Making the Most of the Time You Invest in Appleseed

[sleepy]

Regrets; I've had a few....

We're all busy. Work, kids, church, home...no shortage of demands on our time. Yet somehow, Appleseed is able to find heroes who put their country first; desperately needed heroes. I'd like to talk to you heroes about promotion.

As you know, Appleseed pay is karma, not dollars. We invest time in America, in the hope that there will be an America for our posterity to inherit. Why the heck should we invest more time and effort into promotion?

Every hat color you gain means you can do more with the time you're already investing.

An IIT/orange hat can assist, but not legally run the line unsupervised, no matter how many shoots under his/her belt. As an IIT, one is in the Instructor pipeline and expected to work towards promotion. Seriously don't want a red hat? Consider a blue hat.

An Applecore/blue hat can assist with staff functions, both at and away from shoots. Generally, Applecore does not work the line (with Applecore/RSO as an exception), and does not require a Rifleman patch (Applecore/RSO again the exception). A blue hat is not expected to work towards promotion, but may become an IIT if possessing a Rifleman patch.

A Instructor/red hat can both run the line, and supervise. With a waiver, a red hat can run a shoot.

A Shoot Boss/green hat is an Instructor who can run shoots, promote IITs, and establish new shoots.

A designated Shoot Boss is an Instructor who can run shoots, establish new shoots, and promote Instructors. A dSB can also run advanced shoots such as KDs.

Senior and Master Instructors can do specific advanced tasks, such as run IBCs and RBCs, in addition to more routine tasks.

You get the idea. The problem is that more advanced hat levels are scarcer the higher we go. That means fewer people are available to handle certain jobs only they can do.

There's also often a correlation between age and hat color. The more advanced colors tend to be older in age, and we really need to be thinking about the next generation NOW in order to grow and sustain the program.

Wyoming Appleseed has a lot to be proud of. Per capita, we hold more shoots that any other state, and put more shooters on the line than any other state. But the number of cadre we have to do this is scary-small; eighteen cadre have worked at least one shoot since 2019 (25 shoots total!), blessedly supported by a lot of our sisters and brothers from other states.

The breakdown of rank available in Wyoming is: 8 IITs of various levels, 3 full Instructors, 4 Shoot Bosses, and 3 (all worn and showing our age LOL!) designated Shoot Bosses.

While what we few have accomplished in the past is commendable, it is not sustainable. Much of this is my personal fault. While I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to do as many shoots as possible, I wasn't focused on the long haul and getting promotions out whenever possible. It's only now as SC that I'm staring the error of my earlier ways in the face.

We need more cadre, and more of all hat colors. That means shoot bosses and dSBs need to promote whenever possible AND appropriate. That means Instructors have to start working on that green hat whenever you know you'll be working with a dSB. It means IITs need to get active about bringing PCs to shoots working on that red hat. And most importantly, we all have to make our shooters on the line understand the urgency of the mission, and start looking at our shooters as future instructors.

Everyone; make sure shooters know the importance of being signed up on the forum (for many reasons). If someone isn't on the forum, we can't give them a hat/promote. I messed this one up all too often.

Those of us potentially eligible for promotion have to make ourselves noticed as a priority; tough when shooters are demanding attention. Fight for that chance to teach and get items ticked off your PC.

PC not completed? That's OK; get the shoot boss to sign off what can be, GET YOUR PC BACK, and bring it to your next shoot. While at home, download and study the manual, and read the forum. Don't be afraid of history!

Shoot bosses, we have to follow up on those who have agreed to become an IIT. All too often, we give out a hat and forget about it, losing both a hat and a future instructor. Make sure you have a good phone number and email address! Follow up, getting them signed up on the forum, getting them to do the IIT0 form, and walking them around TIPS. Call and invite the new IIT0 to your next shoot, and refer them to other shoots. Leadership is crucial; not just to retain them, but to teach them what to do when they're wearing a green hat.

You've heard how the job isn't over until the paperwork is done? That's especially true with new cadre.

Also, keep an eye peeled for shooters and cadre with specialized skills, like IT. They can be helpful both on the line, and in staff functions. No Rifleman patch yet; no problem if they can take a blue hat, helping off of the line or even away from shoots. Can't do weekends or Sundays? A blue hat can help at all levels of state business during the week, evenings.

These are mostly lessons I learned by doing it wrong. Learn from my mistakes, and don't repeat them.

We all have to take looking for the future (cadre) of the program, and especially training our replacements, seriously.

[Maximum Ordinate]

Morning, sleepy.

Don't be hard on yourself.  Lots of these lessons are things we figure out as we go.

Thanks for stepping up as SC.  Wyoming is lucky to have you.

v/r
MO