Encampment stories

[PA Guy]

If you're too sick at encampment to participate, you go home, not spend several days in the "Med-Bay".

Same goes for any other CAP activity.

Overnight once and few hours on different days.... In my opinion that's not enough to go back...

AACS Cadet,

You need to go read CAPR 52-16 chap 9. The mandated curriculum is forty hours. You must complete 80% of the mandated training to  receive encampment credit. Do the math.  That doesn't leave much time to visit "Med Bay" for a "few hours on different days".

[AACS Cadet21]

Ok here are some encampment stories from my encampments:

  COWG 2013

So, at the beginning of the week , C/XO decides to promote a bright green teddy bear to the rank of C/Col. He literally stuck three diamonds into that bear and made cadets greet it.

They made an 11-year old the C/XO?

No, he was like, 17 or something.. IDK

[AACS Cadet21]

If you're too sick at encampment to participate, you go home, not spend several days in the "Med-Bay".

Same goes for any other CAP activity.

Overnight once and few hours on different days.... In my opinion that's not enough to go back...

AACS Cadet,

You need to go read CAPR 52-16 chap 9. The mandated curriculum is forty hours. You must complete 80% of the mandated training to  receive encampment credit. Do the math.  That doesn't leave much time to visit "Med Bay" for a "few hours on different days".

Actually I HAVE read it and I DID complete 80% or more of encampment.

[fokkerfrenzy]

OKWG Encampment 98, one evening I laid down on my rack after a day in the field with my legs draped over the bar at the end.  I was still in full BDUs boots and all.  Everyone else changed and went to bed.  They chose that night for a fire drill, so I woke up (never meant to fall asleep that way) to alarms and yelling of directions.  Everyone rushed outside, and went to formations.  I caught the eye of the command staff, and had the privilege(?) of being front and centered and explaining in front of 2 flights why I felt the need to be in full battle dress while everyone else was in PT sleep gear. 

Looking back, I always chuckle about it, but at the time it was a "don't see me, don't see me, don't see me... crap, they saw me" moments.

[AACS Cadet21]

Sweet, sweet memories huh?  :clap:

[Eclipse]

OKWG Encampment 98, one evening I laid down on my rack after a day in the field with my legs draped over the bar at the end.  I was still in full BDUs boots and all.  Everyone else changed and went to bed.  They chose that night for a fire drill, so I woke up (never meant to fall asleep that way) to alarms and yelling of directions.  Everyone rushed outside, and went to formations.  I caught the eye of the command staff, and had the privilege(?) of being front and centered and explaining in front of 2 flights why I felt the need to be in full battle dress while everyone else was in PT sleep gear. 

Looking back, I always chuckle about it, but at the time it was a "don't see me, don't see me, don't see me... crap, they saw me" moments.

So you had a Flight Sgt, Flight CC, not to mention at least one TAC who all just ignored you at lights out...

See how this works?

[TexasCadet]

Some stories from admin at TXWG Winter Encampment 2013:

One cadet had the first name "Benjamin" but signed it "Joe".

Another cadet switched between "Benjamin" and "Cooper".

On one cadet's CAPF 31, his signature and his parents' signatures looked the same.

One cadet didn't know he was supposed to bring paperwork to encampment.

A lot of cadets didn't bring complete paperwork or current CAP IDs.

The things that admin has to deal with...

[thatonecadet]

There's always those few cadets who bring squadron caps to a wing* encampment...


*NOT PAWG 

[PHall]

There's always those few cadets who bring squadron caps to a wing* encampment...


*NOT PAWG 

They're instructed to in CAWG because we will be giving them a Cadet Training Squadron cap when they in process.

[Eclipse]

The things that admin has to deal with...

I used to love when the CC's signed page was a clearly a single faxed or scanned page,
sometimes from a different version of the form, making it clear the CC had never reviewed,
or even seen, the actual app.

Then the cadet shows up sans meds, not a member, etc., etc.

[LSThiker]

AACS Cadet,

You need to go read CAPR 52-16 chap 9. The mandated curriculum is forty hours. You must complete 80% of the mandated training to  receive encampment credit. Do the math.  That doesn't leave much time to visit "Med Bay" for a "few hours on different days".

You might want to go back and look as well. 

