What is USCAP Culture?

[Major Carrales]

Some of this is from another thread, but the issue here is...

WHAT IS CAP Culture?

Fact is, even though there is a USAF auxiliary aspect, there is a growing movement (based on diffusing elements from all services and non-prior service CAP Officers, toward an evolving CAP culture.  CAP Distinctive uniforms, growing "traditional observances" at encampments and lots of local practices.

Simply put, unless the USAF takes over CAP and assigns an Officer or NCO to each unit to insure we are "developing USAF CULTURE" it will not happen.  I mean, even in our unit, the nearest USAF base is hours away and the dominant military culture is NAVY with lots of ARMY.  Now, how should an isolated unit that forms miles away learn this culture?  A book?  That is a dilemma.

[Eclipse]

Sorry, I don't believe its a dilemma or an issue.

It will always be its own beast, if only because of the volunteer/corporate/military hybrid its always been.

I also don't believe its a new or emerging issue.

[Becks]

Luckily we have multiple USAF enlisted and officers at our Sqd so we tend to stay pretty true to AF.

[Major Carrales]

Sorry, I don't believe its a dilemma or an issue.

It will always be its own beast, if only because of the volunteer/corporate/military hybrid its always been.

I also don't believe its a new or emerging issue.

You are correct, in comparison to the large picture, its a moot as a camel farting in the desert, but to some here its a major issue.

All in all, the nature of the organization does not support a unified "culture."  There is so "US CAP Academy" nor even an established corps of NCOs or even officers in the traditional since.  There is also no "unified" culture center center.  In the Armed Services, there is a unified culture based on common training hubs and units that have "legacy," meaning an unbroken chain of officers and NCOs that "keep the line."

Also, the influx of members with no real feel for the USAF or it traditions added to the fact that CAP has its origins as a hodge-podge of traditions stemming from sources as varied as the Office of Civilian Defense and the old school US Army Air Corps (the vestiges of which are only recently removed...i.e. Wing Patches)

Thus we are still left with the question (as moot as it may be) what is US CAP culture?

[Major Carrales]

Luckily we have multiple USAF enlisted and officers at our Sqd so we tend to stay pretty true to AF.

But that is not true for all.  I mean, what if a unit has no such compass?  Or, what if we have OLD SCHOOL USAF from the 1950s and 1960s that show up to meetings with military creases and obsolete items?  OR that call "service dress" class A?

But they are [darn] good pilots or GT guys that have more find ribbons and saves than the majority of US CAP Units.  Would you have a lowly CAP Captain...you know, like one who was in a USAF NCO last year and retired, dress them down because they wear their ribbons on short sleeve service dress or called it a "Class A uniform?"

As I said, unless the USAF were to plant modern USAF types in the UNITS for weekly guidance, anything goes!!!

[SARMedTech]

Sorry, I don't believe its a dilemma or an issue.

It will always be its own beast, if only because of the volunteer/corporate/military hybrid its always been.

I also don't believe its a new or emerging issue.

You are correct, in comparison to the large picture, its a moot as a camel farting in the desert, but to some here its a major issue.

All in all, the nature of the organization does not support a unified "culture."  There is so "US CAP Academy" nor even an established corps of NCOs or even officers in the traditional since.  There is also no "unified" culture center center.  In the Armed Services, there is a unified culture based on common training hubs and units that have "legacy," meaning an unbroken chain of officers and NCOs that "keep the line."

Also, the influx of members with no real feel for the USAF or it traditions added to the fact that CAP has its origins as a hodge-podge of traditions stemming from sources as varied as the Office of Civilian Defense and the old school US Army Air Corps (the vestiges of which are only recently removed...i.e. Wing Patches)

Thus we are still left with the question (as moot as it may be) what is US CAP culture?

If a camel farts in the desert, and no one is there to hear it, does it still make a sound...

