Recruiting & Retention Blog

Posted on March 9, 2016 at 12:00 AM by Curt LaFond

Where will you find the biggest cadet and composite squadrons in CAP? Manhattan? L.A.? On a massive Air Force base?

Nope. One of our biggest cadet units is located in Concord, NH, (pop. 42,695). For years, I've watched this squadron thrive, despite it being located in a small city that doesn't have a particularly strong military or aero-industry presence. Last week, this is what their open house looked like. That's 109 newcomers / guests in attendance.

How do they do it? Of course it's a team effort, but one of the unit's key people happens to be CAP's recruiting and retention manager, Lt Col Darin Ninness. "Nin" knows a lot about recruiting, and is one of the people who forced me to change my attitude 180-degrees so that now I'm a big believer in "pipeline" or "cohort" recruiting. Check out the national recruiting team's blog. Read up. Lots of great, proven ideas there.