The Command Staff Responsibilities
"The Only Hard Day was Yesterday!"
The AMI is a "BIG DEAL." To ensure that your unit, cadets, and the administration know how important it is. The AMI will be conducted as follows.
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Provide and follow a schedule for the day. Ensure cadets are excused from classes to participate, especially cross-enrolled cadets. Ensure your Cadet Staff is available for extended periods to participate in the additional required portions of the AMI.
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An in-brief with the principal is not required/desired, but an out-brief at the end of the AMI with one of the designated administrators is mandatory.
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Uniform. The uniform for AMI is Service Dress Blue (or service equivalent) for the Area Manager, Instructors, and all cadets officers and chiefs, and the Navy Service Uniform for all other cadets. Any deviation from this must be approved by the Area Manager and failure to comply will result in a significantly lowered grade. Foul weather jackets, in lieu of the SDB (or service equivalent), are not authorized for instructors. Local modifications to cadet uniforms are not allowed for the AMI and cadets will be evaluated strictly according to the Cadet Field Manual requirements.
Personnel Inspection (PI)
The PI will be conducted by the Battalion/Company Commander, along with the staff and any guest instructors, with the Area Manager observing. The PI should mimic the weekly uniform inspection conducted by the unit.
The Basic In Place Drill
Basic In-Place Drill will be conducted as part of the PI. The following sequence is mandatory with a five-second pause between each command:
(1) Parade Rest (6) About Face
(2) Attention (7) About Face
(3) Left Face (8) Cover
(4) Right Face (9) Hand Salute
(5) Uncover (10) Ready, Two
Plan Ahead!
Do your Operational Risk Management (ORM) plan for the Personnel Inspection. Cadets frequently pass out during the inspection, so do all you can to prevent it. Encourage hydration, relaxing/locking knees, and have Platoon Commanders execute the commands of right/left face to keep cadets moving while waiting for others to complete. Do not keep them in formation for long periods of times and be prepared for those that do pass out. Have a plan if a cadet does pass out, units that appear unprepared or confused will have scores for ORM lowered.
Awards.
The Area Manager will personally hand out “Bravo Zulu” awards to cadets designated by you, if desired. This is for you to plan and have prepared. Identify the cadets throughout the year and have the awards ready to present. This is also a good time to give out advancements and promotions.
Cadet Staff Briefing.
For cadets that are briefing, they should convey what they have accomplished in the unit and in high school, future plans after high school, and most importantly, a concise relationship of what their goals relative to their staff position are, and how they intend to accomplish them (or how they have accomplished them). They should also provide information on their team and unit’s accomplishments. A Cadets should explain what they do for the program. ADMIN should brief the number of cadets in the program by NS level, by grade level, by gender, and demographic background. Attendance of the Principal, Superintendent or a representative of the Superintendent, Senior Guidance Counselor, Guidance Counselors, and parents is desired. This will afford the cadets a great public speaking experience. This is NOT a private briefing. The Cadet Staff should close the briefing with a short review of High Interest items as required by reference (a).
Cadet Professionalism.
Please watch for extreme anxiety on the part of your cadets and defuse it where necessary. Cadets should understand the entire AMI is a chance for them to show off their abilities and accomplishments. AMI should be a demonstration of the concept of TEAMWORK in action.
Administrative Inspection.
The cadets responsible for keeping inventories and cadet records should be standing by to guide the Area Manager through their part of the inspection. Don’t leave your cadets to take the blame for something that is not up to standards. If you know of issues with your programs, brief me beforehand, take responsibility, and avoid embarrassing your cadets. If it is found that instructors are doing the work, marks for overall program management will be lowered.
Minor Property Inventory. (NJROTC units only)
The Area Manager will personally sight all items on the Minor Property Inventory using the provided copy of the most recent Minor Property Wall to Wall (WtW) inventory. All minor property will be tagged with “tool tags” which must be listed in CDMIS (exceptions apply for drill rifles). If an item cannot be located, it is an indication that reviews and preparations of inventories did not take place within the two-week period prior to the AMI. Don’t leave any items in deep storage; have everything out where the inspector can sight it.
Financial Accounts. (NJROTC units only)
The SNSI or NSI must maintain a complete set of account records regardless if the high school administration also keeps records. Records review will be expected to be accomplished with the responsible instructor, not the school system accountant. The focus of the review is on Unit Support and Maintenance funds. A ledger must be maintained for all USM funds receipts and expenditures, with copies of invoices and receipts to cover all of the USM funds provided to the school. The ledger can be electronic, and the receipts can be scanned and saved in a folder. The account will be reviewed back several years for continuity, not just the current school year.
Uniform Inventories. (NJROTC units only)
A validity check of uniform supply will be conducted compared to the printed copy of the clothing WtW Inventory provided. A hands-on drill in CDMIS with the Admin and Supply Officer will be conducted to determine their comprehension of the system. What is seen on the inventory sheet, is what should be seen on the shelves or hanging up.
Academic inspection.
A classroom demonstration is required, but you are not required to teach a complete class due to time. A short narrative on how the unit’s academic program is organized (i.e. grading criteria, etc.) is required, as well as a review of the printed Instructional Material WtW inventory and for all instructors to demonstrate use of the TPC.
Drill / Ceremonial phase.
During the ceremonial phase the unit’s Color Guard will parade and post the Colors. No additional Color Guard sequence is required. Following Personnel Inspection, the unit will conduct a Pass In Review to demonstrate basic marching drill for all cadets, including the Staff and Color Guard. There is no requirement for each platoon to conduct a basic marching drill routine. However, it is not prohibited. If you want to have all platoons march as part of a competition for honor platoon, you can. This is a spectator event and the presence of large numbers of guests is encouraged/expected. During this phase, drill team performance is required, Exhibition routine preferred, but Regulation is allowed, with each Drill Team Commander reporting commencement and termination of the Drill Team performance to the unit Commanding Officer not the Area Manager. Safety First! Consider the use of drill rifles, guidons and swords in proximity to the cadets and the audience in your preparations.