It seems to me that CAP has developed its own culture, nomenclature, lingo, jargon and CERTAINLY way of dressing. Why fight it? Why not be proud of it? Who cares if Bravo Zulu is primarily a Sea Service expression. We use it, big deal. If anything, I would like to see what you mention, Major, which is a return to old school CAP/USAAC culture. Maybe someone should publish a book. We dont carry firearms, many of our members "forget" to salute superior CAP officers and our NC cant wear the AF uniforms because of weight standards. At least we can have some of our own culture. I really think it would give us an esprit d'corps to start encouraging such a thing. Bring back the wing patches and other CAP distinctive items. Lets not have CAP distinctive be a dirty word. I changed at work into my blue/whites the other night for a meeting and my employer said the uniform looked "squared away." And this is a retired marine. Also, its really a matter of effective communication as well. If I tell a cadet to remove his cover, does he know what I mean...probably...Speaking of which...is there anything we can do about Officers wearing their flight caps indoors...for the love of Pete...we have a few in my Sqdrn who will not take those things off to save their souls...its like they either forgot to do their comb-overs or they are afraid of hat head...i personally solved the hat head problem by shaving my head...not only does it look better when I take off my flight cap, the cadets definately approve...we have a female cadet who is thinking about shaving her head...the male cadets think she should...I think her parents would sue us... i think a few of our Officers would do themselves a favor by shaving their pates. But I hijack...i now return you to your regularly scheduled  program...except to ask, how many Officers out there cut their hair to have a more "military" appearance?

[Eclipse]

You are correct, in comparison to the large picture, its a moot as a camel farting in the desert, but to some here its a major issue.

There are some here who believe nametapes are a major issue.  The majority of members don't know or care about the kinds of things which become heated debates here and on CS.

Would you have a lowly CAP Captain...you know, like one who was in a USAF NCO last year and retired, dress them down because they wear their ribbons on short sleeve service dress or called it a "Class A uniform?"

Dress down, no.  Actively and constructively correct?  Absolutely.  That's my job.

[Eclipse]

..is there anything we can do about Officers wearing their flight caps indoors...for the love of Pete...we have a few in my Sqdrn who will not take those things off to save their souls...its like they either forgot to do their comb-overs or they are afraid of hat head...i personally solved the hat head problem by shaving my head...not only does it look better when I take off my flight cap, the cadets definately approve...we have a female cadet who is thinking about shaving her head...the male cadets think she should...I think her parents would sue us... i think a few of our Officers would do themselves a favor by shaving their pates. But I hijack...i now return you to your regularly scheduled  program...except to ask, how many Officers out there cut their hair to have a more "military" appearance?

Tell them to take the darn things off (just be nice about it).  Usually a quick gesture with your hand is enough of a reminder.

Female cadets cannot have shaved heads as it would be considered an "extreme" or "faddish" haircut, but certainly the parents can't expect to sue or blame CAP, unless you tell her to do it, and even then, good luck proving damages.

[Nick Critelli]

Excellent question.   Remember, mission defines culture. 

When you read the history of CAP you quickly come to the conclusion that CAP and AAF/USAF have a symbiotic relationship as evidenced by the number of different uniforms in our wardrobe. Look, for example at the relationship between USCG and USCG Aux. One uniform, one chain of command, one common mission.  Not the case with CAP. With the exception of that one small sliver of missions we do exclusively for the USAF (and I don't mean AFRCC assigned missions because we are not the exclusive vendor) we do not share  a common mission.

An organization's culture follows its mission. As our missions have changed to more and more Title 36 state and local support missions, we have rightfully begun to develop a mission based culture.

Look at what happened in my Wing. With the exception of the Air National Guard we have no USAF presence or base.  The only time we see active duty AF is when they come in for a SAV or CI.  Yet we see the National Guard on a daily basis. We meet with them,  train with them, go to their parties and they to ours and we share a common mission...they under Title 32, us under Title 36,  to support state and local communities. 

Enter USAF. Bombers, fighter jets, tankers, rockets. All very important facets of military life...but not much use in a SAR or DR mission. Can USAF speak our language, give us assistance in manning a mission base consistent with NIMS (heck they don't even believe it exists or if it does that it applies to them).