The typical encampment that runs for 7 days, including travel days, will yield roughly 60 to 65 possible contact hours, excluding meals, sleep, travel, and personal time. Note that only 42 contact hours are mandatory, so a "short" encampment of perhaps 5 days is feasible, or alternatively, a "typical" encampment of 7 days has opportunities to include plenty of electives, extra tours, extra hands-on activities and the like.

Also

Members of these groups earn encampment participation credit through their active participation in 34 contact hours (roughly 80% of the minimum 42 contact hours), adhering to the Core Values, and successfully fulfilling their duty assignment, in the judgment of the encampment commander.

So it is possible for a cadet to spend a few hours in "medical bay" each day and still graduate as long as he maintains 34 hours of the required 42 hours of the possible 60 hours.  Besides, CAP leaves this 80% up to the judgement of the encampment commander.

[Майор Хаткевич]

Yet I constantly hear summer encampment staff complaining about not enough time...

[a2capt]

But Winter has enough time?

[Panache]

But Winter has enough time?

Well, winter certainly feels longer...

[AACS Cadet21]

And i wasn't in Med-Bay EVERY day....

[fokkerfrenzy]

So you had a Flight Sgt, Flight CC, not to mention at least one TAC who all just ignored you at lights out...

See how this works?


I never thought of it that way, but yes I suppose so... Huh, now I'm wracking my brain to try to remember who that was.  I only remember the FS, though.  Ah well.

[LSThiker]

Yet I constantly hear summer encampment staff complaining about not enough time...

Yeah, I have heard that as well.  The encampments I have been too, the problem usually is a result of a lot of "hurry up and wait" planning.  You would be surprised how much time this eats up.

For this reason, I like the position of TAC officer.  I know a lot of encampments put new SM that have no encampment history as TAC officers, but I think this is a disservice.  Especially in the 2000s.  The TAC officer should be working on mentoring the flight sergeant, flight commander, and element leaders and not just making sure the flight does not die.  When I see my flight standing around waiting on something or have "down-time", I pull aside the flight commander and/or sergeant and ask them what they could be doing.  Hip-pocket training is a wonderful tool for cadets to learn.   

[Eclipse]

^ This is not the role of the TACS, that is the role of the Line staff.   At most someone should be pinging the line staff and having them
do the reminding about hip pocket stuff.

The problem when TACs insert themselves is that it robs a cadet of the opportunity to lead / manage, etc.

For the most part, the issue with encampment structure is the failure of the staff to have good schedules walking in the door.
Far too much is being done on the fly, or the night before at 2330, in fact, if cadet staff finds the need to have "staff meetings"
for anything more then 5-minute status updates, that's a real problem.

The 6+ months leading up to the activity is when this planning needs to be done, and the schedule needs to be modular and nimble
enough to accommodate when a resource or activity is delayed or changed.

Hopefully the updated curriculum requirements, coupled with the required rest times will fix a lot of this.

[LSThiker]

^ This is not the role of the TACS, that is the role of the Line staff.   At most someone should be pinging the line staff and having them
do the reminding about hip pocket stuff.

The problem when TACs insert themselves is that it robs a cadet of the opportunity to lead / manage, etc.

Well National seems to disagree with you:

Training Officers. Formerly known as tactical officers, training officers are assigned to each flight at an encampment. Training officers are CAP senior members who are the cadets' first-line adult leaders. They also fulfill a critical role as mentors to the cadets, particularly the flight staff. Assistant training officers are assigned as available. Senior training officers are also assigned as available, and serve at the squadron level and supervise flight-level training officers. In large encampments, a chief training officer supervises the full team of training officers and provides guidance and mentor- ing to newcomers. This position's major functional areas include:
• Ensuring the cadets' safety, health and well-being
• Observation, training, mentoring, and evaluation of flight staff
• Observation, training, and evaluation of students
• Ensuring that the encampment's curriculum and learning goals are progressing as expected
• Personal counseling of cadets, as necessary
• Responsible stewardship of resources, whether belonging to CAP or the host facility

[Eclipse]

You know you're quoting from draft documents that are new and not yet in force, right?

Things change and evolve, and people have to adjust.

Make sure the commandant and encampment commander are on the same page in regards to your mentoring level.