Conferring with my Flight Commander... no, the basics are not supposed to be looking at me! They're at Parade Rest! [sigh]
Okay, so I *did* say "TO BE CONTINUED" at the end of my last blog entry... therefore I must continue.
To briefly sum things up, I think things went better the second weekend. During the week in between, I debated with myself over the best course of action for the rest of encampment. Part of me wanted to say that the first weekend had been the "tearing down" phase, and that the second weekend was time to start building back up. If you simply tear down your cadets and don't build them back up, you end up with a miserable, depressed, and generally absolutely lame situation where morale does not exist in the slightest.
Problem is, one weekend isn't enough time for the tear-down process. It just isn't. In the end, I decided to see how things were going; observe the atmosphere and environment. Then I'd decide, on the go, what was necessary.
In between weekends I picked element leaders, as my FC told me to, and then called him with my recommendations. He was fine with my choices. We then both called the element leaders and explained to each of them that they were each one of our best cadets... we explained why they had been chosen for the position of element leader, and what we expected from them in that role.
Anyhoo, encampment started up again, and I instinctively pitched my "nice guy routine" ideas out the window. They weren't ready for it. Cadet M was still a smart-alec. Most of them could not drill satisfactorily... or even keep in step. It was obvious to me that while encouraging them would be a great step towards building morale, it would be hollow for me to tell them all they were swell when we all knew they truly sucked.
Therefore I resumed my Flight Sergeant routine... and it was worse than the first weekend. I was much more demanding, more harsh, more snappy.. and less patient, refusing excuses and leaving absolutely no option for failure. I demanded more of them. I made it clear that I expected excellence; that it wasn't a "take it or leave it" thing.
Other than constant smaller issues, which we worked through and moved on, they responded well. My four mentally challenged cadets did not... they continued to be a huge burden until the very last, and certainly didn't contribute to the flight at all. But this was the hand that my Flight Commander and I had been dealt, and we worked with it.
Many stories could be shared, but sadly I do not have time. The end result was I ended encampment fairly confident that Echo's cadets had learned much and improved just a tad, but all this time I had not had my eye on Honor Flight. Or Honor anything. If you'd asked me if we had the slightest shot at Honor Flight, I would have laughed for a little while and then said, "NO."
I'd kept my eye focused on being better, always. Not, "Oh, we've shaped up amazingly here! Let's give ourselves a pat on the back now!" Noooo. Never. I was constantly nitpicking; good was never good enough. And because I was always focusing on our faults, and always seeing only how we could have been better, I think I failed to see how far we'd come (not saying much, of course).
Thus I was truly shocked out of my mind when Honor Flight was announced... and it was us. Echo Flight. I wanted to do a cartwheel then and there. I think I was grinning from ear to ear. It was just like, "You know what, my work here is done.. this can't get better. Hooah, Echo Flight."
But I was even more surprised, and in fact, disbelieving, when my name was called for Honor Cadet Staff Member. I didn't go up right away; I was pretty sure they'd made a mistake. I didn't think I deserved it, either... but yikes! What a surprise.
...And then we proceeded to take everything. Honor TAC; Honor Basic Cadet. It's not as though we were that outstanding, but apparently we did at least one thing right... probably not even right; just decent. Haha.
So that was a sweet end to encampment, for sure. As awards go, it couldn't have gotten better... I do wish my flight had been more highspeed, but we did what we could with what we had. And dang, that was fun!
To briefly sum things up, I think things went better the second weekend. During the week in between, I debated with myself over the best course of action for the rest of encampment. Part of me wanted to say that the first weekend had been the "tearing down" phase, and that the second weekend was time to start building back up. If you simply tear down your cadets and don't build them back up, you end up with a miserable, depressed, and generally absolutely lame situation where morale does not exist in the slightest.
Problem is, one weekend isn't enough time for the tear-down process. It just isn't. In the end, I decided to see how things were going; observe the atmosphere and environment. Then I'd decide, on the go, what was necessary.
In between weekends I picked element leaders, as my FC told me to, and then called him with my recommendations. He was fine with my choices. We then both called the element leaders and explained to each of them that they were each one of our best cadets... we explained why they had been chosen for the position of element leader, and what we expected from them in that role.
Anyhoo, encampment started up again, and I instinctively pitched my "nice guy routine" ideas out the window. They weren't ready for it. Cadet M was still a smart-alec. Most of them could not drill satisfactorily... or even keep in step. It was obvious to me that while encouraging them would be a great step towards building morale, it would be hollow for me to tell them all they were swell when we all knew they truly sucked.
Therefore I resumed my Flight Sergeant routine... and it was worse than the first weekend. I was much more demanding, more harsh, more snappy.. and less patient, refusing excuses and leaving absolutely no option for failure. I demanded more of them. I made it clear that I expected excellence; that it wasn't a "take it or leave it" thing.
Other than constant smaller issues, which we worked through and moved on, they responded well. My four mentally challenged cadets did not... they continued to be a huge burden until the very last, and certainly didn't contribute to the flight at all. But this was the hand that my Flight Commander and I had been dealt, and we worked with it.
Many stories could be shared, but sadly I do not have time. The end result was I ended encampment fairly confident that Echo's cadets had learned much and improved just a tad, but all this time I had not had my eye on Honor Flight. Or Honor anything. If you'd asked me if we had the slightest shot at Honor Flight, I would have laughed for a little while and then said, "NO."
I'd kept my eye focused on being better, always. Not, "Oh, we've shaped up amazingly here! Let's give ourselves a pat on the back now!" Noooo. Never. I was constantly nitpicking; good was never good enough. And because I was always focusing on our faults, and always seeing only how we could have been better, I think I failed to see how far we'd come (not saying much, of course).
Thus I was truly shocked out of my mind when Honor Flight was announced... and it was us. Echo Flight. I wanted to do a cartwheel then and there. I think I was grinning from ear to ear. It was just like, "You know what, my work here is done.. this can't get better. Hooah, Echo Flight."
But I was even more surprised, and in fact, disbelieving, when my name was called for Honor Cadet Staff Member. I didn't go up right away; I was pretty sure they'd made a mistake. I didn't think I deserved it, either... but yikes! What a surprise.
...And then we proceeded to take everything. Honor TAC; Honor Basic Cadet. It's not as though we were that outstanding, but apparently we did at least one thing right... probably not even right; just decent. Haha.
So that was a sweet end to encampment, for sure. As awards go, it couldn't have gotten better... I do wish my flight had been more highspeed, but we did what we could with what we had. And dang, that was fun!
A Flight Sergeant's work is never done!
I don't recall what my FC was telling me...
This.. cadet.. shall remain nameless... [cringe]
Apparently I'm backhanding DeMark [not for real, of course..]
Well I guess it's.. me! And our amazing encampment commander.
1 comment:
I love that one picture, how all three of the squadron commanders are sitting together, I'm laughing at them, and you're showing one how you would have slapped him if you had.
Seriously though you deserved everything you (and your flight) got! You rock, Christi!
Also, we need to talk sometime, I miss talking to you.... :'(
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