Cadence winter 2010

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0Professional Development for Cadet Program Leaders

Healthy living challenge

Beyond basicflight training

Civilian knowledge and skills

First-year CPUOfficers speak out on challenges and rewards

First-year CPUOfficers speak out on challenges and rewards

CADENCE Issue 30, Winter 2009/20102

IN THIS ISSUE

11 Updated sea cadet training Officers say it represents a radical change in philosophy and teaching material.

13 Updated army cadet training Officers weigh in on the updated program.

16 Updated air cadet training Four squadrons review the ups and downs of first-year implementation.

19 CPU best practices What contributed to their corps/squadron success?

20 Positiveresultsfromfirst-yearCPUevaluation Official evaluation report makes recommendations for updated year-one training.

Capt Donnie Oulton

22 Ongoing review of cadet program publications Keeping cadet program publications current and relevant.

Capt Rick Butson

24 Leadership team model “Leadership” applies to cadets at every level.

Capt Andrea Onchulenko

28 Healthy living challenge Whether you are in a corps or squadron or at a cadet summer training centre, you can follow this model when issuing a Healthy Living Challenge to your staff.

Capt Eileen Chiasson

36 Duty to accommodate—Part 3 Our ‘duty to accommodate’ cadets on the ‘protected grounds’ of sexual orientation, family status and gender under the Canadian Human Rights Act.

Capt Cynthia Munro

Beyond basic flight trainingOne squadron’s successful experiment with an innovative alternative for cadets not selected for the power flying scholarship. Civilian Instructor Jim O’Connor

Bringing professional skills to the Cadet Program—Part ICIC officers from a multitude of professions and occupations bring their educational qualifications and experience into the Cadet Program to benefit cadets. Six professionals offer their perspectives.

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Professional Development for Cadet Program Leaders 3

FRONT COVER

Courses/certifications for army expedition officers Civilian ‘moving water’ courses for expedition leaders who seek higher-level skills. Lt Diego Alvarez-Ossa

DEADLINESThe copy deadlines for the Spring/Summer 2010 and Fall 2010 issues are Feb. 5 and June 4 respectively. The Fall 2010 issue will be a commemorative issue celebrating the Centen-naire • CIC • Centennial. If you are interested in writing for Cadence, or have a story idea, please contact the editor in advance by email at [email protected] or [email protected] or by phone at 905-468-9371.

BRAVO!Bravo! is a Cadence feature that recognizes leaders whose innovation, dedication and service are mak-ing a difference in the Cadet Program.

In this issue, we turn the spotlight on Capt Karine LeBlanc, Training Officer at 650 (Governor General Georges P. Vanier) air Cadet Squadron in Monc-ton, N. B., whose dedication, energy and positive thinking have contributed to revitalizing the squad-ron. “I wish I could clone her,” says Commanding Officer Capt Bernard Gallant.

We invite you to submit your Bravo! nomina-tions to [email protected].

IN EVERY ISSUE4 Opening notes

5 Letters

6 News and notes

38 Viewpoint

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CPU: Insights from the field Looking back on the first yearSeveral CIC officers discuss the challenges and rewards of deliver-ing the first-year updated cadet program in 2008-2009. On the cover, OCdt Alex Walsh teaches the main components of an airplane to first-year cadets from 690 (Lakeshore) Air Cadet Squadron in Beaconsfield, Que. As part of the updated program, cadets have fun making their own model aircraft to reinforce what they learn about components. (Cadence photo by OCdt Dimitri Papadopoulos)

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Bravo!

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OPENING NOTES

Issue 30, Winter 2009/2010

Cadence is a professional development tool for officers of the Cadet Instructors Cadre (CIC) and civilian instructors of the Cadet Program. Secondary audiences include others involved with or interested in the Cadet Program.

The magazine is published three times a year by Chief Reserves and Cadets—Public Affairs, on behalf of Directorate Cadets and Junior Canadian Rangers.

Views expressed do not necessarily reflect official opinion or policy.

Cadence reserves the right to edit submissions.

For the editorial policy, submission guidelines, the current issue and back issues, please visit the national website at www.cadets.ca. Select “Library” from the left-hand menu, followed by “CIC Training”, then “Cadence”, and click on the option you prefer.

Managing editor: Capt Kimberley Banaszkiewicz National Youth Public Affairs Officer – Directorate Cadets and Junior Canadian Rangers

Editor:

Marsha Scott, Antian Professional Services

Contact informationEditor, Cadence Directorate Cadets and Junior Canadian Rangers National Defence Headquarters 101 Colonel By Drive Ottawa ON, K1A 0K2

Email:[email protected] [email protected] or [email protected]

Phone: Tel: 1-800-627-0828 Fax: 613-996-1618

DistributionCadence is distributed by the Directorate Supply Chain Operation (DSCO) Publications Depot to cadet corps and squadrons, regional cadet support units and their sub-units, senior National Defence/CF officials and selected league members.

Cadet corps and squadrons not receiving Cadence or wanting to update their distribution information should contact their Area Cadet Officer/Cadet Advisor.

Translation: Translation Bureau Public Works and Government Services Canada

Art direction: ADM(PA) Director Public Affairs Products and Services CS09-0370 A-CR-007-000/JP-001

John Amatt was the leader of Canada’s first successful ascent in 1982 of the world’s largest mountain—Mount Ever-est. Today, he is an internationally rec-ognized author and professional keynote speaker. He has translated his climbing experience and training into a series of seminars designed to help people con-quer their own ‘mountains’ and encour-age them to believe in themselves.

Mr. Amatt says, “Adventure isn’t hang-ing on a rope on the side of a moun-tain. Adventure is an attitude that we must apply to the day-to-day obstacles of life—facing new challenges, seizing new opportunities, testing our resources against the unknown and, in the process, discovering our own unique potential.” (www.adventureattitude.com/aaphil.htm)

When we began to receive “insights from the field” on the implementation of the first-year Cadet Program Update (CPU) for this issue’s feature section, it was easy to relate Mr. Amatt’s message to Ca-det Program leaders. As several officers shared their experiences in implement-ing the updated program, none called their experience an “adventure”. It did seem, however, that many faced the ‘mountain’ with an adventurous attitude and in doing so, were better able to man-age their challenges.

Mr. Amatt knows a lot about facing chal-lenges. His Everest team suffered four tragic deaths in two accidents that hap-pened over a two-day period early in the climb. Through the struggles on Everest,

he says he learned that it takes courage, resourcefulness and endurance to meet the challenges of change—“the courage to try, to commit and to take a risk; the resourcefulness to be innovative and cre-ative in finding new ways of doing old things; and the endurance to keep going when the going gets tough.”

He hopes that the challenge of change today will hopefully rekindle in people the spirit of adventure. As you continue to implement the updated program, it may be inspiring to remember that.

Other CPU articles in this issue discuss the official first-year CPU evaluation report and its recommendations; the on-going review of cadet program publica-tions; and the leadership team model.

Readers have asked a number of times for an article on the civilian professions of some of our officers. In response, we publish in this issue the first part of a two-part series on the civilian knowledge and skills that 12 officers bring into the Cadet Program. In another skills-related article, an officer outlines some civilian ‘moving water’ courses for expedition leaders who want to develop higher-level skills.

Finally, if you are looking for ‘success stories’, read about one squadron’s ex-periment to take selected cadets beyond basic flight training and, in Viewpoint, one officer’s tips on how to juggle the demands of a ‘CIC career’ with the de-mands of your civilian life.

What could a famous mountain climber possibly have to say to leaders of the Cadet Program? As it turns out, a lot!

”philosophy

The adventure attitude“

philosophy

Marsha Scott


LETTERS

As a follow-up to your article “League/Industry Partnerships: Benefits for Air Cadets” (Cadence, Spring/Summer 2009), I would like to thank you for the fantastic article and the great interest it has generated among the Air Cadet League publics—League members; squadron commanding officers and training officers; cadets; parents; and industry representatives.

The League and Canada’s aviation and aerospace industry view these partner-ships as a win-win situation. Since

the publication of this issue, two new Memoranda of Understanding have been signed: one with the Aerospace In-dustries Association of Canada (AIAC) and the other with Sennheiser Canada. Two others are in the draft stage.

For the most up-to-date information on the benefits for cadets contained in these agreements, I would encour-age all of your readers to visit: www.aircadetleague.com/en/abouttheleague/ourpartners/.

Grant Fabes National 1st Vice-President Executive Committee Air Cadet League of Canada Chairman League/Industry Partnerships Committee Anjou, Que.

Thank you

The Spring/Summer 2009 edition of Cadence is great! I love the cover!

I think that most of us are starting to get that Cadence is about cadet instruc-tors and not about cadets. That cover says it all! Bravo!

Capt Paul Simas 618 (Queen City) Air Cadet Squadron Toronto

We’re getting it!

CIC officer recognition • Cadets and conflict • Literacy and leadership

Professional Development for Cadet Program Leaders

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9 Coaching biathlonBuilding a team for competition and fun

Cadet diversity

Accommodating or not?

Parent backlash

Coping tips

League-industry partnershipsBenefits for air cadets

EML9036 Cadence Spring E.indd 1

6/30/09 1:22:45 PM

I shot that particular cover page among other biathlon photos inside. Thanks for the memories: polar freezing tem-peratures. My fully charged camera batteries had a lifespan of something like three minutes.

During a conversation I had with Capt LeGuellec after the photo shoot, she told me that she has been with Cadets since the organization first allowed female cadets—in 1976!

OCdt Dimitri Papadopoulos Administration Officer 11 Sea Cadet Corps SIOUX Laval, Que. Cadence magazine contributing photographer (East)

Photographer respondsEditor’s note: On July 30, 1975 Par-liament passed Bill C16, which amended the word “boy” to “person” in all legislation per-taining to cadets. Females were officially al-lowed to join the program at this point. Females began summer training in Vernon, B. C., on a trial basis in 1974, and in 1975 segregated platoons were formed for purposes of training female cadets. By 1976 all courses were open to female cadets.

I have just received the Spring/Sum-mer issue of Cadence with the front page photo of Capt Lise Le Guellec.

I just competed alongside Capt Le Guellec at the Canadian National Smallbore Championships in Calgary, where I had the pleasure of speaking to her briefly as one coach to another. But I had no idea she was also a CIC officer. Can you tell me how to con-tact her so we can discuss her coaching

Looking for Lisemethods for biathlon and the common ground we share?

On page 15 of the same issue, there is a picture of myself on the biathlon range, but the caption identifies me as Capt Bill Pernitsky. He was there that day, but the photo is not of him.

2Lt Pat Landals Administration Officer 204 (Black Maria) Air Cadet Squadron Kamloops, B. C.

Editor’s note: In her article on regeneration and recovery, Capt Le Guellec gave her email ad-dress as [email protected]. Capt Landals has since connected with Capt Le Guellec. (Cadence apologizes for the mistaken identity.)


In commemoration of 100 years of flight in Canada last year, 825 (Yellowknife Elks) Air Cadet Squadron wanted to choose a worthwhile community project, bring attention to flying and create some-thing that would last a long time.

The squadron came up with the idea to place a sign at the bottom of several flights of stairs to lead people to the Bush Pilot’s

Monument—a national historical mon-ument rising six stories above the origi-nal townsite of Yellowknife, N. W. T. Dedicated in 1967, it honours the pilots who opened up the Far North and still provide essential transportation and delivery services to remote northern communities. For decades, nothing at the foot of the stairs indicated what was at the top of them.

NEWS AND NOTES

‘Monumental’ project

Yellowknife Mayor Gordon Van Tighem addresses onlookers following the unveiling and presentation of the sign by WO2 Charles Jensen.

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The squadron took its design concept to the City of Yellowknife and the Territorial Government for approval. It then looked for sponsors. A local architect created the design specifications for the bronze casting and a drilling company installed it. The estimated value of the sign is $12 000, but more than half of the cost was donated. The squadron and its spon-sor raised the rest.

The sign is in the shape of an airfoil rep-resenting flight. The dedication appears in English and French. The plaque also bears the logos of 825 Squadron, its spon-sor and the centennial of flight anniver-sary, as well as the names of every cadet who took part in the project.

