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.
In eight years as a cadet and another 9 as a senior member (5 of those as a cadet unit commander), I'd have to say absolutely, unequivocally NO. CAP cadets may not be football team captains or cheerleaders, but they aren't the school chess club, either. "Band fags" indeed....what instrument did you say you play, Zeek?
A substantial number of posters here have a really mistaken impression of what CAP's cadet program is about--either that, or they base their opinion on only a year or two in the program. The Cadet Program's mission statement, pure and simple, is to develop dynamic Americans and aerospace leaders--which, by and large, we accomplish quite well with those who stick with the program long-term. It's got nothing to do with saluting or pushups (which, by the way, have been "outlawed" as a "leadership" tactic for years now), or even military uniforms--those are all simply tools to teach the larger lessons of responsible leadership. Due to many of the same ills documented here
ad nauseum, CAP has a horrendous retention rate--we lose something close to 50% of 1st year cadets each year. And that's a shame, because those folks miss out on the real value to be gained from the program in later phases. But I have to tell you, I've seen some really awe-inspiring performances from some of our more senior cadets when it's their turn to step up to the plate as cadet leaders responsible for upwards of 350 of their peers at some of our larger activities.
A question for everyone here wondering about the significance of that last statement: when in your career,
if ever, do you expect to have supervisory responsibility for that many people,
even briefly? For you captains: you've got a great deal of knowledge and experience in flying airplanes, and have a huge amount of responsibility for lives and equipment, but what the he11 do you really know about leadership? How to brow-beat your FO? Or how to get an FA to refill your coffee before it's cold? Sure, we do it in a controlled training environment, but I doubt if a great many of you could handle what some of our 20-year-old cadets have on that score.
As for objections to CAP and your tax dollars, the federally appropriated funds CAP receives are almost entirely for operations and maintenance for what is the world's largest fleet of single-engine Cessnas, and are but a fraction of the money that would be spent if the missions we perform had to be accomplished by USAF resources. Cries that CAP shouldn't receive your tax dollars are simply penny-wise and pound-foolish.
All this to say that pretty much everyone but Zeek has valid points--and that like every organization, from your neighborhood cub scout den to a fighter squadron aboard USS
Stennis to the boardroom at United, CAP has its strengths and weaknesses. CAP suffers horribly from many of the ills adequately documented here--from the security guard wearing oak leaves to the pint-sized prepubescent drowning in his uniform, to stunning embarrassments brought on by the national "leadership"--but in the aggregate, CAP remains a worthwhile organization performing worthwhile missions for our communities and our country.
For those of you with nothing but negative things to say about CAP: if your glass is so half-empty that you cannot acknowledge the sacrifices of time, effort and money that CAP's volunteers expend
for your benefit without disparaging them as "wannabees" with uniform fetishes and whatnot, perhaps you need to take a long hard look in the mirror and deal with your own issues before worrying about someone else's.
