The title may be interesting, first of all, so let me give my reasoning. As many of you know, many a cadet who stays in long enough will reach the Mitchell award and therefore be promoted to the rank of cadet second lieutenant. While some of these cadets go on and prosper in the upper ranks of cadet officership, many are infected with Mitchell Syndrome. It is a horrible disease that stunts the growth of a cadet in the cadet program, and unless treated, the cadet will remain a C/2d Lt for the rest of his or her cadet career. This is obviously not a very desirable condition.

You may be asking what on Earth would a cadet stop when he or she is only halfway through the cadet program. Well, there are many reasons for this. A cadet may have too much schoolwork to take on the more demanding role of a cadet officer. A cadet may simply have only wished to reach the Mitchell for the military benefits that come bundled with the award. However, upon investigation, I found that one aspect of C/Officership is most responsible for the dreaded Mitchell Syndrome: the SDA report.

For those of you who do not know, let me explain briefly what an SDA report is. Unlike the cadet enlisted achievements, each of the officer achievements corresponds with a feasible cadet staff position that may be held at a squadron. Examples range from Flight Commander to Public Affairs Officer to Cadet Commander. In addition to the leadership, aerospace, and PT tests that the C/Officer must pass, he or she must also turn in a Staff Duty Analysis report, or SDA. The SDA is a paper that reports on the skills and necessities of the staff position that the achievement corresponds to. Each cadet must write one report for every achievement, and considering that cadet officers must complete around two or three achievements per promotion, these reports can be a little overwhelming to the new C/2d Lt.

In the ever-going fight to combat Mitchell Syndrome, I have decided to format a generic SDA for the good of all new cadet officers. While CAPP 52-14 is probably the best resource for an in-depth look at the SDA, I found the example, while helpful, a little vague. There are just some aspects in the example SDA provided in CAPP 52-14 that don't really relate to anything that a cadet officer would be required to write, so it can get a little confusing. Below is an example that I developed that instead of using an existing or a fictional SDA, it is a generic description that tells exactly what needs to be included where.

1) When looking around for the publications, check the CAPP 200 series. Those are the SM specialty tracks, and most of the SDA's have a senior member track corresponding with them. Within the appropriate pamphlet, you should find most of the publications that are relevant to the position (along with some very useful information when writing the narrative.)

2) Try to fit each "Part" onto one page. If this is not possible, start each part on a new page. You don't want Part A to end and then immediately start on Part B; it usually looks sloppy. Try to keep the sections separate to give it a neat, organized appearance. The part most likely to go over one page is Part A. It's okay if it does. Don't sacrifice quality of the SDA for the sake of fitting the SDA onto less paper.

3) When answering the questions in the narrative, put some thought into your answers. Each question should be around a paragraph long. Unless you have a lot to say, the narrative should not go over a single page.

4) Don't forget your staff services. Under each achievement, there is a list of staff services. Here's the way a staff service works. Once per phase, you can choose any of the staff positions that are available to your phase. For instance, in Phase III, you have Flight Commander, Administrative Officer, and Public Affairs Officer available to you. Choose one of those positions (if available). You are going to shadow that person. During the time when serving, you will at some point complete all of the steps listed for that staff service in the CAPP 52-14. Once the officer you are shadowing relieves you from the staff service, write a one page memo to whoever grades your SDA about what you did, when you did it, and what you learned from it.

5) Write the SDA to the cadets. While the SM's are going to be the ones grading it, this report should ideally be able to be pulled out and given to a cadet new to a staff position. If successful, this cadet, upon reading the SDA, should become an expert on his or her staff position. There's no need to use flowing glittery language, just write clearly and concisely, and pretend that the cadet reading the SDA knows nothing about the staff position.

With practice, writing SDA's can become an easy and… well, easy task at least. We all know they're a pain to write, but try to have a good attitude. If written correctly and with effort, an SDA (I grudgingly admit) can be a fantastic learning tool, especially as you progress through the ranks as a cadet officer.

Don't let Mitchell syndrome happen to you!