Capt Dale Crouch, former squadron commanding officer, spoke to those gath-ered for the dedication about how avia-tion shaped Yellowknife, the significance of 100 years of powered flight, the impor-tance of landmarks to the community and about the squadron and its projects.

March 13-20

National Biathlon Competition Quebec City

Contact: Capt Normand Gonthier [email protected]

2010

Canadian Navy Centennial “Commemorate,

Celebrate and Commit” Major activities across the

country include:

Naval Assemblies Esquimalt, June 10-13

Halifax, July 1-3

Travelling Road Show A musical tribute to 100 years

of naval service to Canada May-November

Additional information: www.canadiannavy100.forces.gc.ca

May 9-15

National Marksmanship Competition

Alberta (city to be chosen)

Contact: Capt Cameron Thompson [email protected]

Aug. 23-27 (tentative)

National Sea Cadet Regatta Kingston, Ont.

Contact: LCdr Peter Kay [email protected]

Late August/early September

National-Domestic Army Cadet Expedition

Along the south shore of Newfoundland

National-International Army Cadet Expedition

Nepal (Mount Everest Base Camp)


The Air Cadet League has named Maj Pierre Giroux as the 2009 ‘Officer of the Year’. Maj Giroux has been the National Air Cadet Co-ordinator at the Directorate Cadets and Junior Ca-nadian Rangers since 2001.

The annual award is given to a CF member whose service is considered to be above the expected norm. It recog-nizes the commitment, dedication and initiative that a CF member has made to support the Canadian Cadet Move-ment at national, provincial or local levels. Maj Giroux—a CIC officer since 1974 and a civilian instructor for two and a half years before that—has contributed at every level.

He filled a number of positions at three different air cadet squadrons in the Montreal region and at cadet sum-mer training centres. He also worked full-time for Regional Cadet Support Unit (Eastern) before transferring to Ottawa.

“Maj Giroux has dedicated a significant amount of time and effort (with some significant personal sacrifice) to leading Air Cadet Program initiatives in recent years,” says LCol François Gaboury, a senior staff officer at D Cdts & JCR. “He has admirably balanced the per-spectives of a wide cross-section of Air Cadet Program stakeholders during that time.”

Maj Giroux, left, receives the award from then Air Cadet League National President, Jan Reidulff.

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2009 ‘Officer of the Year’NEWS AND NOTES

Former air cadet is new astronautFormer air cadet Maj Jeremy Hansen is learning to be an astronaut. He was one of two Canadians chosen from more than 5000 applicants during a National Astro-naut Recruitment Campaign in 2009. He and David Saint-Jacques are the first new Canadian astronauts in 17 years.

Maj Hansen is now at NASA’s John-son’s Space Centre in Houston, Texas, to learn how to live and work in a space station. Following two years of training, he will become eligible for spaceflight

assignments. He hopes to work at the International Space Station, conducting research that cannot be done on earth.

Maj Hansen earned his glider pilot licence at the age of 16 and private pilot licence a year later as a cadet with 614 (Forest City) Air Cadet Squadron in London, Ont. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in space science from Royal Military College (RMC) in Kings-ton, Ont. As the top Air Force gradu-ate in 1999, he received the Air Cadet

Maj Hansen during an event to introduce NASA’s 2009 class of astronauts to NASA employees at the NASA’s Space Vehicle Mock-up Facility in Houston, Texas. (NASA photo courtesy of CSA)

League of Canada Award. A year later, he obtained a Master of Science in physics from RMC.

Before joining the Canadian Space Pro-gram, Maj Hansen served as a CF-18 fighter pilot and held the position of Combat Operations Officer at 4 Wing Operations in Cold Lake, Alta. For more visit the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) website at www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/default.asp

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Maj Jeremy Hansen, right, and David Saint-Jacques

during a training flight at 4 Wing Operations in

Cold Lake, Alta. (CF photo by Pte Laura Brophy

courtesy of CSA)

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CSA astronauts Saint-Jacques (left) and Hansen during

trauma response training at McGill University’s Medical

Simulation Centre in Montreal. (CSA photo)

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turns from Tanzania in March. At that time, she will return to work with 681 Squadron and RGS(A). She also hopes to complete the 15 remaining hours she needs for her commercial pilot’s licence at Moncton Flight College.

2Lt Ng believes that many aspects of being a CIC officer complement her civilian life—everything from logistics planning to supervisor responsibilities and most of all, people skills. “You get a lot of practice working efficiently with cadets, parents, other CIC officers and civilian instructors,” she says.

Education activist and business innovatorCIC officer 2Lt Sally Ng has been called a post-secondary education ac-tivist and a business innovator. That’s quite a reputation for someone who graduated as recently as last May from Mount Allison University.

“You have to put yourself out there, get as much experience as possible in as many different settings as possible and go for what you want no matter what the odds are,” she says. “If you don’t know what to do, try everything.”

For the past two years, 2Lt Ng has been a ‘post-secondary ambassador’ with Future to Discover—a joint pilot proj-ect of the governments of New Bruns-wick and Manitoba and the Canada Millennium Foundation. In that capac-ity, she has visited students in Grade 10 classrooms (along with alternative education sites dealing with students at risk) to speak about the range of oc-cupational and post-secondary choices available to them—as well as her own personal experiences—to try to help them make meaningful decisions about their future.

Until last year, she was a CIC offi-cer with 681 (Tantramar) Air Cadet Squadron in Sackville, N. B. She has

been a glider instructor at the Regional Gliding School (Atlantic) for the last two summers and is now a glider check instructor.

She holds a Bachelor of Commerce, with minors in psychology and inter-national economics in business. As a commerce student, she was on a team that came up with a business plan for a company called ChemGreen Inno-vation, which developed a process for manufacturing eco-friendly plastic. The ChemGreen Innovation team placed first in a New Brunswick Inno-vation Foundation Breakthru Business competition, winning $125 000.

At the same time, 2Lt Ng took part-time classes at Moncton Flight College and held part-time jobs. (See The Jug-gling Act—this issue’s Viewpoint.)

Last fall, 2Lt Ng participated in the 2009-2010 Canada World Youth Ex-change in Peterborough, Ont. before leaving in December for three months in Tanzania, Africa. Before she left, she taught ground school classes for flying scholarship candidates with 534 Air Cadet Squadron in Peterborough, Ont.

She will be on the New Brunswick-Prince Edward Island holding list until she re-

NEWS AND NOTES

2Lt Ng at Debert, N. S. (Photo by Sandor Fizli, for Progress Magazine, a Halifax-based magazine that promotes entrepreneurs)

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New League websiteThe Air Cadet League has launched a new user-friendly website. Why not take a look? The site is still located at www.aircadetleague.com.

The site allows squadrons, provincial committees and members to log in and update their own information, which should keep it fresh and up-to-date.

The site has a great look and is easy to navigate. And you can read the most recent news in either capsule, or full-text format.

The League welcomes your feedback at [email protected].


811 Air Cadet Squadron in LaPrairie, Que. chose a unique way to engage ca-dets in a citizenship activity in 2009.

In collaboration with Citizenship and Immigration Canada, the cadets or-ganized a citizenship ceremony that welcomed close to 40 new citizens to Canada. George Springate, Canada’s Senior Citizenship Judge, presided over the ceremony. “This highly dynamic in-dividual spoke of the benefits of being a citizen of a democratic country where everyone enjoys freedom of speech and religion,” says 2Lt Michel Berubé, the squadron’s Training Officer. The event was emotional for everyone.

Immigrants from Columbia, the United States, Libya, Morocco, Peru, Sweden and France were among those who re-ceived citizenship. Each adult was re-quired to live in Canada for three years (1095 days) in the four years before ap-plying. Prior to the event, they also had to demonstrate knowledge of the rights and

Citizenship personified NEWS AND NOTES

responsibilities of Canadians, including the right to vote. In addition, they had to be familiar with the basic history, geogra-phy and political system of Canada.

After declaring the Pledge of Allegiance and their commitment to observe Cana-dian law, they received their new citizen-ship certificates.

The cadets helped representatives of various levels of government to hand out commemorative items to the new Canadians. One cadet accompanied them on the drum and two were flag bearers, adding a special Cadets touch.

At the end of the ceremony, the cadets warmly welcomed the new Canadians to Canada and asked them about their lives in their countries of origin, as well as their reasons for wanting to settle in Canada, the province and region.

“The cadets’ eyes still light up when they talk about this ceremony,” says

Cadets from 811 Squadron welcomed close to 40 new Canadian citizens to Canada.

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Former CIC officer Capt David Grenon says he will always be proud of having been a cadet and a CIC officer. But he gave up his CIC rank to become a re-cruit in the Regular Force, where he’s now ‘singing for his supper’.

Cpl Grenon was selected from 50 Ca-nadian vocalists who auditioned for a position as the first official vocalist in a CF band. “I am extremely proud to have been chosen from among all those professionals,” he says.

Cpl Grenon is currently performing with Air Command Band in Winnipeg, one of six CF bands across Canada (each with 35 professional musicians). The position of ‘vocalist’ was created in 2008 to respond to the Forces’ new vi-sion for band shows and performances. Female vocalist Pte Janine Bremault-Bamford has since been chosen as well.

CIC musician now CF vocalist

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2Lt Berubé, “and the happiness in the faces of those new Canadians will for-ever be a part of their memories.”

Submitted by Suzanne Bonin, a volunteer with the squadron’s Parents’ Committee.

Cpl Grenon was a cadet with 839 (Lions) Air Cadet Squadron in Chibougamau, Que., where he discovered and devel-oped his passion for music.

He was a CIC officer for nine years, serv-ing with many local corps. He worked summers with the Regional Cadet School of Music (Eastern) as a band officer and in the Eastern Region Cadet Band. In the fall of 2006, he became the Region-al Music Training Officer at Regional Cadet Support Unit (Eastern).

In addition to his musical experiences in Cadets, he studied music at the Cam-pus Notre-Dame-de-Foy (saxophone and vocals), at the Université du Québec in Montreal (Education), and at the Univer-sité de Montréal (Performance).

Click on www.myspace.com/davidgrenon to listen to some of the wonderful vocals of this former cadet and CIC officer.

Cpl Grenon performs with the Air Command Show Band during a Festival international de Musiques militaires de Québec concert last August.

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CPU: INSIGHTS FROM THE FIELD Marsha Scott

Looking back

Cadet Program Update

Those involved in delivering the first-year updated cadet program in 2008-2009 have survived. But don’t take our word for it. Read what several CIC officers from Port Moody, B. C., to St. John’s, Nfld., have to say about their experience.

Make no bones about it—the year wasn’t easy. Nevertheless, overwhelmingly, the officers claim the updated year-one

program has had a positive impact on their corps/squadrons. Some say it has increased cadet retention. Most describe the new approach to training as dy-namic, hands-on, participatory, active, interesting and fun. Most are also genu-inely thrilled with the flexibility of the complementary training. Many think the courses are more age-appropriate.

But the year was not without its challenges!

At least seven officers commented on the problems of the learning curve for instructors—officers, senior cadets and volunteers. The greatest concern of these officers was the ramp-up time for instructors to learn material and de-liver lessons. Almost half of the officers cited lack of tools as an issue. Some re-marked on the lack of funding for their needs. Three officers mentioned ‘cul-ture change’ and breaking old habits as

OCdt Alex Walsh teaches the main components of an airplane to first-year cadets from 690 (Lakeshore) Air Cadet Squadron in Beaconsfield, Que. Instead of having a pen in their hands, the cadets have a model plane in their hands. “Small things like this make a world of difference in learning,” says OCdt Walsh. (Cadence photo by OCdt Dimitri Papadopoulos) <

Charles Darwin is credited with saying, “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” He would be impressed by leaders of cadets.

on the first year:


hurdles. Two officers were concerned about their ability to evaluate cadets in the updated program. Others com-mented on staffing (not having enough staff, or enough trained staff), and one mentioned the complexity of teaching two programs at the same time.

The good news is—as you will see in the page 20 article on the official evalu-ation report of first-year training (the result of the feedback that many of you provided)—these challenges come as no surprise. And recommendations have al-ready been made to try to address many of them.

