Originally Posted by
Cows getting bigger
The only 'will' I see in the Air Cadets is for: endless grip-and-grin moments; rolling-out kids to stand at rugby matches, funerals, etc; adult staff (sorry CFAV) more focussed on themselves than the cadets; big 'super-camps' that have an air of exclusivity; Air Cadet choirs, orchestras etc (one presumes to stroke egos at big-wig functions); Total Safety gone mad, with hierarchy not actually knowing what Total Safety means; MBA style Performance Indicators that reach down to squadron level; civil servants who are not serving; Wing/Regional HQs and HQAC who regularly forget that they are the supporting element and not the supported; a half-hearted commitment to reduce admin burden that has completely failed to reduce; more grip-and-grins.
I see very little aviation minded structure - one just need to look at the Progressive Training Syllabus. A reminder, the aims of the ATC:
Dear Comdt Air Cadets, how are you performing against the primary aim? Why don't you try and get aviation back to the forefront and spend less time of the pink-and-fluffy non-aviation stuff that is tweeted every few hours?
PS. Despite the rant, I still have huge amounts of time for the kids we help develop. It just annoys me that the organisation has evolved into a blue-suit version of the Scouts (who I admire) and has lost/is losing it's raison d'être.
While I know what you mean by this, there another side to it. With the unit I'm attached to we got a calendar of events sent down by our Wing detailing all the things they were asking us to do, take part in, promote, assist with, etc... Of the 52 weekends in the year, 40 of them had something cadet related going on. That's before you get to the midweek sessions, the extras not planned in, and the things you want to do with your own unit. And then there's just wanting a weekend to yourself...
I don't blame fellow CFAVs for thinking about themselves a bit.
But there are still those who just want the clobber to pose around in. Them we can do without.