Mission drives culture and CAP is developing it's own whether we like it or not. 

[ZigZag911]

You know, the Real Military (TM) services have 'communities'....special ops in just about all of them, surface or aviation or submarine (to name a few in the Navy), fighters or bombers or PJOC to list a couple of USAF, and so forth.

To some degree this is also true in CAP....WIWAC 'communicators' very much formed a separate sub-culture, crossing ranks & even the great cadet/senior divide and uniting those who had some technical knowledge & ability (today the IT/MIS folks would probably fit in this category too).

I think we have numerous 'communities' within CAP: ES people (subdivided further often into air/ground/base), PD experts, PAO people, cadet program seniors, and so forth.

This is probably a sign of health in a large, diverse organization.

We do need to remember that we have shared beliefs (the Core Values), and common missions.....and a common 'parent', the USAF.

[lordmonar]

I have to agree with Zigzag.  There is NO unified USAF culture.

The officers come from three different commissioning systems each with their own way of doing things.

The enlisted all go through he same basic training....but it changes over the years (such as in my day we did not do PT as punishment...and now they do).  Even then your culture was more molded by the tech school environment and those were radically different depending on where and when you went to tech school.

Then finally there is the culture of your job.

Comm live in its own little world, as do the cops, flight line maintenance, CE, services and the MPF pukes.

Even with-in the same squadrons there are different cultures.....in Comm there is a big difference in the way Maintenance does things and the 3C0's do things.

So.....USCAP has a varied culture based on location, units and leadership.....sounds just like the USAF.

[jimmydeanno]

Honestly, I see more Army influence than I do AF influence in CAP in terms of culture.  Statistically speaking, you have a better chance of someone joining CAP that is prior Army than prior Air Force (the Army is just bigger). 

A lot if not most CAP encampments are held on Army bases because AF bases just don't have the facilities anymore.  A lot of CAP squadrons meet on an Army base of some sort.

The Army in a lot of cases is more willing to aide CAP than the AF in terms of instructors, military airlift/orientation flights, etc.

The result is that when a cadet or officer goes to encampment at the local Army base, gets taught by the Army instructor, we get HUA! instead of HOO-RAH! or Battle Buddy vs. Wingman.

[floridacyclist]

how many Officers out there cut their hair to have a more "military" appearance?

Hair?

[RiverAux]

What makes you think the USAF cares what sort of "culture" there is in CAP?  Is that something their CAPRAP officers or State Directors are focusing on?  Does the local AF unit (if there even is one) care what is going on in nearby CAP units? 

Yes, somebody in the upper limits of the AF cares enough about CAP and what we do to keep us within the AF community and to spend a tiny amount of money on us, but I certainly don't "feel the love" from the AF like I do from the CG for my CG Aux activities. 

Don't get me wrong, it would be great if the AF cared enough about CAP to really put some thought into how we can help them out, but I just don't see it happening under the current CAP-USAF relationship. 

[Nick Critelli]

We do need to remember that we have shared beliefs (the Core Values), and common missions.....and a common 'parent', the USAF.

I'm afraid I have to disagree...I'm beginning to wonder if we really do have USAF as a parent.  They are an overseer of our actions and a guardian of our funds but are  are they a parent?    If they were  the question posed by this thread would be irrelevant. 

I believe we are on the road to emancipation caused by a lack of a shared mission. To the USAF I would say: Wake up  you are about to lose a very valuable asset in the form of a link with the civilian world.

[Pumbaa]

I agree with the Col.. the hand writing is on the wall for the emancipation of CAP.  I see the USAF as being likened to a babysitter.  They keep an eye on things, but really would rather talk to their boyfriends on the phone... 

And yes, USAF needs to wake up.  Cause you can pay me now or you can pay me later.  When CAP reaches emancipation, it is goign to cost them a whole lot more.