Change is inevitable. Suffering is optional.

As with many corps and squadrons, training the trainers was an issue.

In this issue’s Cadet Program Update feature section, you will read both posi-tive and negative feedback; you may identify with some. To round out the section, we include the evaluation report article mentioned above; an article on how cadet program publications will be amended and updated to keep the pro-gram current; and a story on the new CPU leadership team model for cadets.

We congratulate you on your positive attitude towards making the updated first-year program a success. As you im-merse yourselves now in delivering the

updated second-year program, remem-ber: Change is inevitable. Suffering is optional.

If you feel strongly that something in the updated program is not working to the point of ‘suffering’, your best weapon is feedback. Provide it freely through your chain of command, or directly through the CSTC [cadet summer training cen-tre] General Training and Year-Two training evaluation plan (posted in the Resources folder on CadetNet). Your honest feedback will contribute greatly to positive change.

Updated sea cadet trainingSea Cadet Corps LA HULLOISE, Gatineau, Que.“Today’s teens want stimulating activi-ties,” says Lt(N) Vincent Giroux, Com-manding Officer (CO), who really ap-preciates the more up-to-date training approach for sea cadets. “In today’s era of Internet, intelligent phones and incredible technological advances, we have no choice but to adapt to young people’s realities to continue to keep them interested. The Cadet Program Update connects with these realities.”

Lt(N) Giroux and his staff like the “nau-tical” emphasis on activities, the easier (but still effective), less theoretical and more practical courses for young sea ca-dets. “The material taught in first year is fundamentally the same,” he says, “but the radical change in philosophy and teaching material has helped us to teach and the cadets to retain the material.”

The corps finds the instructor resources much more detailed and accurate now, which makes instruction more consis-tent. And staff members love the flex-ibility and personal touches they can add when teaching the complementary program.

Some activities, previously organized for a fraction of the corps, are now of-fered to the whole corps. “We chose underwater diving, rafting, the sea chal-lenge and emergency ocean simulations because they represent our regional uniqueness and challenge our young cadets,” he says. Eastern Region has the installations and facilities for these activities.

Challenges As with many corps and squadrons, training the trainers was an issue. Ex-ecutive Officer SLt Adam Gagnon explains that many staff members had not had practical experience in areas such as “semaphore” or the “phonetic alphabet”. He says that instructors are

SLt Sabourin teaches the updated program to first-year cadets from Sea Cadet Corps LA HULLOISE in Gatineau, Que.

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“Being able to tailor parts of the program to specific abilities and needs of the corps…makes planning and executing a training

plan much easier.” …SLt Merrall

often specialists in the trade associated to their group (for example, seamanship for boatswains), which was okay for the old program but they did not have the knowledge for the updated program.

“It wasn’t easy to train staff for courses, in addition to carrying out the daily

Sea Cadet Corps GRILSE, Port Moody, B.C.On the West Coast, SLt Aaron Mer-rall, GRILSE Training Officer last year and currently Operations Officer, says the corps had the same problem with instructors having to learn some ma-terial from scratch to deliver relatively new training. “No-one had received the training,” he said, “which was a ‘valu-able’ challenge to some instructors who tend to stick to their specialty.”

From a training officer’s point of view, SLt Merrall says he also likes the in-creased flexibility of complementary training. “Being able to tailor parts of the program to specific abilities and needs of the corps, as well as to the specializations of the instructors, makes planning and executing a training plan much easier.”

As far as the cadets were concerned, they found the Inter-Divisional Sea-manship Competition great, bringing more hands-on seamanship into the program and providing competition-based confirmation of learning.

Like most sea cadet corps, GRILSE ca-dets didn’t want to lose their Outdoor Adventure Training-style weekend for lack of funding. So, they helped the Navy League Branch raise funds so they could enjoy a similar weekend outing.

ChallengesThe corps’ main challenge was another funding issue. The corps planned its

exercises according to the QSP, but im-plementation had to be significantly dif-ferent because of the way funding was delivered and managed. The QSP indi-cates five DND-supported weekends, in-stead of the four under the old program. Because no new money was given to the regions to fund the additional week-end, they had to manage existing funds carefully to fund all five. “We submit-ted support requests based on what the QSP said, but found out compromises had to be made here and there,” says Lt(N) Deck. “It was challenging and at times a little frustrating sorting out what could be allocated by the region.” On a positive note, Lt(N) Deck says they have a better understanding now of what to expect in terms of support now. Re-gional staff members worked patiently with corps to help everyone understand what was available and how it was being managed. “It was just part of the learn-ing curve for all of us in the region.”

NEED PHOTO

PO2 Quinn Lessing, Sea Cadet Corps GRILSE, teaches junior cadets how to do a back splice during a ropework class.

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tasks of the corps,” he admits. They had to learn to teach content they had not mastered. To complicate matters, he said, many young CIC officers do not have the knowledge to teach “certain CPU notions”. “Everyone had to get out of their old routine and ‘dive’ into the new update.”

SLt Véronique Sabourin, the corps Training Officer, believes that a certain adaptation period is required for every-one to integrate what they learn, but her feedback on the updated training includ-ed a recommendation that junior officers, who do not have all the training they need to teach the material, be trained.

Like the sea cadet corps in Gatineau, the Port Moody corps was impressed with the “completeness of resources”. According to CO Lt(N) Kevin Deck, the Qualification Standard and Plan (QSP) and Instructional Guides (IGs) were well thought out and laid out. The IGs in particular have good sugges-tions for methods of delivery and con-firmation of learning was “more fun”. “Some suggestions help spark our own instructors’ creative process for coming up with interesting and effective learn-ing aids that will hold young cadets’ attention,” he says.

“The way the subject matter is deliv-ered is definitely geared towards the age group more than the outgoing pro-gram,” adds SLt Merrall.


WO Audrey Horth takes advantage of a field exercise to teach first-year cadets from 2729 Army Cadet Corps how to make a sun dial. The hands-on approach is also good for optional training.

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Updated army cadet training

3037 Army Cadet Corps, Miramichi, N. B.“The updated program sure gets away from the old-style ‘chalk and talk’ class-rooms,” says CO Capt Gary White about the updated first-year program. “If ca-dets are in school all day, they shouldn’t be in a school-like environment all eve-ning. Our cadets are excited, participat-ing more and having more fun.”

On top of that, staff members think the cadets are paying more attention and there have been fewer problems in class because the cadets are more involved.

“The Cadet Program Update has had a positive impact on our corps. The ca-dets are much more receptive. We seem

to be holding their interest and hope-fully, keeping them in the Cadet Pro-gram,” says Capt White. “Because they are having fun, they don’t even realize they are learning new skills and com-pleting new challenges.”

Capt White believes the corps had more recruits last September because they learned from the previous year’s new cadets how much fun Cadets is.

challengesOne of the only challenges the corps faced was a lack of training aids for in-structors to teach the program. “Some training aids (Historica, for instance) were unavailable due to monetary restrictions at some corps,” says Capt White.

He also misses the former Green Star/Red Star reference manuals, which he viewed as valuable tools for the cadets.

“Staff members think the cadets are paying more

attention and there have been fewer problems in class because the cadets

are more involved.” …Capt White

CPU: INSIGHTS FROM THE FIELD

2729 Army Cadet Corps, Terrebonne, Que.“The addition of Instructional Guides that include lesson plans and proposed activities makes teaching much more effective, easy and practical when some-thing unexpected happens,” says Capt Patrick Roy, corps CO.

He believes the updated first-year pro-gram syllabus was well chosen and remains pertinent. He says, however, that some performance objectives (such as Citizenship and Community Life) should have remained together for teaching. “Being so subdivided gives the impression that there is more to teach,” he claims.

Still, Capt Roy believes the updated first-year program has had a positive impact on the corps. “We have a system at our corps that made integrating the update easier. The ‘division system’ fit in perfectly with the objectives and vi-sion of the CPU.”

ChallengeSThe biggest challenge the corps expe-rienced was the lack of teaching aids—including posters, reference books for cadets, audio and video materials—for many of the courses.

“Staff is concerned that removing the evaluation

system from the first-year program may have nega-tive repercussions on the personal development of

young cadets.” …Capt Roy

He likes the idea of cadets being active in the learning process, helping them better understand the material. He en-joys the more diverse choice of comple-mentary courses, giving the instructor and cadets the chance to choose which specialty the corps wants to develop.

Capt Roy says most of his instructors found the transition easy. “We have many teachers in our corps with expe-rience teaching ‘program reforms’.”

He says material is more or less age-relevant, but thinks some courses, such as “Demonstrate knowledge of the or-ganization and traditions of the CF” is heavy for 12-13-year-old cadets.

Most of all, his staff is concerned that removing the evaluation system from the first-year program may have nega-tive repercussions on the personal de-velopment of young cadets. “They will miss important objectives and refer-ence points,” he says. “Many teens put less effort into learning when there is no evaluation. Our instructors have noticed a decrease in course motiva-tion over the last year.” He clarifies that by “evaluation”, he means a way to see what the cadet knows, what he/she has difficulties with and what instruc-tors have to do to ensure the material is properly understood.



2137 Army Cadet Corps, Calgary Capt Julie Sun, corps CO, shares to a degree Capt Roy’s concern about in-structors’ capability to confirm what cadets are learning in the updated pro-

The program update is better set up to engage youths appropriately for their age, catering to their learning style,” she says. But like Capt Woods in Mon-treal, she says it can be difficult to han-dle 12- and 13-year-olds in a guided discussion.

“…It would be beneficial to offer a

course on how to teach the updated program.” …

Capt Sun

gram. The more hands-on approach to the Green and Red Star program is definitely a bonus,” she says, “but some of the strategies for delivering the material make it harder for staff to en-sure the cadets are actually learning something.”

OCdt Caroline Pellerin instructs first year-cadets from 2137 Corps on the parts of a stove and how to light it.

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2972 Army Cadet Corps, Mercier, Que.“The program is finally being adapted to the realities of young people today,” says Commanding Officer (CO) Capt Sébastien Boucher. “The tools are wonderful: they allow instructors to of-fer interesting courses without having to wrack their brains for ideas. It makes teaching easier and more fun to pre-pare and deliver.”

He says the update has had a positive impact on his corps because as a CO, he now has the tools to give his instruc-tors to deliver dynamic courses—cours-es that the cadets know will be interest-ing and fun.

“Each course is designed to give in-structors a clear idea of how to deliver it and of the tools they need to do it. Because of this, the cadets benefit from better courses and rare classroom in-

struction,” says Capt Boucher. “We can develop and deliver courses in the context of previously scheduled ca-det activities. We have more latitude in choosing complementary courses. This is extremely exciting, since we can adapt them based on the type of cadets we have.”

courses. “Some courses don’t appeal to all young people; now we can adjust the program to the young people sitting in front of us.”

challengesThe biggest challenge, says Capt Boucher, was getting staff cadets and former cadets (who have become in-structors) to accept the change. “They started out as extremely resistant, but have a better grasp now.”

The CO admits that fears preceding the update were worse than the reality, but acknowledges that understanding and getting acquainted with the ma-terial was challenging, as was ‘making do’ when instructors did not receive their teaching aids. With those now in hand, however, everything is running smoothly.

“Fears preceding the update were worse

than the reality.” …Capt Boucher

Capt Boucher thinks the Green Star and Red Star updates are really well suited to the realities of 12- and 13-year-olds.

He claims that what he appreciates most is having the leeway for additional

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Capt Sun agrees, however, that the updated program is more relevant for first-year cadets and better suited to the learning styles of youth in that age range. “More fun and excitement piques their interest, so hopefully this will keep the program more interesting for them” she says.

challengesThe new methodology in delivering the program was the corps’ biggest chal-lenge. “A lecture-based lesson is a bit

easier to pick up, especially if someone is new to the program,” says Capt Sun. “Most of the senior cadets and staff had to learn more on alternate meth-

ods of instruction to teach effectively. Most are not teachers in their profes-sional lives.” Like SLt Véronique Sab-ourin, Sea Cadet Corps LA HULLOISE

in Gatineau, Que., Capt Sun and her staff believe it would be beneficial to offer a course on how to teach the updated program.


