willy said:
This is a big issue that I complain about every time I get tasked to the school. The last time I was there I had 8 dets in the field and a total of 9 qualified drivers to split between them, and this was on a QL5 course. If 2 of my drivers had gotten sick, gone home or whatever we would have been in trouble. It was also a significant issue because of the requirement to get adequate rest for drivers- if 1 guy is doing all the driving then he's the only one that needs to get any sleep, and the rest of the guys end up working non-stop to accommodate him. The requirement for 404's exists for a reason and it isn't necessarily correct to say that a waiver will be granted: it may be, if the school thinks they can get away with it. When my guys start talking about the possibility of getting waivers to go on their courses I tell them that they're putting the school in a difficult position by even asking, and that if they have to ask for a waiver then they shouldn't count on being allowed to go.
I second that, totally.
This is exactly what happened to me... except I was on my QL5 course. And in the school's infinite wisdom they combined the QL3 and QL5 course for the final field EX. I was supposed to be the det commander but none of by QL3 crew had their 404's for LSVW, so I was also the driver. I'm sure every sig-op knows CFSCE's strict adherence to doing everything by the book (ie wearing goggles while pounding in tent pegs :
) so naturally I HAD to get 8 hours of sleep and log it, or get charged (And they were checking). By all accounts I should have been the one working the most shifts and giving my boys time to relax but instead they had to be up all-night without mentorship (staff didn't do the runthroughs the week before on the QL3 course). Naturally, if you don't know what you are supposed to do at night, 'sh!t starts to roll down hill' when the instructors come by. My 8 hrs became more like 5 with a MCpl for an alarm clock. "Why isn't your cam draped?", "Why are your troops asleep in the cab?", "Why are your logs not filled out?", "Why did your troops eat in the cab!" etc... Of course it was their mistake my fault, and now I had to go over there and yell at them. While I was mad as hell at their performance I knew their intentions were not malicious -- they simply did not know why they had to do the tasks I had assigned to them the night before. I'm of the school of thought that a good mentor is with his troops participating and explaining the actions before giving responsibility over to them. Just telling them what to do is poor leadership in my books, and will teach them nothing.
By day three I was bagged and even thought of quiting, but to the tremendous commendment of my boys, they caught on fast and we went from one of the slowest det set-up times to one of the fastest. A testament to teamwork and how much of a numpty I would be without the support of others. One in particular was a freaking machine, he pounded the vixam mast into solid rock (the pegs are still there ;D )
I did my best to go through the rounds and setup stages with my QL3 det members, and prepare them for their tests, while at least maintaining a minimum standard for my own responsibilities. But the fact that I had to be the driver and get the mandatory 8 hrs of sleep was a HUGE impedance on our performance and prevented me from properly overseeing the det.
That's why you should do your best to get 404s BEFORE your QL3s. Otherwise you're only screwing yourself, others, and will turn your det commander into nervous wreck -- unable to sleep at night knowing he needn't bother with an alarm clock.
A