<p>i personally wouldn't be suprised if AC232323 WAS THE ONE PERSON that petko beat out lol ;)</p>
<p>In response to AC:</p>
<p>As a former chief clerk, I'll say that the position is one of the BEST ways to get an experience with leadership, ESPECIALLY in the 3-degree year that offers next to no opportunities. The very nature of the job is getting a bunch of college-age kids to do something none of them want to do and to do it well enough that the squadron runs smoothly and impresses its leaders. Handling the CQ schedule and sign-ups puts you in a position to have an impact on the schedules of EVERY sophomore in the squadron. You handle matters that affect all of your classmates, and they depend on you to consider their needs and requests and to accommodate them. You are held personally responsible for the daily operations of the squadron's CQ and the impression the squadron gives to visiting officers. Doing the job well takes initiative, action, patience, empathy, and and understanding of the standards.</p>
<p>If that job description doesn't require some leadership and organization, I don't know what does. Many define leadership as having the influence, understanding, and ability to make your followers accomplish tasks they may not want to do or may even intentionally avoid...to get them to do what YOU want them to do...and do it well.</p>
<p>Now, there is one other important leadership opportunity given to every 3-degree and almost always wasted: being a coach to a freshman. Many 3-degrees start out their coaching relationship with great intentions and end up stopping dead in their tracks in what started out quite promising. Apathy, business, or laziness have all taken their toll on a freshman's development, and I will admit that I could have done so much more as a coach, and regret not seizing the opportunities I had. No 4-dig is perfect, and even the best freshman can still improve on something. </p>
<p>To the incoming 3-digs: Direct one-on-one motivational practice is invaluable as a leadership experience, and one of the very few you will get. Don't waste it.</p>
<p>AC232323,
You make such bold claims about the type of leaders that certain people will become, almost as if you are in a position to have the persective to judge that. However, I looked through some previous posts of yours, and from all indications, you're in the class of 2011, meaning you still have 3 long years before you even get commissioned. The Academy is full of opportunities to lead others, and this starts at the very beginning. You're doing an incredible disservice to yourself if you look down on positions in which you could hone your own leadership skills because you think they are beneath you. Life's too short to be cynical, seriously.</p>
<p>AC - Stellar job forgetting everything you were taught this year...let me guess...Apt pro, Con pro, or Ac pro? At least you got pimp down. Congrats. Enjoy BCT-prep.</p>
<p>Whoa whoa whoa now folks, let's not get carried away. Let me set the record straight here:</p>
<p>• Three people interviewed in my squadron, and two were selected. It's true that I only beat out one person.
• Chief Clerk is not an incredible position of power, and it shouldn't be. We just finished freshman year here - I'm not looking to command the Wing. In a choice between an introductory position and no job at all, however, the choice seems fairly obvious, doesn't it?
• Nowhere did I claim that CC is the most important job there is, that I'll now surely be an amazing officer, or that CQ is not our primary responsibility. This whole deal started with hornet offering a simple "congrats." I surely hope that his good intentions did not come across as boa****lness or arrogance on my part...</p>
<p>Thanks for your support.</p>
<p>EDIT: Apparently, to boast is obscene. The censored word should read boast.fulness.</p>
<p>Pete good job. First be proud of being selected (you deserve the moment). Second do a good job ( I have no doubt you will). Third yes it has been spinning out of control a bit and you deserve even more congradulations for attempting to bring some control back to the situation (the mark of a leader). Hopefully all will follow the example you have set.</p>
<p>AC I hope things work out for you too. If you are having that bad moment I hope it will pass quickly. If there is more I hope youo have a friend that will help you through. Mostly I hope you can share in the success of your brother Pete, and be happy for him too.</p>
<p>Look AC, my main point is this: I didn't ask for praise. I didn't ask for congratulations. I didn't ask for 4 degrees to be sacrificed in my name. I didn't even view my selection for the position as worth mentioning, which is why I didn't bring it up. It's not Squad Comm, it's not Wing Staff, and I never claimed it was. What it is is a start. Realize that our rank is now Cadet Staff Sergeant - barely an NCO, and yet just beginning to lead. That's the reality of three degree year.</p>
<p>So to you AC, have a great summer, and to the rest, thank you and good night.</p>
<p>brave petko bravo! encore!</p>
<p>if only ur vollyball skills matched... haha. j/k. see ya next year</p>
<p>Reading is so much more fun in the Summer.........</p>
<p>"let me guess...Apt pro, Con pro, or Ac pro?" --gasdoc
gasdoc-nope two merit lists no probations and i got jump this summer. way to jump to a conclusion without knowing jack tho.</p>
<p>To eagle:
I didn't mean to attack you personally, just to inform people the chief clerk is a joke of a position. But yes it is a job and one of the few jobs for a 3 dig. I'll leave this thread alone and let it die like it should without even commenting on some of the dumber statements made ("In the future, please refrain from criticizing ANY position unless you are willing to step up and take on the job yourself." no comment on the holes you could poke in that argument).</p>
<p>AC, </p>
<p>I hope for the best for you. Sincerely, I do. I do know that in your future career, no matter what you do in the AF, you will be given extra duties as part of your job. Are some of them "a joke of a position"? Absolutley! (Snacko in your first ops squadron comes to mind. But heaven help the new Lt who can't get it right!) If you want to have a succesful career, you will apply yourself with the same dedication and level of commitment as your primary job (which, in your case, is finishing school).