“If [a piece of equipment] is a requirement, it should be provided, or funding should be

provided to purchase it.” …Capt Enman

Capt Jeff Warwick, CO of 107 New Haven cadet corps, shows first-year cadets from 1231 Army Cadet Corps how to erect an arctic tent. Corps on the island often share resources

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1231 Army Cadet Corps, Kensington, P. E. I.CO Tracy Enman believes that the updated program had a positive im-pact on the corps, which is strong and doing well. She likes the flexibility of complementary training. “Once you have mandatory and complementary training scheduled, you can schedule optional activities such as team-build-ing exercises, field trips and fun social events,” she says.

“I like the Instructional Guides,” she says. “They are clear and accented with colour and nice diagrams.” She also believes the program is more relevant, thinks more emphasis on citizenship is positive and likes the less militaristic approach. She

also likes the idea that orienteering is now considered a sport, encouraging cadets to be more physically active.

ChallengesGetting staff to accept the new pro-gram and teaching without the prop-er equipment were challenges. The

new Red Star CPU implements the Pacer Test for fitness, but because it is copyrighted, the detachments cannot copy the disks and pass them on. It’s up to each corps to purchase them. “I feel if it is a requirement, it should be provided, or funding should be provided to purchase it,” says Capt Enman.

Understanding the mandatory and complementary training options and their execution and placement in the training plan was challenging at first, as was breaking old habits. “For example, Instructional Guides are not Master Lesson Plans,” she says. “Instructors have to put more time and effort into preparing their lessons.”

A cadet from 1231 Corps enjoys ‘rations’ during a field exercise. Even a hands-on experience like this makes Cadets fun.

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Lt(N) Mark Phillips

845 Air Cadet Squadron, Mississauga, Ont.CO Maj Bob Beck is pleased about various aspects of the updated first-year program. “The CPU has identi-fied many of the training problems we

have had in the past and has come up with some good alternatives,” he says. “There has been a huge effort to pro-vide squadrons with instructor infor-mation and lesson plans to make the program much better.”

He is also happy about the division of the program into mandatory and com-plementary activities and about more hands-on activities for the cadets.

CHALLENGESMaj Beck has major concerns about the volume of information in the les-son plans and the complementary part of the program. “The comprehensive format for activities seems to be better suited to full-time teachers working for the Ministry of Education, rather than staff teaching one night a week,” he says. “The POs [performance objec-tives] and lesson plans for the first-year program are two to three inches thick,” he grumbles. “Someone forgot this is a part-time activity for staff.”

Maj Beck says it’s difficult with a big squadron [163 cadets enrolled with 60 recruits] to accomplish all of the com-plementary programs in a timely man-ner, while including the extra programs the cadets have asked for.

An example, he says, is a complemen-tary activity where a visit is required. “We have to do the visit two or three


Updated air cadet training6 (Jim Whitecross) Air Cadet Squadron, Winnipeg“Our retention went through the roof,” says CO Capt Ian Coupland. “Of ap-proximately 40 level-one cadets, 36 of them came back this year—an unprec-edented retention rate.”

Capt Coupland, who is also Air Train-ing Officer (Prairie), says the cadets were engaged, it was easier for the in-structors to move through the material and the cadets learned more. “Some of our senior cadets in the current stream are disappointed they are not doing the new program because it looks like so much fun,” he says. “We are working hard with our older cadets to get them

involved in leading and instructing the new program.”

He believes the updated program has had a positive effect on his squadron because the experiential approach is more aligned with how youth learn in today’s society. “We may have to find something larger than our current ar-moury to parade in, but the rewritten program is worth the effort,” he says enthusiastically.

Capt Coupland says taking the devel-opmental level of a cadet into account when designing how to teach the pro-gram only makes sense. “The way the program is delivered—even more than content change—is the larger contribu-tor to the positive change.”

ChallengesCapt Coupland claims that some of the preparation work took longer with his squadron’s decision that alternate methods of instruction were to be used almost exclusively; however, the payoff is again, well worth the effort.

“Of approximately 40 level-one cadets, 36 of them came back this

year—an unprecedented retention rate.”

…Capt Coupland

Blackboards and chalk still have a place in the updated program to supplement more hands-on activities. Here, Sgt Anika Morson uses the blackboard in combination with a model to teach a first-year cadet from 845 Squadron about aircraft parts. (Photo by 2Lt Jamie Larner)

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F/Sgt Anthony Nolin (who works at the Cosmodome in Montreal on weekends and in the summer) instructs rocketry to first-year 690 Squadron cadets as part of the new Aerospace Course.

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times to ensure all of the cadets have completed that particular subject—if they want to participate (which is an-other issue).” He says that because a lot of the complementary activities are done away from the local headquarters, there never seems to be enough time to accomplish everything.”

Maj Beck believes that his training of-ficer is doing an excellent job of trying to comply with the CPU, but admits it is a real challenge. His squadron has an optional training activity on Mondays, parade night on Tuesdays, drill team on

Thursdays, ground school and air rifle team on Saturdays and band (60 cadets) on Sundays. Weekend field training ex-ercises and parades are added to that.

“The program is so extensive, it’s al-most impossible to accomplish,” he says. “By the time we get through the mandatory program, there’s not much wiggle room. We have to tweak other activities to get the complementary activities in.”

Maj Beck acknowledges that the squad-ron’s accommodation in a school causes pressure. On parade nights, training

“By the time we get through the mandatory

program, there’s not much wiggle room.”

…Maj Beck

690 (Lakeshore) Air Cadet Squadron, Beaconsfield, Que.Capt Valerie Woods, currently CO of 690 Squadron, is a training officer at heart and so delayed becoming squad-ron CO because she wanted to put the first-year updated program in place first. “I am one of the biggest supporters of the updated program,” she says. “It is so dynamic and has such great content that you can provide the best possible program to all first-year cadets.”

She especially enjoys the flexibility and being able to choose which comple-mentary courses the cadets are more interested in.

On the whole, she finds the updated approach more relevant to first-year cadets; however, she is nonplussed with the idea of “discussions” with 12-year-olds and of trying to get them to create a personal activity plan. “It may work with a small squadron, but when you try to get 30 12- to 13-year-olds in a classroom for a ‘group discussion’, all you get is a bunch of deadpan faces. Ask a Cadet Harassment and Abuse Prevention instructor how easy it was to get cadets to participate in discussions at that age,” she states.

challengeSTime is also Capt Woods’ main con-cern. “Overall, the CPU seems to be designed with a small squadron in mind; or, those who wrote it are simply

not familiar with the logistics of try-ing to run a PACER [the new fitness testing] in 30 minutes for 35 cadets,” she says. Adding in the extra periods

required to accomplish the PACER for all of her cadets removes periods for the ‘fun’ complementary courses she would rather offer.

supplies have to be brought in and taken home after; as well, the squadron loses some training nights because of school activities.



10 (Lions) Air Cadet Squadron, St. John’s, Nfld.The favourite aspect of the updat-ed first-year program for CO Capt Michael Crawford is replacing lectures with more hands-on activities.

He is not sure that the relevance of the content has increased, but he believes the cadets’ interest in learning has. For the cadets, he says, it represents a big increase in learning.

The updated program has had a posi-tive impact on the squadron…with challenges.

challengeS“The greatest challenge is running two programs at the same time,” says Capt Crawford. “The two programs (the old

and the updated) are so different. The new program is light years ahead of the old. Running them both at the same time poses challenges and makes the transition difficult.”

Capt Crawford says instructors found adapting to the new approach difficult and preparation time was an issue. “In-structors had to learn the new program, the new material and the new teaching approach. This was a big hurdle for some of the volunteers especially.”

The biggest thing for instructors, he says, is to understand the “experiential learning” part of the updated program. “People make it more complicated than it needs to be. The learning cycle can be very simple, but it’s important to get all the elements. Learning how to ap-ply training in ‘real terms’ is the biggest challenge.”

The program is not always relevant to the day-to-day life of a 12-year-old, he admits. “Building lean-tos really doesn’t have a practical application at the mall.” Nevertheless, Capt Craw-ford believes the new style of teaching makes learning so much fun that cadets will learn even if what they are learn-ing doesn’t relate to their daily lives.

“For the cadets, it represents

a big increase in learning.”

…Capt Crawford

First-year cadets from 690 Squadron learn how to build, light and maintain a fire, as part of the Aircrew Survival Course, taught by Sgt Liam Carroll (orange hat) and Sgt Francois Daoust, seated right.

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Like Maj Beck, she is concerned about having enough staff to teach the up-dated program. “We require two offi-cers for Level 1, two for Level 2, two for Level 3 and even if we need only one of-ficer for Level 4-5, that makes seven of-ficers. With our quota of 111 cadets, we are entitled to only eight officers. “What

squadron had a hard time finding senior cadets who were familiar with and able to teach “knots” to first-year cadets during the May Aircrew Sur-vival course. As well, instructors found the course plans (for example, Level 1 Aircrew Survival) so detailed and over-complicated that it took them much longer to understand course material.

Nevertheless, Capt Woods says she has been involved with Cadets since 1980, and this is the best update she has been part of. She says the level-one cadets, when surveyed, said they loved the sports tabloid, marksmanship, rocket launching and more.

“We came back in September with a large group of level-two cadets because of the great implementation of the up-dated program by our team,” she says.

“I am one of the biggest supporters

of the updated program.”

…Capt Woods

about the CO, administration and sup-ply officers” she questions?

Other challenges the squadron faced included having no training aids. They created power point presentations from scratch and could not access online references (outside of CadetNet). The



Capt Enman Kensington, P. E. I. I often organize field trips to accomplish training for 1231 Army Cadet Corps. When completing the training schedule, I don’t fill it. I leave room for optional training and the chance to participate in activities that may arise. Because the CPU, particularly Green Star level, is identical in all three elements, we can take advantage with our neighbouring corps and squadrons to participate in tri-service activities. This fosters posi-tive relationships among cadets, friendly competition and important friendships.

SLt Merrall Port Moody, B. C.We built our weekend training schedule at the same time as the annual training plan (planning mandatory and comple-mentary training days in near detail). GRILSE staff members were able to identify weekend training days when they could deliver a lot of classes more suited to a weekend exercise and plan more fun evening activities (like sports nights) for regular training sessions.

Best practices

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Capt Woods BEACONSFIELD (QC)690 Squadron held a drill competition night, with five flights competing. Each flight’s commander and flight sergeant helped out the first-year cadets during practice earlier in the night before the competition began. The flight sergeant was their commander. The fourth-year cadets helped staff the event, while of-ficers and cadets with Senior Leaders Course experience were judges. Parents came and it was a great night.

Capt White Miramichi, N. B. We went geo-caching on weekends (with geo-cache prizes) so the cadets could practise their compass skills, invited a variety of interesting guest speakers to the corps, or took the ca-dets on hikes where they had the fun of cooking individual meal packs. There was always something to hold the ca-dets’ interest. By incorporating the fun aspects into the complementary train-

ing, we got the majority of our cadets at 3037 Army Cadet Corps to show up. We get lots of input from the junior and senior cadets which we put into action. My staff comes up with fresh and fun ideas to keep the cadets involved.

Lt(N) Deck Port Moody, B. C.Approaching the change proactively, GRILSE called senior cadets, officers and Navy League Branch executive members together well before the new training year began for a detailed brief-ing about changes. Focusing on the positive points and placing changes in the overall national picture helped dis-pel concerns. The CPU generated a lot of excitement among senior cadets and translated into more imaginative lessons. First-year cadets automatically picked up on the enthusiasm of their instructors.

Cadets from 3037 Army Cadet Corps went geo-cach-ing—looking for ‘hidden treasure’ using a naviga-tional aid—on weekends. This made practising their compass skills fun!


The report states that those involved in conducting the updated training were very satisfied with the first-year pro-gram overall. They were also very sat-isfied with the new Qualification Stan-dard and Plan (QSP) and Instructional Guides (IGs). In addition, from their perspective, cadets were very satisfied with the updated program.

Notwithstanding the positive results, the report made a number of recom-mendations in the following areas:

Lesson planningInstructors need to be reminded that de-spite the availability of the IGs, they still need to take sufficient time to properly plan and prepare for lesson delivery.

