The inherent problem is a self-serving “system” that has evolved into
the absurd over the years. The focus is on procedures rather than
results. Everyone reading this knows of someone who has completed a
badge flight and their paperwork has been rejected. You’ve often heard
something to the effect that the flight was the easy part but getting
the paperwork right takes a rocket scientist. SSA currently has a
group working on some of these issues, but as you’ve often heard the
Chairman say, the Staff relies on members to get things done. I would
suggest a small uprising of SSA members focused on reforming badge
flight documentation would an appropriate action. A grass-roots
effort to put the fun back in badge flying… now there’s an idea! A
couple of thousand e-mail messages to SSA HQ, or your Regional
Director, would be a good start for a grass-roots movement to reform
an out-dated bureaucratic badge system.

So, what would rational, functional, and user-friendly badge flight
documentation look like?

Bob