I do have some serious concerns about your attitude in regards to these "jokes of a job". I suggest you allow yourself to be a little open-minded in your assessment of every position, and act like the excellent team member I'm sure you can be. You'll only get one shot to make your first impression in your new career field. Screw it up, and it can haunt you for the next 10-15 years. I have seen it happen.</p>
<p>But enjoy your summer, get yourself ready to excel next year, and keep striving for the best. Best of luck to you next year.</p>
<p>I thought the worst thing I said was "at least you got pimp down." Thanks for setting the record straight.</p>
<p>AC has shown some wisdom here. I agree that we let this thread die out before a flame war commences...</p>
<p>AC just out of curiosity why are you trying to inflame everyone?</p>
<p>Congrats on jump</p>
<p>
[quote]
i got jump this summer
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Yet, that doesn't give you any right to denegrate anyone else.</p>
<p>Be an officer, salute sharply and give respect...gasdoc gave his opinion (if I am correct he has 1st hand knowledge of the inner workings at the AFA)... your attitude as far as I read was condescending (my sincere apology if I read into this more than I should have)</p>
<p>I will state again the AFA is looking for the best you are def. 1 of them, what is so horrible to say to Petko congrats? What is the need to argue? </p>
<p>Let the thread die, and let us prove to the world that the AF has the best to offer</p>
<p>AC,</p>
<p>Be very careful of what you write</p>
<p>
[quote]
let it die like it should without even commenting on some of the dumber statements made ("In the future, please refrain from criticizing ANY position unless you are willing to step up and take on the job yourself." no comment on the holes you could poke in that argument
[/quote]
</p>
<p>The man you just slammed has @ 2500 fighter hours, and is an O-5, he is also a DG for his LIFT, FTU and SOS class. I am not sure of how many hours he has for combat, and wll not add in the amt of time he was deployed to Iraq, but I can say that without a doubt as an O-5 he gets it.</p>
<p>FWIW he will be ticked at me for taking you out on the carpet...however, just so you know...I hope that you find a mate like me who is willing to say you need to not jump</p>
<p>I wouldn't go as far to say that ANY job is a joke, it's more of a matter of the person doing it and how well they perform. I don't care if I get to my first assignment and they give me a broom and tell me I'm the new janitor...I'll be a damn good one if I have to! Let the CCs do their job, it's a lot more work then what you'll be doing. And being a firstie now just means the NCOs get to do all my work, I can't complain!</p>
<p>Other than graduating and doing the best you can at the Academy, I am not really convinced defining success this way really matters. All of the current cadets have already achieved something very special. With that achievement you will get great reponsibility (this much I know). </p>
<p>I do know from my many mistakes and years of learning from failures that you will need each other, and will need to support each other. Some of you may become pilots with the chance to drive F-22's and F-35's, others will be Logistics officers trying to find that priority part in a large warehouse so that plane can fly the next sortie. Some will be Civil Engineers designing the layout of that god forsaken camp in some dung hole of a country (lets hope you get the latrine and the kitchen placed in the right location). Some will be the EOD officer guiding his Airmen and NCO's through disarming that hung ordinace on the plane so the pilot can get clear safely or return to his mission. Point is you can define success at USAFA by what position you get in the squadron, what your class rank is, and how well you are liked, and those are all healthy competitive things, but in the end success is really doing your best job there and joining the fight as the best officer you can be.</p>
<p>Well said DS. Success is ALWAYS defined by getting the mission accomplished. ALL OF US, even those in the "joke jobs", have a role to play when it comes to that.</p>
<p>And, BTW, not too ticked at Pima as she feared above. Just a stern face, a gentle wag of my finger in her direction, and then a kiss on the forecranium for loving me to the point she felt she needed to say her mind. I never would have made it this far without her :)</p>
<p>The other key to success in the AF (one not mentioned so much): a loving and caring spouse who will ALWAYS be your support system, and understands the sacrifices your service constantly asks of your entire family. I've seen too many others fail or give up becuase they didn't have the support from their spouses Pima has always given me. I've said it before and I'll say it until my last breath; I was lucky she choose to marry a simpleton like me.</p>
<p>wow!! nicely done mr.bullet :)</p>