Cadet assessmentThose concerned about the “lack of test-ing” in updated year-one training should remember that year-one and year-two training are intentionally experience-based, and the related assessments are deliber-ately participatory in nature. However, as cadets progress to higher levels of train-ing, they will be exposed to advanced learning and assessment activities.

Amendments to trainingTo address the issue of possible time allocation inaccuracies in updated training—for enabling objectives and teaching points, for example—those concerned should submit concrete ex-amples and specific recommendations to

the email addresses at the front of each publication or through the chain of com-mand. This type of feedback is essential to the effective upkeep and maintenance of updated training, as highlighted in Capt Rick Butson’s article on page 22 in this issue of Cadence.

CPU: EVALUATION REPORT Capt Donnie Oulton

Instructors need to be reminded that despite the availability of the [Instruc-tional Guides], sufficient time is still required to

properly plan and prepare for lesson delivery.

Instructors who delivered the first-year updated training last year thought cadets were “very satisfied”. Certainly, these first-year cadets from 690 Air Cadet Squadron in Beaconsfield, Que. appear happy with what they are learning.

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Positive results

CPU evaluationfrom first year

The results of a report on the evaluation of updated year-one training (conducted in 2008–2009) are extremely positive. The final report, prepared by the new Research and Evaluation section of Directorate Cadets and Junior Canadian Rangers (D Cdts & JCR), is available in the CPU folder in the Resources conference on CadetNet. A presentation and critique are also posted there.

Replacement of cadet handbooksThe Program Development section of D Cdts & JCR continues to work with those involved in training to consider the options available for a cadet handbook replacement.

Cadet retentionBased on positive experiences with ca-det retention, additional research may be conducted to determine the extent of the impact that the updated training pro-gram has had on cadet retention, both at the participant and instructor levels.

Resource availabilityAlthough the evaluation findings re-lated to resource availability were sat-isfactory (79.07 percent availability for mandatory training and 75.74 percent for complementary training), regional cadet support unit commanding officers (accountable for providing training aids supplied by the CF) and Leagues/super-visory sponsors (accountable for provid-ing training aids not supplied by the CF) should strive to improve resource avail-ability as required.

Ongoing research and evaluationThis report represents the first outcome of better training research and evalua-tion activities. This is just the beginning, however.

The Research and Evaluation section is currently developing a strategic plan aimed at fostering continuous improve-ment, while celebrating ongoing suc-cesses. The section is also building the capacity to conduct research, outreach and training evaluation activities for both Cadets and Junior Canadian Rang-ers. At the same time, we are continuing to carry out the CSTC General Train-ing and Year-Two training evaluation plans (also posted in the Resources folder on CadetNet), which include gathering feedback directly from training staff, in-structors and cadets undergoing the up-dated training. This will help us keep our training updated as we go along, rather than going through another CPU proj-ect of such magnitude.

Let us pat ourselves on the back and celebrate our collective success with the updated year-one training and with our amazing program overall!

Capt Oulton is the former Staff Officer, Com-mon Cadet Program Development at D Cdts & JCR. He is now the Staff Officer, Youth Programs Research, in the new Research and Evaluation section.

The report states that those involved in conducting the updated training were very satisfied with the

updated first-year program overall. Positive results

CPU evaluationThe success of the implementation of the first year of the Cadet Program Update is a result of the hard work and dedication of everyone involved in the Cadet Program.

Included are those who contributed to the training research and evaluation reflected in this first report, especially those involved with the regional cadet instructors school candidate questionnaire.

Although many of you are extremely busy conducting the second-year updated corps and squadron program in addition to other training activities, take time to reflect on your contributions to the success of year-one training and find a way to celebrate with your staff and cadets.

Pat yourself on the back



Last Aug. 13 marked a milestone in the development of a new process to respond to stakeholder recommendations for updates and changes to the cadet program: We posted the first Interim Amendment, A09-001—an amendment to the cadet air rifle handling test—to CadetNet (Resources / CPU / Interim Amendments).

Each year a variety of stakeholders request changes to the cadet program through emails, working groups, after-action reports, staff assistance visits, evaluation reports, etc. This requires amending the more than 225 publica-tions that guide and govern the cadet program.

This updated amendment process for cadet publications is part of the Di-rectorate Cadets and Junior Canadian Rangers (D Cdts & JCR) strategy to keep the cadet program up-to-date and relevant. The ongoing review of cadet program publications will allow them to be as dynamic as the cadet program itself.

All inputs and suggestions are welcome and contribute to shaping the cadet program as a program of choice for Canada’s youth.

Capt Butson is the former staff officer respon-sible for the development of the army cadet program at D Cdts & JCR. He is now Staff Officer, Personnel Training Development.

The ongoing review of cadet program publications will

allow them to be as dynamic as the cadet

program itself.

CPU: PUBLICATION AMENDMENTS

Ongoing review

program publicationsof cadet

Want to suggest a change?

Have you noticed something that you think needs to be changed in a ca-det program publication? Do you have an idea that you think will improve the program?

Advise your chain of command or send an email to the address located in the front of all updated publications. Ensure that the new ‘cadets.gc.ca’ address format is used on any emails.

Capt Rick Butson

To manage these demands, cadet pro-gram development staff members have put in place a flexible and thorough pro-cess (see diagram on page 23) to receive, review and action recommendations:

• Cadet program development staff officers, who have sea, army, air and common program responsibilities, vet recommendations for change. These might range from a mistake on the caption below a diagram, noted by a corps officer, to a suggestion to add a new cadet rank from a senior staff officer. Each recommendation is reviewed for its validity, urgency and relevance to the overall cadet program.

• As staffing and financial resources al-low, items are tackled in order of pri-ority. Work may take a few hours or a few months, depending on the scope of the change.

• Where applicable, we prepare an interim amendment for posting on CadetNet. This is intended to alert stakeholders to a significant change that requires more immediate com-munication.

• At the end of the process, the amend-ment will make its way into the vari-ous cadet program publications.

22


Ongoing review

program publicationsAMENDMENT PROCESS

Valid?

Note database(no action)

Inform Stakeholder(If applicable)

No

Yes ImmediateRequirement?

Yes

No

AmendmentRecommendation

Queue(database)

Proceed?

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

D Cdts(Cadet Program

Development)

No

Return to Queue?

No

Yes

ConsultationRequired?Proceed?

No

Resource Review(ie, work required)

Proceed? No

Yes

Working Group / Writing Board Secretarial Work

Final Verification /Impact Review

Proceed? NoNo

Submit to DirectorSupply Chain Operation

for regular process

Regular Distribution

Interim AmendmentRequired? Yes

Post InterimAmmendment

(CadetNet)

Reviewed byApplicable

Stakeholders

Receiveamendment

recommendation

Translation &Preparation ofAmendmentNotification

Data capture/entry

Yes

No

Submission Queue(database)

Liaise with stakeholders (as required) with regard to impacts in their area

of responsibility


CADET LEADERSHIP

• As they become capable of accept-ing more responsibilities, all cadets will have to demonstrate proficiency in performing as team leaders and then, as activity leaders.

The role of activity managers—at the peak of the model on page 25—will be fulfilled largely by adult staff.

The ‘mentoring relationship spectrum’ along the side of the model accounts for the ongoing mentoring that takes place in Cadets. There is some formal instruction in the updated program on how to successfully mentor; however, senior cadets also have many informal opportunities to coach or work one-on-one with junior cadets. It is also inher-ent for senior cadets to guide and assist junior cadets.

The leadership team model describes the philosophy of how we want youth to develop as leaders in Cadets.

What is the significant shift?Leadership for cadets in the current pro-gram is mainly an individual pursuit.

Think, for example, of the emphasis placed on attaining certain ranks and/or parade appointments.

We do provide some leadership pro-gramming for all cadets. However, ca-dets are mostly responsible for their own success, depending on whether they are naturally inclined to lead or whether they actively pursue improving their leadership capacity. Leadership oppor-tunities for all cadets are not as available as they might be.

In the updated program, leadership is a team or group pursuit. Leadership

Lt(N) Paul Fraser

One of the aims of the Cadet Program is to develop in youth the attributes of good leadership. This is further explained in CATO 11-03 (Cadet Program Mandate). But how can “leadership” apply to cadets at every level?

A leadership team model has been cre-ated that demonstrates, at a glance, how you can achieve the leadership aim de-scribed in the above CATO. In other words, the model shows how cadets should develop as leaders and when their skills can be applied. It is designed to help you think and plan how you will assign cadets to lead various activities in the updated cadet program.

Every cadet has a role in the new leader-ship team model:

• All cadets will learn about and practise being good followers and team mem-bers. This is where good leadership starts.

• In time, they will have opportunities to lead in a peer setting.

Capt Andrea Onchulenko

Leadership team model

Leadership op-portunities exist for all cadets during all facets of cadet training. (Cadet Summer Training Centre Valcartier photo).

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opportunities exist for all cadets during all facets of cadet training. Becoming a leader will happen through experience in the program and not just through the achievement of a promotion or appointment.

Leadership training focuses on prepar-ing cadets to effectively organize and lead cadet activities. Cadets will be given leadership assignments that will allow them to apply their leadership knowl-edge and display the core leadership qualities. These leadership assignments are intended to be authentic and there-fore are programmed to coincide with the naturally occurring leadership op-portunities that exist during the conduct of most cadet activities.

To whom does it apply?Every cadet will have the same oppor-tunities to develop and make the most of their leadership potential. In the team model approach, there is an expectation that any cadet can perform leadership skills to a baseline capacity at given points in the program.

The model and subsequent program-ming are tailored specifically to the needs of young leaders. The core prin-ciples of leadership are not different, but how leadership is programmed and how we create leadership opportunities is

targeted to meet the specific needs of the younger learner and leader.

Not all cadets will be equally success-ful in attaining leadership competency in Cadets. However, it is likely that all cadets will continue to develop as lead-ers after they leave the program, and as adults, they will continue to use skills they learned as cadets.

When is it in effect?The new model is being introduced in phases as each corps/squadron and summer training program is implement-ed. So, year-one and year-two cadets in corps/squadrons have already been in-troduced to it. The same for first-year cadets at cadet summer training centres (CSTCs).

Where does the new model fit?The leadership team model is not a stand-alone aspect of the updated ca-det program. It is linked closely to Posi-tive Social Relations for Youth, CATO 13-02 (Cadet Rank Promotions) and the upcoming reward and recognition framework for cadets.

The two formal training modules of Positive Social Relations for Youth are built in concert with the expectations we have of cadets in year one (follower, team member) and year four (leader).

Promotions recognize cadets formally for their capability. However, cadets must first demonstrate their potential for leadership. The corps/squadron train-ing program, augmented by the CSTC program, will allow cadets to practise the skills necessary for all leadership roles.

Opportunities for recognizing cadets for their achievements—within the new reward and recognition framework—will come from giving all cadets equal opportunities for leadership.

Why do we need it?The leadership team model describes the philosophy of how we want youth to develop as leaders in Cadets. It is a bridge that links hard programming for leadership in the corps/squadron and summer training with the applicable program aim, participant outcomes and related learning objectives. It pro-vides the framework for our leadership programming.

In your role as corps/squadron staff and activity managers, you will be responsi-ble for selecting activities, assigning team and activity leaders and mentoring indi-vidual cadets as they develop as leaders. The new model will help you do this.

Capt Onchulenko is the Staff Officer, Air Cadet Program Development at Directorate Cadets and Junior Canadian Rangers.

ACTIVITYMANAGER

ACTIVITYLEADERS

TEAM LEADERS

TEAM MEMBERS / FOLLOWERS / PEER LEADERS

Target Population for Leadership

TrainingStaffMembers

DP3Years 5+

Ages 17-18

DP2Years 3-4

Ages 15-16

DP1Years 1-2

Ages 12-14

Leadership Roles

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Leadership team model


“The cadets and staff probably didn’t realize their positive effect on me. They kept me motivated and goal-oriented throughout my chemotherapy.” …Capt LeBlanc

Capt LeBlanc is the Training Officer at 650 (Governor General Georges P. Vanier) Air Cadet Squadron in Moncton, N. B., where Capt Gallant is commanding officer (CO). As Capt LeBlanc holds both a glider and pri-vate pilot’s licence, it seems appropri-ate that Capt Gallant praises her to the skies. So does friend Capt Christine Cutten-Chassé, CO of 681 (Tantramar) Air Cadet Squadron in Sackville, N. B. She says Capt LeBlanc brings to mind the descriptors “achiever, dedicated, energetic, intelligent, positive, spirited, personable and humble.”

