room work better, having seen it in action as it were.

And for the record, when it comes to marching my CCF oppo, the SCC wipe the floor, if you were at BRNC Summer Camp last year you will see what I mean! (And don't get me started on your lot's hair cuts!)

 

[andym]

I was a member and senior Cadet (Cadet Cox'n) in the CCF,admittedly it was a long time agur Unit also suffered from a drop in the numbers,as usual it was all the "Ooooo Sailor" and "join the Navy and feel a man" stuff that schoolboys and girls are wont to do.However we were lucky to have 2 powerboats(1 Viking that used to catch fire,and a brand new Cheverton Champ)an ASC,a whaler and an old 60 foot cutter.With these we allowed the local SCC Unit access to them for training and we were allowed to compete in some SCC Adventurous Training stuff.It worked well.However the SCC were the best dressed and conducted themselves in a more Seamanlike manner.The CCF uniform leaves a lot to be desired in my mind and they will never compete with the SCC in that area.I usually did at least 2 courses each school holidays and thouroughly enjoyed them.Eventually i became an Adult Instructor in the SCC.it was one of the best times of my life to be part of such a great organisation.It does depend a lot on the CO and the Unit as to how successful a unit can be.And looking back i can say that the SCC is a far more "professional" outfit across the board,having said that the CCF and SCC do have different aims.You certainly couldnt go wrong by swapping over to the SCC,but im not sure as how you would enable your past experience and quals to be taken into account so you wouldnt have to start at the bottom of the heap.

 

[Always_a_Civvy]

I was a member and senior Cadet (Cadet Cox'n) in the CCF,admittedly it was a long time agur Unit also suffered from a drop in the numbers,as usual it was all the "Ooooo Sailor" and "join the Navy and feel a man" stuff that schoolboys and girls are wont to do.However we were lucky to have 2 powerboats(1 Viking that used to catch fire,and a brand new Cheverton Champ)an ASC,a whaler and an old 60 foot cutter.With these we allowed the local SCC Unit access to them for training and we were allowed to compete in some SCC Adventurous Training stuff.It worked well.However the SCC were the best dressed and conducted themselves in a more Seamanlike manner.The CCF uniform leaves a lot to be desired in my mind and they will never compete with the SCC in that area.I usually did at least 2 courses each school holidays and thouroughly enjoyed them.Eventually i became an Adult Instructor in the SCC.it was one of the best times of my life to be part of such a great organisation.It does depend a lot on the CO and the Unit as to how successful a unit can be.And looking back i can say that the SCC is a far more "professional" outfit across the board,having said that the CCF and SCC do have different aims.You certainly couldnt go wrong by swapping over to the SCC,but im not sure as how you would enable your past experience and quals to be taken into account so you wouldnt have to start at the bottom of the heap.

So the SCC were better equipped than the Regulars? Sounds familiar!

Ooooo Sailors......... come on then men, who's volunteering to be felt first! :twisted:

 

[andym]

No Steve im not saying that.The CCF(in my day)got their kit straight from the MOD,as i remember the SCC are slightly different in how they get their kit.The CCF seemed not to treat it with the same respect as the SCC do as if it broke or got trashed it was replaced.There is a lot of Fund raising done by the SCC to maintain their Units and premises and fund courses etc,whereas the CCF as a rule dont need to fund raise.Im pretty sure that most CO's in the SCC would love to have the sort of chances to get the same kit as the CCF do!(not including Uniforms!LOL)

 

[Always_a_Civvy]

No Steve im not saying that.The CCF(in my day)got their kit straight from the MOD,as i remember the SCC are slightly different in how they get their kit.The CCF seemed not to treat it with the same respect as the SCC do as if it broke or got trashed it was replaced.There is a lot of Fund raising done by the SCC to maintain their Units and premises and fund courses etc,whereas the CCF as a rule dont need to fund raise.Im pretty sure that most CO's in the SCC would love to have the sort of chances to get the same kit as the CCF do!(not including Uniforms!LOL)

So you're not offering to let me feel a man then Andy? :wink:

For the record, when I was in the ROC, the Air Cadets were better equipped that we were. They were issued with modern kit whilst we were still in hairy marys (though the old kit was more practical in a monitoring post) and got to fly more often that we did. Of course we would only be helping to defend the country in wartime. :lol:

 

[andym]

Feel away shipper!LOL

 

[trufflehunter]

Thanks guys, i've implemented some of your suggestions and things are looking to be on the up. I'm not sure how the recruiting will go (we only take 1 intake a year, which is coming up in july) but the attitude of both the staff and my supporting NCOs has improved, leaving me confident that the section will have a strong senior cadet next year and that the activities will be up to scratch. I've also noticed an improvement in morale across the unit, maybe because the juniors are now seeing the dividends for the groundwork they put in early in the year. On a slightly different note maybe some dropouts aren't a bad thing; they leave you with only people who are committed rather than having wasters.

ps. the section is on track to retain the inter-section competition, with recent victories in the drill and leadership tasks