>>>>>>>>>>To remove the uniforms, drill and ceremonies, customs and courtesies, etc....that's like saying the Coast Guard would be much more efficient if it just got rid of all those boats.
No, not at all, it’s more like saying that the Coast Guard could probably function if it got rid of the uniforms and saluting....and it certainly could Now, I’m not suggesting that the military get rid of uniforms and saluting, I’m just putting Typhoon’s absurd simile in perspective. The boats *are* the coast Guard’s mission, the uniforms are not. The more I read these strident defenses of uniforms and saluting, the more I start to suspect that for many, the uniforms and saluting *IS* the point of CAP, and the young people are secondary to that.
>>>>>>>>Before arriving at basic training, I already knew how to salute, march, maintain a uniform and a barracks, and was familiar with the ins-and-outs of military customs and courtesy.
Ummm, yeah? So what? Unless I’m mistaken, the military assumes they are starting with a person who hasn’t a clue how to do any of these things. That’s what basic training is, among other things. They teach you how to salute, how to make your bed, how to arrange your clothes, how to dress yourself, how to fire a weapon, how to walk. They assume you know nothing and teach it all to you. Now, unless you tell me you were allowed to skip basic training, and go hang out and shoot pool because you already knew how salute and make your bed because you had been in CAP, I’d say the benefits were marginal to non-existent. I don’t think anyone "tests out" of basic training in the Army. It almost seems as if you believe that the purpose of the military is saluting and uniforms. No, the purpose of the military is to kill the enemy, and last I checked, it’s really hard to kill an enemy soldier with a salute, even a really snappy salute. Also, I seem to recall that if you’re actually in combat, you’re not supposed to salute ..... something about snipers and officers ..... so; one might infer that, although saluting is lots and lots of fun, when the chips are down, it actually interferes with the real mission of the military. Anyway, my point is not that the real military should stop saluting, but that somewhere along the line, you may have confused being good at saluting and bed making with being a competent and effective soldier (airman, sailor, officer, marine, whatever)
>>>>>>>Quit telling me that there are kids out there who would love to take part in the C.A.P., but are put off by its para-military aspects.
Why??? I think that we both know that it most likely true. Either show that it’s not true, or accept it and address it as part of my argument. Don’t try to ignore the truth by telling me not to mention it.
>>>>>>That's like saying there are a lot of people who would love the benefits of being an airline pilot, if only they didn't have to do all that flying.
Ummm, no, it’s not like that at all. If you will pardon me being direct, your fascination for absurd and unrealistic comparisons makes you appear a bit foolish. If you really don’t understand how why there’s no comparison, I’ll explain: Being a pilot means flying, you can’t separate the 2, that’s what a pilot is, someone who flies. (assuming we’re not speaking of marine pilots)
No it's not at all like suggesting you can be a pilot withoput flying, it's like suggesting you can be a pilot without weraing a uniform. I do it every day. I know plenty of long haul cargo pilots who, as soon as the door is closed on thier 747 and before they start engines, take off their unifiorms, hang them up and put on comfortable clothes. I don't recall lack of a uniform ever being listed as a contributing factor in an NTSB report.
Learning about aviation does not inherently require uniforms, nor does being a CAP member inherently require uniforms. The uniforms are required merely because people have written the rules that way. They can be changed, that’s what I’m suggesting, change. Naturally this will change the nature of CAP to some degree, that also is what I am suggesting, a change for the better, an organization that will be just as effective at it’s SAR mission, and much more effective in it’s mission of reaching out to a broad spectrum of young people. A part of that change would be that it would become *less* attractive to those people that think uniforms and saluting are really, really, neat and really, really important. This also would be a good change, as the average quality of the members would improve as the uniform wearers drifted away from the organization. The arguments against this seem mostly to consist of "that’s the way it is" or "it’s always been that way". Ummmm, yeah, .... that’s what being proposed, changing the way things are ... which part are you missing? The strident insistence that CAP is all about uniforms and saluting indicates that you are either so unimaginative that you are unable to conceive of a world which is different that the one we currently live in, or that you are so attached to fake uniforms and saluting that you are unable to envision a CAP without them......or perhaps a little of both.
Here’s a question for those of you who have been active in the CAP cadet program. Have you ever had to counsel cadets either individually, or as a group about ignoring their peers who are ridiculing them? Had to reassure them that their involvement in CAP was something to be proud of, and the nay-sayers were losers who should be ignored? I’ll bet you have, and I’ll further venture to say that if no cadet has ever expressed these concerns to you, you may not have had as a good a rapport with the cadets as you’d like to imagine. I’ll bet you former cadets know exactly what I’m talking about. Like it or not, young people can be pretty savage, and peer pressure is a powerful thing. Which organization do you think will have the broadest appeal to young persons: One where the initial reaction of their peers is "CAP, Oh! that’s where you fly gliders and cool stuff like that" or one where the initial reaction is "CAP, oh yeah, those are the dorks who dress up in uniforms and salute each other" ? Would you rather lead a youth group that young people are envious of, or one that they are contemptuous of?
Which do you think is more worthwhile and important:
A) Providing a constructive and educational activity to as many children as possible;
or
B) having children in military costumes salute you and call you "sir" ?
I am suggesting that perhaps we should forgo B to further A, what I am hearing from many of you is that you’re more interested in hanging onto B, at the expense of A.
Perhaps some personal priorities need to be examined.
>>>>>Although I still think that "buzz jobs gone bad" is extremely disrespectful,
2 responses to this:
1) It is neither respectful, nor disrespectful, it’s just calling it what it is. We all know what a buzz-job is, and that’s what they were, buzz-jobs which went bad. Perhaps you would prefer I called them "tragic and unavoidable training accidents" ? Nope, they weren’t, they were buzz-jobs gone bad.
2) It would appear to from your comment that you are expecting respect for someone who was out buzzing stuff while impaired by morphine and killed himself and his passengers. Sorry, like I said before, I’m not making fun of this, but I won’t ever be respectful of it. I think that you may need to reflect on exactly what respect means to you. I’ll give you a hint, respect does not mean unconditional deference.
regards