Capt Gallant easily cites several examples of Capt LeBlanc’s dedication, service and innovation, even though she is likely the youngest officer ever nominated for Bravo!

“She certainly brings great energy to our squadron,” says Capt Gallant, which seems even more remarkable since it was only six years ago that Capt LeBlanc was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.

At the end of 2003, Capt LeBlanc plan-ned to move to Yellowknife, N. W. T. with her boyfriend (now husband). Follow-ing her diagnosis, however, she moved back to New Brunswick to live with her parents.

She decided to visit 640 (Chaleur) Air Cadet Squadron in Bathurst, N. B., where she had been a cadet and learned to fly. “I wanted to help the squadron to the best of my capacity during my treat-ments from February to December of 2004,” she says. “I had been giving back to the Cadet Program for a few years at this point, but my experience at Chaleur

felt like Cadets was giving back to me. The cadets and staff probably didn’t realize their positive effect on me. They kept me motivated and goal-oriented throughout my chemotherapy. Working with cadets, while concentrating on get-ting healthier, helped me maintain good spirits through the ordeal.”

When she regained her health and passed her aviation medical, Capt LeBlanc moved to Moncton, joined 650 Squadron and returned to the Miramichi gliding site, where she had volunteered her weekends from the time she received her licence in 1996.

Dedication and ServiceHer love of flying and Cadets is a big part of who Capt LeBlanc is. As a staff

Dedicated, energetic, positive… and humble

BRAVO!

“I wish I could clone Karine and send a clone to every cadet corps and squadron—and have several on staff for ourselves,” says Capt Bernard Gallant, who nominated Capt Karine LeBlanc for this issue’s Bravo!


All it takes is a banana! Capt LeBlanc can even make “healthy living” fun!

cadet (glider familiarization) at the cadet summer training centre in Greenwood, N. S., she ensured that camp cadets went gliding.

While serving with 101 Air Cadet Squad-ron in Moncton and attending university in 1998-1999 she became a CIC officer. One of her role models, Capt Chris Cormier, currently with 101 Squadron, got her excited about becoming an officer. She wanted to continue working in the gliding program, so agreed and soon re-alized that working with Cadets brought her so much more. “I developed prac-tical leadership, communication and mentoring skills,” she says.

She held a number of positions with the squadron while completing her Bach-elor of Science degree at the Université de Moncton. In the summers, she was a gliding instructor at the Regional Glid-ing School (Atlantic) in Debert, N. S. On spring and fall weekends, she worked as staff at the Miramichi gliding site.

Deciding to take a post-graduate course at Niagara College in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont., she moved and planned to take a break from the Cadet Program to concentrate on her studies. In a bit of serendipity, her apartment turned out to be close to an air cadet gliding site. “When I looked out my apartment win-dow, I could see gliders and a tow plane. My heart told me I had to continue my work with cadets. It would have been torture to look at the gliders every week-end and not be able to participate in the program!” So Capt LeBlanc joined 23 (Optimist) Air Cadet Squadron in St. Catharines, Ont., helping out there and at the Southern Ontario Gliding Site until her studies were over.

At 650 Squadron, Capt Gallant says Capt LeBlanc’s enthusiasm trickles down to the cadets. “She was so great at motivating our new cadets to par-ticipate in the ground school classes to prepare for their entrance exams for the flying scholarship program last year that we ended up with an overflowing class-room,” he says. “We are looking now at developing a junior program for the cadets who are too young to write the qualification exams.”

The squadron has grown from 21 ca-dets four years ago to its current size of 75 cadets. “It is thanks to Capt LeBlanc

that we have been able to retain so many cadets,” says Capt Gallant. “She does an outstanding job of motivating the cadets to participate in activities and of keeping parents informed through her weekly newsletter.”

InnovationAccording to Capt Gallant, Capt LeBlanc is great at coming up with new ideas for activities, which has also led to increased retention. “We rarely repeat the same special activities,” he says. “Sometimes, the activities seem to be an odd fit with the program, but Capt LeBlanc says, ‘Why not?’ After a bit of thought, we also come to say, ‘Why not?’ and go ahead and do it. The cadets always have a good time.

To promote healthy living at the squad-ron, she brings fresh fruit and vegetables at least once a month to regular training nights. She also ensures that the canteen is stocked with healthy alternatives to pop and chips.

Beyond CadetsIn her civilian job, Capt LeBlanc works for the New Brunswick Health Council as an information analyst.

She is President of the Board of Direc-tors for the New Brunswick Division of the Duke of Edinburgh Award. With volunteers and staff, the board organizes

activities to promote and fundraise for the award. Capt LeBlanc earned her Duke of Edinburgh gold award as a ca-det with 640 Squadron. She travelled to Asia and England as a participant (2002) and leader (2005) at international con-ferences. She also sat on the Internation-al Council of the Duke of Edinburgh as a youth representative (2003-2006), representing the Americas, along with two others.

In addition, Capt LeBlanc and her husband try to do something different every year as volunteers within their community—everything from cancer fundraisers to helping out with the local Christmas food banks.

What inspires Capt LeBlanc to con-tinue with the Cadet Program? “I am constantly inspired by the cadets them-selves,” she says. “I love to see them progress from a new cadet to a mature, responsible young person who is passion-ate about life. I cherish the time I spend with my fellow CIC officers and volun-teer friends. I love the fact that Cadets is free and available for anyone to join and achieve their best.” Capt LeBlanc adds: “I would not be the person I am today without the Cadet Program.”

What would she like to say to other in-structors? “Go on, have fun! Think out-side the box. It’s worth it! And always put the cadets first.”

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Each week before or after the commanding officer’s parade, participating staff members would weigh in for a cost of two dollars.

SHARING BEST PRACTICES

The purpose of the challenge was to in-crease awareness of the choices made at meal/snack times, as well as to encour-age staff to become more active. Partici-pation was optional, but 25 percent of adult staff and 42 percent of staff cadets took part. They lost a grand total of 146 pounds (about 66 kilograms) between July 17 and Aug. 20! You may want to try something similar at your corps/squadron, or CSTC.

How we did it• We organized recreational activities—

ranging from walking to aerobics classes—four nights a week. Various walking distances were pre-measured, so participants knew how far they were walking. Cpl Helen Malo, a fit-ness instructor specialist employed in the supply section at Regional Cadet

Support Unit (Atlantic), instructed aerobic workouts. Capt Heather Dupuis, 517 (Flt/Lt Graham) Air Cadet Squadron in Greenwood, booked facilities and scheduled swims. The work was not time-consuming. Activity dates for the entire summer were scheduled ahead of time. Ac-tivities were open to all adult staff, but weren’t mandatory. No extra recre-ational activities were scheduled for staff cadets, who were already taking part in directed recreational training in the evening.

• Each week before or after the com-manding officer’s parade, participat-ing staff members weighed in for a cost of two dollars. Depending on which way the scales tipped, they could end up digging deeper into their pockets because each gained

pound cost an extra dollar. Those who did not want to pay for the challenge could still weigh in, but could not compete for prizes. As the challenge co-ordinator, I conducted confidential weigh-ins. If participants were on leave or had a day off on weigh-in day, they arranged to weigh in the day before.

• Weekly, we posted the names of adult staff members who main-tained or lost weight. Their names were submitted for a weekly draw (funded from the adult mess com-mittee) for a $10 Subway gift card. [Subway is well-known as the fast-food restaurant where Jared Fogel lost 245 pounds eating nothing but Subway sandwiches twice a day for almost a year. He went from 425 pounds to 180 pounds.] I also posted

Like most of us, I have seen family members, friends and co-workers struggle over the years with personal weight challenges. Some of them have even died from weight-related health issues. So last summer, while working at the air cadet summer training centre (ACSTC) in Greenwood, N. S., I asked Commanding Officer LCol Noel Hand if I could implement a Healthy Living Challenge for staff.

Capt Eileen Chiasson

Healthy living challenge

choices were limited and cadets received a nutritional snack during the training day. This summer, in addition to the Healthy Living Challenge initiative, only healthy options were offered in the cadet canteen.

“I was thrilled with the idea of the chal-lenge,” says LCol Hand. “I believe that understanding the benefits of healthy living has gone a long way towards im-proving our quality of life. Doing the right thing and being a good role model has a big payoff for our cadets—it can teach them how to live a healthy and happy life.

the following formula, so everyone could keep track of their individual weight-loss percentage: (IW-AW) ÷ IW) x 100 = weight loss percentage. It’s as easy as one, two, three: 1) sub-tract your actual weight (weight at the time of each weigh-in) from your initial weight; 2) divide the num-ber by your initial weight; and then 3) multiply the result by 100.

• Our first-place winner, with a weight loss percentage of 8.91, was civilian Chaplain Judy Adams, who received a certificate and cheque for $578—the total amount collected during the challenge. Second place went to 2Lt Lloyd Francis, 591 (Dunlap) Air Cadet Squadron in Sydney Mines, N.S., who received a certificate and the ‘famous’ weigh-in scale for a weight loss percentage of 8.67. Padre Adams generously shared her first-prize winnings with 2Lt Francis. And finally, Staff Cadet F/Sgt Elizabeth Button, 840 (Indian Bay) Air Ca-det Squadron in Indian Bay, N. L., won the staff cadet challenge with a weight loss percentage of 5.97. Along with a certificate, she received a per-sonalized box filled with various items for university, funded from staff cadet not-for-profit funds.

Greenwood ACSTC staff has promoted a healthy lifestyle for some time. Several years ago, canteen hours were altered,

25 percent of adult staff and 42 percent of staff cadets took part in the [Healthy Living] challenge.


Chaplain Adams receives her certificate and a cheque from Capt Chiasson, who served in a major position (Officer Commanding A Squadron) at the ACSTC last summer.

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Capt Chiasson lives in Campbellton, N. B., and is the training officer for 866 (Dalhousie) Air Cadet Squadron in Dalhousie. She is a zone co-ordinator for the Canadian Cadet Movement’s biathlon program and has held many positions for provincial and national biathlon competition. She is a stay-at-home mom, has done weight/cardio training for the past 11 years and was the Program Director of Recreation at Greenwood ACSTC for four summers. She developed alter-native eating and training habits in the weight-loss program Simply for Life.


RECOGNITIONINNOVATION

This year, 296 Air Cadet Squadron in Cambridge, Ont., experimented with its own ‘advanced gliding program’ for one enthusiastic cadet in the squadron.

The idea of taking some of our cadets beyond basic flight training was born when we learned that one of our ca-det glider pilots received a Youth Flight Canada (YFC) bursary. This bursary recognizes that many high school and university students quit flying because of cost. It is intended to maintain the interest of youth pilots by providing funding for students to continue flying. YFC (www.youthflight.ca) has provided bursaries since 2001 to young deserving

pilots who demonstrate “an infectious enthusiasm for aviation”. The Soaring Association of Canada (SAC) (www.sac.ca) also funds bursaries.

We sorted out the details of our new ‘advanced gliding program’ during discussions with Commanding Of-ficer Maj Chris Mitchell, the cadet FSgt Chris Kok and a member of the YFC. Branch 121 of the Royal Cana-dian Legion, a long-time supporter of cadet aviation in our squadron, agreed to assist with funding. In the past, when we had a viable candidate who was not selected for Central Region Glid-ing School (CRGS), Branch 121 paid

the cost for the cadet to get their glider pilot licence. Without a candidate this year, we proposed the alternative.

This is our first attempt at flight train-ing beyond the basic licence require-ment, and we feel it was successful. We plan to promote this program to our cadets who want to get into soaring or competition gliding and cadets who are not successful in their quest for a power flying scholarship.

