Group Chemistry, or lack thereof?

[RLM10_2_06]

I got to take a peek at the new staff positions for my corps today, and I have to admit, it scares me in ways even the scariest horror movies can't. It's not so much the people in the positions; most people are in good places and will perform well. It's where they are in relation to others. To cite an example, the new Inspector General, who I will be utilizing very strongly, does not get along with many members of my operations AND command staff and has a big head already; this person is a very strong cadet and would do wonders so high up, yet at the same time, I'm concerned that biases within the corps are going to ruin the huge potential we have for greatness right now. I've tried before to make the cadet staff realize that this is BUSINESS and not a matter of being buddy buddy, but it hasn't worked for the last three years, so I doubt it will work now. What suggestions do you have for fixing this situation, or at least having some sort of contingency plan in the event that people's egos clash and nothing can get done?

[TheLegalShark]

I would say chalk it up as a life lesson. In my AS-IV year I was the Wing Vice Commander, the Wing Commander and I HATED each other for various reasons, some of which were very serious. It caused a serious rift in the unit that ended when he was fired from his position. In JROTC you are dealing with high schoolers and that brings with it all the immaturity and rash thinking that goes with being 18 and younger. With that in mind, some people are just incompatible with each other no matter how old or mature they are.

[DoubleHelix]

I can relate with you. During my AS-III year (last in program), the competition started heating up among the junior class for the open positions. The majority of seniors weren't participating much, so it opened some huge doors for juniors to get senior staff positions.

I wound up at the Services Squadron post due to being in good standing with the new cadet Wing Commander. However, our SASI hand picked our IG (a cadet who I had gone through the entire program with.) Now I knew he was a good pick, this was the best cadet (as far as being a cadet goes, he was rather arrogant and we tended to differ on our views of EVERYTHING) in the whole unit.

A lot of people believed the promotion was due to brown nosing only though. It led to a lot of the seniors not being cooperative with him, and a lot of disdain from the juniors who thought they might've been more deserving. This is also spread to the younger cadets who were more involved with the program, mostly from the bad mouthing by the upperclassmen.

The cadet was promoted to Wing Commander at the start of the senior year (and had I remained, I probably would've been in line for the Vice spot, which would've been good for COC purposes.) I really wish I had been there to see those staff meetings.

The point in case though, and the Shark hit the nail on the head, is it's highschool. No kid wants to be bossed around, much less by someone their age. Some take to it, some don't. Try your best to explain to them WHY it's beneficial if the unit is cooperative, and if that doesn't work, you might have to take the issue up with your instructors.

Best of luck, keep us posted.