[ZigZag911]

With the greatest respect for Col Critelli I must, in turn, disagree with him: for the foreseeable future, USAF is going to hang onto CAP tenaciously, for one simple reason: the Cadet Program.

USAF views the cadet program as an effective recruiting tool -- and they are almost certainly correct about this. I don't know if a study has ever been done, but I suspect it is at least as effective as AFJROTC in drawing young people to the Academy, ROTC/OTS programs, and to enlisted service.

I suspect to some degree they put up with the rest of us and the other programs....yes, SAR saves USAF some funds, although technically Inland SAR is a state responsibility rather than a federal one.

Another consideration, Nick, (and I say this as someone who admires what you have accomplished in your wing), we must keep in mind that not everyplace is Iowa! There are states where the cadet program is the greatest CAP asset because the authorities see it as a valuable tool in working with urban youth. There are states with geographic/topographic situations that demand the volunteer air & ground support in addressing SAR, natural disasters, lost person searches, and so forth....the place is so big, or parts are so isolated, or money is so tight, that the state simply does not have the paid resources to deal with the problems.

There are other states, relatively flush with cash, smaller, with less general aviation or recreational camping/hiking or whatever, where the needs simply don't arise.

Another consideration supporting USAF keeping us is the developing relationship between CAP/1st AF/Northcom.

People have been talking about 'when USAF unloads CAP' for at least 20 years now.

The difference in the two organizations' cultures is probably, in part, what prevents this from happening.: by the time USAF personnel achieve the leadership level that  they could effect the severance, one of two things happens -- military members retire, or government administrations change and the political leadership moves on.

We -- by which I mean people like me, with 35 plus years in CAP -- continue on, and preserve our institutional memory.

I really admire what Iowa Wing has accomplished....but, as some have pointed out,  any significant change in government there is liable to have an adverse effect on funding. In ten years, if the new relationship lasts that long (and I sincerely hope it does!), it might be sufficiently in grained to be 'established'....not quite untouchable, but still an expected element of the state's public services.

CAP national passed that point long ago....yeah, we suffer budget cuts like everyone else, but there is no serious talk about de-chartering....it would be like de-chartering the Red Cross or the Scouts!

Now I do understand what Nick has to say about our tenuous relationship with USAF....our common interests are few indeed, and we're sort of the poor relations who live on the wrong side of town that the elders don't talk about, and the youngsters don't even know about!

We may get reformed, changed, re-shaped.

We may even possibly get moved from our present 'parent' -- but if that happens, I think it will be very much a case of "Back to the Future"....the US Army remembers us....they also see us as a recruiting tool (and they need it more desperately than USAF)....and they feel we'd fit well with some of the state missions of the Army National Guard.

That could happen....might not be the worst thing, Army Aviation, though mostly rotary wing, operates fixed wing aircraft much more like ours.

In any event, I do not see us becoming 'orphans'....but we could well end up moving back in with our 'grandparents'!

[Pumbaa]

Funny you mention 'grandparents' ZigZag...

I was searching ebay and saw one of the older CAP uniforms that had Army Air Corp written all over it.  I was thinking.. that was a nice looking uniform, classic...

Not that I am saying we should go back to that uniform!!  That's another subject!!

Then again 

[ZigZag911]

Lt F & F, I totally agree! On several occasions I have extolled the virtues of the old USAF khaki 'suntan' uniform as something all of CAP could gradually move toward as a single uniform.

[Nick Critelli]

ZZ

Your arguments are cogent and rational and I certainly hope that they are true. There is no doubt that our cadet corps is the "jewel in the crown."  But does USAF really view it that way? 

Last year I met with the JROTC people to try to work a joint venture between that organization and CAP.   I was amazed at the amount of support and funding they receive from the services including the AF. The program is thriving.  Is ours? Is there redundancy between CAP cadet corp and AFJROTC?  Why would AF want two youth programs?

As to your other point, I whole heartedly agree that a return to the 1505 (but with modern fabric) would be a step in the right direction. 

NC