The termsFSgt Kok was checked out in three types of higher performance single-seat gliders, qualified for front and back seat

Some air cadets want to advance in flying after they receive their glider pilot’s licence, but are not selected for the highly coveted power flying scholarship. This means they have to finance their own advancement. In some instances, squadrons may want to provide an innovative alternative to cadets.

Beyond basic flight training

[Youth Flight Canada] has provided bursaries since 2001 to young deserving pilots who demonstrate “an infectious enthusiasm for aviation”.

CI Jim O’Connor

FSgt Kok prepares for launch in a Smyk PW-5.


and earned a bronze badge before the summer ended. He also got a start on his silver badge with a 3000-foot alti-tude gain after release. The cadet did a one-week stint at CRGS for conversion to cadet standard toward the end of the summer. This was all accomplished us-ing the $1500 Legion donation.

The training for his instructor’s rating, which was part of the original program, was moved to this spring because of poor flying weather in southern Ontar-io last summer. The cost of achieving his instructor’s rating will be paid from the $500 YFC bursary and another $500 SAC bursary from the York Soar-ing Association (www.yorksoaring.com).

In return for this training opportunity, the cadet agreed to our standard list of expectations for cadets in flying pro-grams. He will:

• Attend a minimum 95 percent of mandatory training activities.

• Accept a higher sales quota of Air Cadet League Ontario Provincial Committee fundraising lottery tick-ets than non-flying cadets.

• Volunteer a reasonable amount of time at a cadet gliding centre.

Frequent follow-up on these expecta-tions has resulted in 22 of our glider pilots volunteering significant amounts of their time to the gliding centre over the past 10 years.

Next yearRunning the new program depends on having a viable candidate, plus funding each year.

In the past, any 296 Squadron cadet who has applied for a YFC or SAC bur-sary has received one. Across Canada in 2008, YFC awarded 19 bursaries and SAC awarded 20.

This is our first attempt at flight training beyond the basic licence requirement, and we feel it was successful.

Funding by 121 Branch of the Legion cannot be guaranteed every year, but the Branch has agreed to support the program if funding is available.

Discussions with an instructor last summer determined the $2500 cost of the program, including the instructor’s rating.

On average, half the cadets who join our squadron say they did so because they want to fly. The more cadets we can involve in flying (and the more we can get the media to cover it), the better our recruitment numbers are.

Civilian Instructor O’Connor has been teaching the flying scholarship program to 296 Squadron cadets for 14 years. He has also taught cadets from four other squadrons. In that time, cadets from his class have received 76 scholarships. CI O’Connor received his pilot’s licence when he was a cadet with 296 Squadron.

Bronze Badge requirementsBronze Badge requirements

More information about badge requirements and bursaries can be found at the various websites in the main article.

1. Glider pilot licence

2. Pilot in command time of 10 hours

3. Soaring flight of two hours– 1st flight

4. Soaring flight of two hours – 2nd flight

5. Three consecutive spot landings in a marked area

6. Off–field landings, dual field selection exercises

7. Off–field landings, dual circuit planning exercises

8. Map-reading exercises during dual flight

9. Final glide exercise during dual flight

10. Rigging/derigging/trailering

11. Club requirements for cross-country flying

12. Basics of advanced instrumentation

13. Bronze Badge verbal exam

14. Advanced thermaling

FSgt Kok prepares a Smyk for the day’s flying.

LCdr Darin McRae TRANSFERABLE SKILLS

These CIC officers are among 12 from British Columbia to New Brunswick who volunteered to discuss how their civilian skills benefit the Cadet Pro-gram—the flip side of our usual trans-ferable skills story. Instead of discussing what skills CIC officers can acquire in

Bringing professional skills to the Cadet Program—Part 1What do a pilot, registered social worker, physical education teacher, music teacher, conservation officer and leadership/organizational effectiveness consultant have in common? They are all CIC officers.

the Cadet Program to benefit their per-sonal lives, we aim the spotlight on the wealth of skills CIC officers bring from their personal lives to benefit the Cadet Program.

In the words of one officer, Capt Robert Craddock, “You bring your entire self to any situation. Whatever your back-ground and skills, you need to consider how you can bring that to bear in the Cadet Program.”

Capt Robert Craddock

Area CIC Officer (Land) for southern Alberta

Former CO of 2137 (Calgary Highlanders) and 1292 (Lord Strathcona’s Horse (Royal Canadians) Army Cadet Corps, Calgary

Leadership/organizational effectiveness consultant

“The leadership skills I have developed in civilian life are directly applicable to teaching cadets and to modeling these skills for staff and cadets,” says Capt Craddock. “Experience in teaching adults in universities and colleges, as well as in corporate settings, has taught me a different way to look at teaching cadets.” As a result, he uses case stud-ies, group discussion, skill practice and alternate methods of instruction quite readily and naturally.

His 35 years working with Scouts Can-ada has also honed his teaching skills. “Scouts Canada has a long history of using alternate methods of instruction for youth,” he says, adding that he has applied these methods since he started instructing cadets.

Being a manager has helped him with the budgeting and planning side of be-ing a CO. It has also helped him iden-tify and engage the many stakeholder groups in the Canadian Cadet Organi-zations.

His education and 10-year experience as a registered social worker also helped Capt Craddock understand the dynam-ics of individuals and groups, how ca-dets and staff interact and what needs to be present for corps/squadrons to be successful. He has shared his leadership expertise in Cadence articles.

When he is not working as a consultant, Capt Craddock occasionally ‘works’ as a

back-country guide on horse packing trips in the Rockies, as seen in this ‘self-portrait’.

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Capt Julie Hamelin

Instructor (since 2003) and Director, Outaouais Expedition Centre (2007 to last June)

Former CO, 2644 (Régiment de Hull) Army Cadet Corps, Hull, Que.

Physical education teacher, specializing in outdoor education Currently on leave to teach English as a second language in Japan


“My work in Cadets and my civilian work are linked together in so many ways,” says Capt Hamelin. “Cadets are the same as my students—they have the same difficulties, goals and challenges, so my job has prepared me well to help them.”

At the Outaouais Expedition Centre, it was easy for Capt Hamelin to organize outdoor activities and share her knowl-edge of the outdoor world with cadets. She knew where to go for activities or who to contact for the information she needed. “As a physical education instructor, I have always taken part in sports, especially outdoor activities such

as hiking, winter and summer camping, climbing, kayaking, canoeing, mountain biking, orienteering, cross-country and downhill skiing,” says Capt Hamelin. “It also led to my being named expedi-tion leader for the International Army Cadet Expedition in the Pyrenees in August 2008.”

Capt Hamelin adds, “Cadets can ben-efit from our skills when we make the most of them in the Cadet Program. The new approach being taken by the expedition program pushes adolescents to try and excel in activities they have never had the opportunity or privilege to practise every day.”

As a registered social worker, Capt Lib-by has learned to understand people, from children to seniors.

“My career has developed my listening skills for sure,” says Capt Libby. “I pick up subtle cues from key words and/or actions when I’m listening to a cadet. It allows me to talk to them, find out if they are having problems in their per-sonal life. And it helps me direct them to the proper place for assistance.”

He says his work gives him knowledge of programs and assistance available in the community. “When I was teaching

the Cadet Harassment and Abuse Pre-vention program to cadets, staff and par-ents, for instance, I could provide great examples and up-to-date statistics.”

Capt Libby has learned how to switch his civilian and CIC ‘hats’, so that he doesn’t overstep his boundaries as a CIC officer. The bottom line, he says, is, “We are here to provide the best training and experience for cadets. We provide a disservice if we don’t do that to the best of our abilities.”

Capt Hamelin brings her expertise in outdoor sports and teaching to the Cadet Program.

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Capt Aaron Libby

CO, 2509 (Royal Canadian Signals) Army Cadet Corps, Calgary

Registered social worker

< As a captain for Air Canada, Lt Floyd has learned a lot about

communicating clearly.

Lt Brenda Heywood

Standards Officer, School of Music, Vernon Army Cadet Summer Training Centre, Vernon, B. C.

Music specialist, Regional Cadet Support Unit (Pacific)

Civilian distance education music teacher

Lt Heywood has drawn upon her ex-tensive education and music experience to teach music to cadets. “We are given certain aptitudes to develop and share for the betterment of those around us,” says Lt Heywood. “In the Cadet Program, I make use of my years of music experience, performing experi-ence, child-rearing experience and life experience.”

Educated at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Canada and Trinity College of Music in London, Eng., she taught music privately in Canada and Aus-tralia, eventually developing (with her husband) an extremely successful vid-eo learning program serving outback private students in Australia.

Lt Heywood has used her musical skills as the former band officer at

222 (Shuswap) Air Cadet Squadron in Salmon Arm, B. C. and 3063 (Rocky Mountain Rangers) Army Cadet Corps in Enderby, B. C. She also worked as a zone band development officer. Howev-er, her burning zeal is teaching music to individuals, especially cadets. “I believe that when you lift individual cadets, you lift the whole program,” she says. “I be-lieve you build individuals, and a strong band/group/team follows.”

In her current position, Lt Heywood examines all cadet music levels. She also uses her music expertise to instruct and examine during band clinics and the re-gion’s spring music concentration. Her skills have also helped her serve as the standards officer at Vernon for the past 10 years.

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Lt Ken Floyd

Deputy Commanding Officer, 155 (Borden Gray G.C.) Air Cadet Squadron, Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.

Captain, Air Canada Jazz

During his basic officer qualification (BOQ) course, Lt Floyd discovered he already knew much of what he was being taught because he had learned it while training for his civilian flight instructor rating. Ironically, when he returned from his BOQ, he pulled out his old flight instructor handbook and discovered that the section on “how to instruct” had been written by a former staff member of a regional cadet in-structors school.

Lt Floyd also brings to cadets his great love of aviation and ‘aeroplanes’. On occasion, he says he even passes on his knowledge of mechanical things, which he learned as an apprentice auto me-chanic. “I built a cardboard engine cyl-inder once (with several moving parts) to teach cadets how a piston engine works and was able to show them things that were not in their books.”

Lt Floyd says the most enjoyable part of his flying career has been the time he has spent instructing. “In the airline business we do a lot of training—reinforcing in-terpersonal skills, among them how to communicate clearly in the cockpit or as crew,” he says. “I have found many of these tool-box skills to be useful in the Cadet Program—from being able to verbally communicate to being able to see a problem and identify issues to find the cause as well as the solution. This has helped me interact with cadets and other staff. It has also helped me plan activities and functions, as well as develop opera-tions plans and orders.”

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As a distance education music teacher, Brenda Heywood

developed this video learning program.

Lt Heywood during a drums ‘levels test’ with Pte Korby Larson,

3063 (Rocky Mountain Rangers) Army Cadet Corps in

Enderby, B. C.

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2Lt Jim Abbott

Assistant Training Officer, Biathlon and Range Coach, Unit Human Rights Advisor (UHRA), 10 (Kiwanis) Air Cadet Squadron, Timmins, Ont.

Conservation Officer and supervisor of conservation officers, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR)

2Lt Abbott is involved with planning and directing field patrol duties and in-vestigations of Natural Resources-related violations. These violations are related to public safety, habitat damage and poach-ing violations. Public safety includes alco-hol violations, safe boating and forest fire emergencies, to name a few.

So much time spent in various small aircraft during his civilian career has given him knowledge that is useful in Cadets, particularly during training re-lated to aircraft identification, airport layout, safety around aircraft and radio communications.

His outdoor skills, woodsman skills and education in fish, wildlife, and forestry

are a good fit for other skills that cadets use during their cadet experience.

His contacts with the MNR Air Service have enabled him to take cadets to the local MNR hangar for pilot tours of aircraft and explanations of career op-portunities available.

Also, during air survival weekends, his knowledge of bush craft (how and where to establish a shelter, identify habitat types for snaring wildlife for survival and identifying plants for hu-man consumption among other things) has been useful.

His firearms instruction qualification enables him to instruct cadets in the safe use of pellet rifles and help out with the squadron’s new biathlon team. His training and experience have also helped him in his position as UHRA, particularly where inclusiveness and un-derstanding challenges are concerned.

