Description

The TAC Officer is required to support the Administration of the Academy with minimum general supervision to train, advise and supervise the Academy’s cadets. TAC Officers must:

• Be primarily responsible and accountable for the continuous operation of the Academy’s programs outside the classroom, including all training, discipline, leadership, management and overall supervision of the cadets assigned to their Company.
• Be primarily responsible for all of the conditions outside the classroom to guarantee individual cadet success.
• Be the principal point of contact for all problems associated with the cadets in their Company and the primary advisor and role model for their cadets through daily interaction with parents, cadets, and other staff.
• Be the cadet leader by instruction and example and the embodiment of all the Academy values.
• Exercise discretion and independent judgment to compare and evaluate possible courses of conduct, discipline and other actions that will have significant impact and consequence to the success of the cadet and the Academy.
• Develop, counsel, and mentor cadets into self-sufficient, self-confident, ethically minded leaders of good character.

TAC is an acronym which stands for TRAINING, ADVISING and COUNSELING:

TRAINING

As a mentor and coach outside the classroom, the TAC Officer must be the resident expert in all matters that pertain to each individual cadet and function as each cadet’s primary support. The TAC Officer will be knowledgeable of all Cadet Life policies and procedures, be responsible for the proficiency of their Company, and must assess cadet progress to assign appropriate grades for conduct and Physical Training. The TAC Officer is responsible for the selection, training, and development of the cadet leaders in the unit, ensuring each of them knows what is expected of them and how they may successfully meet their leadership obligations. Training is a principle that occurs each and every day, whether that is formal or informal. TAC Officer’s must know what “right” looks like and be able to articulate it to their cadets.

ADVISING

The TAC Officer has a huge influential impact over cadets; therefore, the TAC Officer is seen as a mentor and role model. A critical function of the TAC Officer’s job is to advise and give sound leadership to each individual cadet and recommend an appropriate, individualized, course of action or direction in their activities and to offer suggestions, make proposals and highlight a plan of action to assist each cadet in ensuring success in their designated personal quest. Advising requires the skill and patience to not just provide an answer or issue a command, but to develop critical thinking skills from cadets.

COUNSELING/ LIFE COACH

Representing the Academy the TAC Officer assumes all of the duties, liabilities, and responsibilities of the lawful parent that devolve upon the Academy as “in loco parentis.” The TAC Officer looks after the welfare of the cadets in their care as a parent looks after the welfare of the children in their family, works to maintain an open relationship with both cadets and their parents or guardians, and is the primary counselor for the cadets in their Company. The TAC Officer is responsible for giving them guidance in dealing with personal, academic and cadet–life problems, works closely with the Guidance Department, the Health Center, and Athletic Office, as well as with other members of the Administration Staff and Faculty, to provide the proper direction in a cadet’s life. The TAC Officer must remember that counseling is not limited to only negative actions. TAC Officers must be experts on all types of performance and developmental coaching. The goal in counseling is to make a cadet more effective as applied to Academy values and philosophy.

Qualifications

• Must have a high school diploma or equivalent; a bachelor’s degree is preferred and desirable in fields of counseling, sociology, psychology, education, or liberal arts
• Ability to interact with people from different cultures and beliefs, relate to parents and young adults
• Must work independently and successfully with little or no supervision
• Able to problem solve, think and react quickly to all types of adolescent situations, using good judgment and decision-making skills
• Must be able to climb stairs, stand or walk for prolonged periods of time
• Proficient using Windows-based applications, including Word, Excel, PPT
• Must have a valid California driver’s license with clean MVR