New Professional Development Officer - Lt Brad Nolan
By Capt Robert Ottenhoff and 1st Lt Brad Nolan
I’m very excited announce the appointment of a new Professional Development Officer, 1st Lt Brad Nolan. Do not let the beard fool you. Lt Nolan has been a long time Civil Air Patrol member. He first joined in 2001 as a cadet and then later served the U.S. Army. In 2017 he returned to the Civil Air Patrol and served as a Squadron Commander for McChord Composite Squadron in Washington Wing.
Lt Nolan takes over the position of Professional Development Officer from 1st Lt Michael Liu, who has been a key player in our units success over the last 4 years. Lt Lui will soon begin his medical clerkships and I am sure I speak for every Sq51 member when I say “Thank You!” Michael.
In addition to heading up Professional Development team, Lt Nolan hopes to expand beyond his current Private Pilot Certificate to become a Certified Flight Instructor and a Cadet Orientation Pilot to serve Civil Air Patrol and the General Aviation community. It will also save him some money on his daughter’s future flight training. In Civil Air Patrol he hopes to become a true coach. Whether that’s in his new role as Professional Development Officer, using his experience for media training, or eventually flight. Professionally, Mr. Nolan is a radio broadcast veteran, and owns his own podcasting company. His personal life revolves around his wife, daughter, and a love of motorcycles and flying.
After getting to know Lt Nolan it’s clear to me that he will have a positive impact on our unit and members in whatever role he serves.
Now, I will turn this over to Lt Nolan to introduce himself:
First thing I want to do is say HELLO!
I think Professional Development is often overlooked as we help others achieve their goals. Shouldn’t you be achieving yours too? We can do both, I promise. To get going, I am going to list the first few steps of my plan here. Know this isn’t the whole plan, and you’ll see some iteration on this as time passes, and as we learn from each other.
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eServices. I will go through e-services and get a handle on what you’ve been up to. I will break everyone down into three priorities; High, Next, Low. This is a simple system that will allow me to triage those most in need up front.
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One-on-One. I will be sending out a link enabling you to book time with me. This can be phone calls, lunches, or some other setting. The important part is we have some conversations focused on your needs and your goals.
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Systemize. Once I have had a chance to prioritize and meet you, I will want to begin building a proper system of checking in and encouraging your progress. This will include adding to the professional development team.
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Acceleration. Then, for those who are ready, we will begin accelerating your progress through your professional development. For those who want to teach others, or master their field, this will be a fun exercise, and doubles as a benefit to all of Civil Air Patrol.
For More Information:
1st Lt Brad Nolan, CAP
Clover Field Composite Squadron Professional Development Officer
Email: Brad.Nolan@cawgcap.org
Phone: (888) 597-4555 x305
