1. Your overall Duty is to see that all the pilots under you are active. You are to Lead them in such a way that they grow to respect you as 
   a person as well as a Leader. You are to do all you can to see that yours and their piloting skills grow. You are to stay in contact with 
   the pilots on a regular basis and attempt to build good relations with them. You are to be there for them when they need a friend, some 
   advice, some help or anything. Just be a good Leader and they will respect you.

2. With your new post comes new challenges that will surely test you as an effective leader. It is assumed that you performed well as a 
   Flight Leader, otherwise you would not be facing those new challenges as a XO. Even with those assumptions, it is vital that you regularly 
   review the responsibilities guide for Flight Leaders so that you can ensure that they are carrying out their duties properly.

3. As Flight Leader it was your duty to train your new pilots, now you are also duty bound to train your Flight Leaders. It is important to 
   learn from those who have gone before you. Your own memories of how you felt in many situations can be a valuable tool for you in your 
   decisions. Remember those things that your FL and XO did when you were a pilot. Take your lessons from those things that gained your 
   respect for them and build on it. In training your Flight Leaders you train the future of TFA. Your duties in this respect include, but 
   are not limited to:

a. Chain of Command. 
 
   THE CHAIN OF COMMAND ALLOWS A LARGE ORGANIZATION TO FUNCTION PROPERLY WITHOUT ANY ONE PERSON BEING FORCED TO ABSORB AN OVERWHELMING 
   WORKLOAD. IF USED PROPERLY, THE ORGANIZATION WILL RUN SMOOTHLY AND EFFICIENTLY WITH FEW PROBLEMS. IF THE CHAIN OF COMMAND IS ABUSED OR 
   IGNORED, THEN THE ORGANIZATION WILL BEGIN TO BREAK DOWN AND SENIOR PERSONNEL WILL QUICKLY BECOME LOADED DOWN WITH MORE WORK THAN THEY CAN 
   POSSIBLY HANDLE ALONE. IN TFA THE STRUCTURE IS SIMPLE.

PILOTS REPORT TO FL, FL TO XO, XO TO CO, CO TO WC, WC TO FA, FA TO CNC. THIS ALLOWS PROBLEMS TO BE SOLVED AT THE LOWEST POSSIBLE LEVEL, 
WHILE ALLOWING THE BIG PROBLEMS TO GO AS FAR UP THE CHAIN AS NECESSARY TO GET RESOLVED.

You must ensure your Flight Leaders understand and follow the chain of command. You must also remember that the chain works both ways. If a 
pilot approaches you with a problem that could be handled by the FL you should guide the pilot in that direction. This does not mean that as 
XO you should ignore the needs of the pilots. It does mean that you have a new challenge that will require careful consideration before 
proceeding. If you repeatedly allow pilots to "go around" their Flight Leader, then YOU have rendered the chain useless. You must always be 
cautious not to contradict or undermine your Flight Leaders. You are no longer a FL, you are the XO. Guide the Flight Leaders, train them, 
but let them do their job.

b. Performance of duty. As a Flight Leader you were charged with ensuring the pilots understood and fulfilled their obligations to TFA. As 
   XO you now have the added responsiblity of ensuring that your Flight Leaders fulfill their obligations to TFA and more importantly, to 
   their pilots. This may sometimes test your abilities as a leader. You must allow the Flight Leader to run his Flight Group, but at the 
   same time you must not allow the pilots to be neglected. If a FL is not properly discharging his duties to TFA and to the pilots, you are 
   well advised to first assume that the FL does not fully understand those duties. Train first, then you will know exactly what the FL has 
   been taught to do. If this does not correct the problem, you must remember what you learned as a FL, 
   "praise in public, criticize in private". This rule is more important to you now than it ever was before. If you criticize a FL in a 
   public place, then you have not only embarassed the FL, you have also undermined his ability to effectively lead his flight group. 

c. Leadership. It can be assumed by your promotion to XO that you have been a reasonably successful leader. Do not take this for granted. 
   You should look on this as a new challenge to your leadership abilities. A true leader never stops learning new skills. When you decide 
   that you know all there is to know and you can learn no more, it is time for you to consider doing something else, because you are no 
   longer going to be an effective leader.

4. It is your duty to check the Comlink at LEAST every other day. As XO it would be in your best interest and in the best interests of your 
   Squadron to check it daily, several times a day if possible. Many times Senior Officers make posts that are intended to "Reach the Masses" 
   since Mass emails do NOT always work. For this reason, if no other, you should make every attempt to check it as often as possible. It is 
   also your duty to monitor for inappropriate posts by members of your Squadron. If a post of this nature is made by one of your Flight 
   Leaders, then you should immediately have a "discussion" with that FL. If it is made by a pilot, remember the chain of command and make 
   sure that the pilot's FL is aware of the problem and takes appropriate action.

5. When your Squadron receives a new pilot, Send them a welcome letter stating who you are and what you expect from them. Your letter should 
   contain the name and e-mail of the Flight Leader assigned to the new pilot. Make your expectations clear, but ensure that the letter makes 
   the new pilot feel welcome. You must also ensure that the FL for the new pilot is aware of the assignment and sends a welcome to the pilot.
   That letter and all letters you send out as an Executive Officer need to be in the proper format.(See E-Mail Format)I'd suggest creating a 
   standard welcome letter so that you will have it available for future mailings.

6. You must ensure that your Flight Leaders are well versed in ICQ and mIRC, and that they are helping the new pilots get "up to speed".

7. If you have not done this previously, you should add all members of your squadron to your ICQ as well as any other TFA you already have 
   there. I rename all TFA pilots on my ICQ in the following way:

TFA Bobba/WCII          TFA Nimrokon/SL/Omicron
TFA Hero/CnC            TFA Puttz/XO/Iota
TFA Megalodon/FL/Zeta

You should also add all your squadron members to your address book in your E-mail program so that mailing to them will be easy.

8. It is your duty to collect the results from the weekly practices that your Flight Leaders should be holding. You are to collect them and 
   when you have received them all, organize them and send to your Squad Leader for review. You should provide guidance to the Flight Leaders 
   concerning what you expect them to accomplish in the training sessions. Remember, once again, you should tell them what you require, but 
   it is the Flight Leaders job to decide the best way for his flight group to fulfill your expectations.

9. It is your duty to send a report to your Squad Leader at least once a week reporting on the status of the Squadron. You are to comment on
   Practices, Conduct, Inactivity, Compliments and anything else you feel is worth reporting about.

10. You are to perform any additional duties that your Squadron Leader may inform you to carry out.

11. The responsibility to train your replacement is greater now than ever before. You are now responsible for the proper training of an 
    entire Squadron. Somewhere in that Squadron is the future XO. Train them all to be your replacement and you will find your new challenge 
    to be a rewarding one.

GOOD LUCK XO!

Note: TFA has initiated a "Leave" Program. This is where a SL or XO may take a ONE WEEK Leave Of Absence and the other will take his spot 
      during that time. This is to allow you to be able to have some "Down/Free Time" from your duties as SL or XO. 

Please do not abuse this program or it may be revoked. Abuse is Constantly taking Leaves one after the other.


~Site Updated by Senior Pilot Seigram