Working with the Military

[DC]

If a squadron wanted to establish a relationship with a local Guard or Reserve unit, wanted to do Military O-Rides, borrow equipment, whatever, can this be arranged with a local unit by a squadron, or does any contact with the military have to go through the Wing Liason Officer?

[davidsinn]

If a squadron wanted to establish a relationship with a local Guard or Reserve unit, wanted to do Military O-Rides, borrow equipment, whatever, can this be arranged with a local unit by a squadron, or does any contact with the military have to go through the Wing Liason Officer?

Through the LO. However they may start the process and then let you continue. I know when we tried to get into the armory here in town, our LO gave us the go ahead to contact them directly.

[Eclipse]

Unless you have a way-back machine, you won't find any LO's anymore.   

They are State Directors, and should be involved in any contact or resource requests with the military.
As davidsinn said, once initial contact and expectations are established, many will allow you to navigate freely.

[Flying Pig]

We contacted our National Guard facility directly about a meeting location.  Once we got the details worked out, we contacted the Group Commander to get the final approval from CAP to move in and occupy.

[Eclipse]

Guard is a different animal - those are state resources and the SD's have little influence with them.

[mmouw]

State Directors do have influence with the Guard!! In South Dakota, our SD sets up the encampment between North and South Dakota at Camp Rapid and Camp Grafton. Both of them are Guard bases and while we are there, we have Air National Guard cooks that prepare everything for us. That is setup by the SD as well.

[Eclipse]

Depends on your state - IAWG, for example, has(d) a very close relationship with the Guard.  I can tell you that in my state a lot of Guard facilities give us great support, but some showed us the door, and sadly the SD couldn't influence them much because of how and where the funding comes from.

Those familiar with my state may also be familiar with our much, and recently increasingly, harried Guv'nor.

Me personally, I would not let any of my units or activities interact with a military resource without initially involving the SD until he says we are free to navigate without him.

Conversations that start with "I'm not concerned about that." are generally much more pleasant than ones that start with "What were you thinking?".   

[mmouw]

 IAWG, for example, has(d) a very close relationship with the Guard

Just FYI, but Iowa Wing has a great relationship with the Guard. I spent the weekend working with both the Air and Army National Guard. They really appreciate what we do for them. The new squadron in Sheldon also meets in the Guard Armory in Sheldon. There are also members there that are full time Guard.

[notaNCO forever]

 It helps to have someone in the guard or reserve in your wing as a CAP member. We have a few guys in are wing in the guard and reserve and it really helps. Once the guard realizes who CAP is and what a help we can be they'll start asking for help more often.