“I feel that conservation officers, es-pecially in northern and smaller com-munities that have cadets, have a lot to offer youth,” says 2Lt Abbott. “In some communities we are the only law en-forcement officers young people know, and we can have a long-lasting effect on them.”

2Lt Abbott has a conservation officer’s knowledge of bush craft that

has been especially useful during air survival weekends with cadets.<

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TRANSFERABLE SKILLS

Professional Development for Cadet Program Leaders


First, let’s review “justifiable discrimi-nation” and the ‘legal test’ for the duty to accommodate.

Justifiable discriminationSome discrimination is justifiable in the Cadet Program, based on bona fide (Lat-in for good faith) requirements such as:

• Medical requirements that may restrict cadets with some medical

conditions from attending certain summer courses for safety and health reasons.

• The allocation of summer course availability by gender, due to the housing facilities available.

• Academic standards for perform-ance that may be difficult for cadets with learning disabilities or mobility issues to meet.

The legal testAs soon as a Cadet Program leader be-comes aware of a potentially discrimi-natory practice, they need to assess whether:

• There is a rational reason for the practice related to cadet training.

• The practice is justified and based on a good faith requirement.

• Accommodation is not possible without causing undue hardship.

OFFICER DEVELOPMENT

…Maximum communication and sensitivity will go a long way.

Duty to accommodate

part threeIn the last two issues, we have discussed our ‘duty to accommodate’ cadets under the Canadian Human Rights Act. This duty (also known as reasonable accommodation) obliges us to examine policies and practices that may limit the opportunities of cadets based on the ‘protected grounds’ of race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, fam-ily status, disability and pardoned conviction. This final article in our series examines our duty to accommodate cadets in the areas of sexual orientation, family status and gender.

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We cannot ter-minate a cadet’s membership simply because she is pregnant.

Capt Cynthia Munro


All three of these conditions are the legal test for the duty to accommodate.

When looking at options for accommo-dation, some hardship is to be expected; however, undue hardship—including an extreme cost, major disruption in training, or a requirement for person-nel or support that would affect morale and/or compromise the safety, rights and/or health of others—is not.

Now, let us look at the three protected grounds of sexual orientation, family status and gender.

Sexual orientationWe often won’t know about a cadet’s sexual orientation until there is an in-cident of harassment or abuse. While freedom from harassment and abuse should be part of our culture at the corps/squadron, the question of ac-commodation is more challenging. We most often group our cadets by gender. This can leave a cadet with gender iden-tity issues or differing sexual orientation feeling very awkward. Many kids who have gender identity issues may eventu-ally undergo sexual reassignment, but their adolescence will be excruciating. A cadet may choose to dress as the op-posite gender. Can we accommodate this cadet?

• Can you give them the uniform of their gender of choice?

• Can you provide sleeping, changing and bathing/hygiene arrangements that will offer privacy for all cadets so that no one is singled out?

• Summer training arrangements will be particularly difficult. Maximum communication and sensitivity will go a long way.

Family statusThe forms cadets are required to fill out when they join limit the amount of information they can provide on their family. I remember once, when I was an officer cadet, I was filling out a clothing card with a cadet’s contact information. I asked her father’s name, and she said, “Unknown”. I didn’t understand what

she had said and asked her to repeat it quite a few times before I finally clued in. Needless to say she was quite em-barrassed. Not my finest moment.

Some cadets live with one parent one week and the other parent (and possibly a step-parent) the next. Do you have a mechanism to collect the contact infor-mation for all the people who care for the child, including when they care for them and where?

GenderWhile we hope that our instruction on Sensible Living and the values instilled in the Cadet Program will prevent ca-dets from making choices that lead to pregnancy, it still happens. If the act that caused the pregnancy did not hap-pen at a cadet activity, we cannot ter-minate a cadet’s membership simply because she is pregnant.

In fact, ask yourself the following ques-tions, to see if accommodation of the cadet is reasonable within the following areas:

A cadet coping with a teenage preg-nancy should be encouraged to pursue her goals as a cadet, which can lead to a successful future. The alternative is to send her out into the community to fend for herself.

These are a few examples of ways that cadets with a variety of charac-teristics can be accommodated. Put yourself in your cadet’s shoes and ask yourself how you would want to be treated in the same situation. When in doubt, “Dial before you dig” and phone your detachment or Regional Human Rights Advisor and ask for advice. With a little compassion and under-standing, all cadets can enjoy the best the Cadet Program has to offer.

Capt Munro is the commanding officer of 810 Air Cadet Squadron in Edmonton.

The content and opinions ex-pressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Canadian Forces.

Put yourself in your cadet’s shoes and ask yourself how you would want to be treated in the same situation.

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A cadet may choose to dress as the

opposite gender. Can we accommodate

this cadet?

• Can you control the activities that the pregnant cadet engages in, with her consent and involvement?

• Can you provide a uniform to ac-commodate her body?

• Can you excuse her from some ac-tivities like sports or drill due to preg-nancy-related illness, and eventually, childbirth?

• Once the baby is born, can you wel-come her return to cadet training (pro-vided the little one is looked after)?

• Can you be flexible so she can ful-fil some child-care needs, including breast-feeding.

A cadet with gender identity issues or differing sexual orientation may feel awkward.

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The first thing I did was review my priorities, as well as my personal goals and intentions.

2Lt Sally NgVIEWPOINT

My goal for the past four years has been to juggle everything that is going on in my life without crashing and burning. Being a ‘student’ is busy enough. Being a CIC officer at the same time is even busier. I want to enjoy success in my CIC officer ‘career’, but not at the expense of my civilian pursuits. To do this, I have found some rules to live by that create balance in my life.

I have worked with a squadron for the past four years and have helped out regularly during gliding season at the New Brunswick gliding site since 2005. On the civilian side, I recently graduat-ed from Mount Allison University and will soon complete my commercial pi-lot’s license at Moncton Flight College. During this time, I have also worked two part-time jobs and have participat-ed in many extra-curricular activities, including competing nationally on the university’s varsity badminton team.

When I first started university, many as-pects of my life were colliding. I couldn’t quite make it all work, but I did not want to cut out any activity. My sched-ule needed an extensive overhaul.

The first thing I did was review my pri-orities, as well as my personal goals and intentions. School had always been my priority and would continue to be so. At the same time, I knew I wanted to continue to work with cadets.

Identify and share your intentions Having clear ideas of my intentions and making those intentions known to others helped a lot!

When I started working regularly with a squadron, I talked to my command-ing officer (CO) about my busy sched-ule and the time I thought I was able to commit to Cadets. I decided to commit at least one to two days per week to the squadron. On weekends, my commit-ment would be to the gliding site.

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2Lt Ng at Re-gional Gliding School (Atlan-tic) in Debert, N. S. (Photo by WO Jerry Kean, Land Force Atlantic Area Public Affairs)

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Don’t be afraid to ask for helpAs a young CIC officer, I often feel I am being put to the test. The pressure is on and others are waiting to see what I can do. With so much to accomplish, I sometimes feel pushed into a corner. When this happens, I need to remind myself that others are not there to test me; rather, they are there to support me when I need it. It is expected that young officers will look for guidance from more experienced personnel. Don’t be afraid to ask for it. Others will respect you a lot more for having the guts to ask for help than to have something turn out badly. Also, don’t ever feel as if you are the only one who needs help; many of us do, and many officers will lend a helping hand if asked.

Do the things you love Your interest in something plays a big part in whether or not you are produc-tive and efficient. Do the things you love. When you are engaged, produc-tivity and efficiency follow. If you are having fun doing something then you are less likely to think of it as ‘work’ and less likely to procrastinate.

At the squadron, I took on the responsi-bilities of the administration officer, the flying scholarship ground school instruc-tor and the unit human rights advisor.

Because I made my personal commit-ments clear in the beginning, my CO was a lot more understanding and knew exactly what to expect from me. Taking on the administration position also gave me the flexibility to work on my own time. Knowing the extent of my availability and making it clear to others made my life easier, but it was also appreciated by others.

Don’t procrastinateProcrastination is one of the most com-mon challenges people face. Not only does it make you inefficient, it also stresses you and others around you. We all have our moments of leaving things until the last minute, but I have learned that it is best to just do things now—as often as I can! Prioritizing is key, and a list of priorities does wonders for me. Procrastinating is one of the biggest barriers to balance in life. If you don’t finish one thing, you can’t move on to the rest.

And consider other perspectives. Re-member that negative attitudes are highly contagious. While you may dis-like something, others may love it. Ulti-mately, someone else may be better for the job.

When it comes to balance in your life, your health is the bottom line. You can fill your plate to overflowing, but if it threat-ens your physical and mental health, you won’t be able to do anything.

Take time to reflect on the things you must do and add the things you really want to do. Then evaluate how things are going. Exercise, eat well and vent when you need to. I also try to schedule some “Sally time” to keep myself sane.

These are some easy rules I try to live by to accomplish my goals. If you are a student and a CIC officer, you may find some of these suggestions helpful to reduce the stress in your life. They certainly work for me.

2Lt Ng was an officer with 681 (Tantramar) Air Cadet Squadron in Sackville, N. B., and helped out at the gliding site until last fall when she began to participate in the 2009-2010 Canada World Youth Exchange in Peterbor-ough, Ont. and Tanzania, Africa. (See News and Notes)

Knowing the extent of my availability and making it clear to others made my life easier….

2Lt Ng and this issue’s Bravo! nomination, Capt Karine LeBlanc, prepare the tow rope and rings for a gliding trip from Debert, N. S. to Miramichi, N. B.

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Lt Diego Alvarez-OssaOFFICER TRAINING

Courses/certifications for Army expedition officers

As we progress through expedition train-ing beyond the zone level to regional and national expeditions, however, higher-level skills are valuable to conduct the training and, especially, to ensure the safety of officers and cadets.

Fortunately, a number of recognized courses/certificates are available through reputable civilian providers. The focus here is mostly on courses that pertain to moving water, as that is a particu-larly strong discipline in Central Region expeditions.

If you are interested in moving water, here are some courses you might want to consider taking. The prices and du-ration discussed below pertained to the courses I took.

Swiftwater Rescue Technician/ Whitewater Rescue Technician Levels 1 and 2

• SRT / WRT 1, $375, three days

• SRT / WRT 2, $250, two days

• Certified by Rescue 3 International

Wilderness Advanced First Aid or Wilderness First Responder

• WAFA, $475, four days

• WFR, $675, nine days

• WAFA to WFR bridge, $475, four days

• Certified by Wilderness Medical Associates

Also keep in mind transportation and the following additional costs:

• $10/night—camping (bring your own tent)

• $50/day—food

• $25/day—equipment (helmet, portable flotation device and full wetsuit)

My experience is limited to Eastern On-tario and Western Quebec; however, the above courses represent North American standards and are available throughout Canada. Contact your regional expedi-tion training officer for information on course providers in your region.

Considerable cost is associated with these civilian courses. However, I hope the costs won’t deter you from develop-ing your expedition skills in these areas.

As Army expedition officers, we are fortunate that much of our training is provided through the military. Regional cadet instructors schools give us many of the necessary skills through the land environmental training course, abseil instructor, basic canoe instructor, canoe trip leader and moving water leader courses. In Central Region, the regional cadet support unit also offers us the mountain bike instructor and mountain bike mechanic level 1 courses.

Students on a WRT 1 course last May carry a ‘casualty’ during a shallow water group crossing in rapids of the Lower Madawaska River, near Renfrew, Ont.

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If you are new to expedition and/or are having difficulty funding civilian cours-es, strongly consider starting out with the military courses to gain employment as a specialist at a local corps/squadron, a cadet summer training centre, or an expedition centre. Perhaps this employ-ment will help you fund civilian courses!

Having taken the above courses, I can attest to their tremendous personal and professional value in terms of skill development and, ultimately, safety.

Lt Alvarez-Ossa is an active member of the Regional Expedition Centres in Central Re-gion, as well as a Gold Star instructor and Unit Human Rights Advisor for 2814 (Hamilton Service Battalion) Army Cadet Corps in Hamilton, Ont.

As we progress through expedition training beyond the zone level to regional and national expeditions…higher-level skills become necessary.


Cadence winter 2010

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