CAP Officer Basic Course - Launching announced

[RogueLeader]

In the RM, OBC is one of the first things they do, before they learn thier MOS Job.  When they make Captain, they go to CCC (Career Captaons Course) where they can reclass or stay in the same feild, just get more training.

I think that we should do something similar, but not sure how, as we can always change Specialty Tracks.

[EMT-83]

I'm only halfway through the program, but I can easily say that this is not Level 1 material.

Much of the material presented is a review for me, but I don't know that I'm representative of the average first lieutenant. After all, I'm on CAP Talk!

Seriously, after doing personnel, administration, professional development and now deputy commander, I hope that I've learned something along the way. I suspect that most of the members of this forum are more involved than the average CAP member.

[Robborsari]

Finished the course yesterday.  A great deal of the information is revew (for an IC at least)  but there is some very good stuff in there about our relationship with the air force and leadership and group dynamics.  Most of the modules are well written and the test questions are actually related to the material.  I had to take each test a few times to score 100 on it but I never got less than 80 on the first try.  The note at the end says it can take up to 2 weeks for the results to post.  I am not sure where or how it shows up.  I am hoping that after you take the course you can still refer back to the material.  There is a very large set of references listed in the modules that will be useful going forward.

I had been enrolled in ECI 13 and I studied the material for that course as well.  It was very slow going to work through and so old that it seemed pointless.  I never actually took the test because I could never finish reading the course material.  This course is very up to date and seems to focus more on things you need to know as a cap officer than who did what to the airforce in the vietnam era.


The respondus browser is a pain.  I am not sure how it would prevent someone from doing someone elses work.  All it seems to do is prevent monitoring of your computer and prevent you from looking at other webpages or software while you are taking the tests.  Since they are all open book / open note I am not sure what the point is.  It all worked as advertised and I am much happier with the online option than I was with ECI13. 

[vento]

Just finished, had to get it done before I go away for a week of training for the day job.

Overall, the course was better than I feared, nowhere close to where I hoped it would be.  For all the time they spent working on it, the grammar, spelling, and punctuation were pretty awful in some places, spot on in others.  The content was definitely better than I was expecting, though much of it was familiar territory.

In general, I think it represents a reasonable attempt at a basic course for new officers, and it definitely isn't a waste of anyone's time.

Good Luck to everyone else!

Thom

From the way my wife was describing it, it's sounds like it would be a better requirement for a lower rank than Captain. I would expect a someone with the TIG to get Captain to know most of that stuff by now.

Even though I haven't seen the information yet (I start next month).  Would those that have seen it say this would have been better suited as something for Level 1 instead of Level 2?

IMHO, the material presented in the OBC is adequate for Level 2. There are 40 modules of 30 minutes each covering (at least scratching the surface) all facets of CAP, and it would be an overload for a new member doing Level 1. It takes roughly a year for a member to get ready for Level 2, and by that time such member would have some exposure to the regs and organization of CAP and have a pretty good idea about staying in the organization and renewing his/her membership.

It's true that there are grammatical and spelling errors all over the place and we hope they will be fixed, but the materials are definitely more closely related to CAP vs the info presented by ECI-13.

Definitely worth the time to do it.
My two cents ...

[RiverAux]

Did it really take about 20 hours to work through it?

[davidsinn]

Did it really take about 20 hours to work through it?

My wife did it in about 12. She did 26 modules in one day because she just wanted to get it done.

[EMT-83]

You can definately spend 30 minutes on each module. I've been forcing myself to slow down and really study the material, plus review some of the references listed. It is tempting to just skip to the test, but what would be the point?

[flyguy06]

How do I get unmotivated senior members to take this course?

12 hours is a lot for some ofthe sm's in my squadron. Its hard to get them to come to weekely meetings. If i tell them they have to take an online course on their own, it would take them a year to get started. We havemembers thathave been in CAP since 1992 and have omly completed Levle 1 and they completed that becaue we mae them sit down and we went through it with them. They have never done anything on their own accord. Yet they keep renewing their membership.

[RiverAux]

Don't worry about it.  If they aren't motivated enough to take this course, thats their problem.  Why would we want to promote someone who isn't motivated to do the work. 

It doesn't hurt the organization if they keep doing whatever amount of service they do at their current rank. 

[EMT-83]

Flyguy,

Three years ago, no one in my squadron was interested in professional development. They considered it a waste of time. By working on the new members, who didn't know any different, completing SLS and CLC became the norm. Seeing new members getting promoted, while they didn't, prompted some older members start working on their specialty tracks. For some, they simply didn't know what to do and just needed a little guidance.

It didn't happen overnight, and there are always going to be members who aren't interested. I've got three members currently taking OBC and several more signed up for future sessions. Call it peer pressure or whatever, but the culture is slowly changing.

[Gunner C]

How do I get unmotivated senior members to take this course?

12 hours is a lot for some ofthe sm's in my squadron. Its hard to get them to come to weekely meetings. If i tell them they have to take an online course on their own, it would take them a year to get started. We havemembers thathave been in CAP since 1992 and have omly completed Levle 1 and they completed that becaue we mae them sit down and we went through it with them. They have never done anything on their own accord. Yet they keep renewing their membership.

You can't make water flow uphill.  It seeks its own level.

[flyguy06]

Flyguy,

Three years ago, no one in my squadron was interested in professional development. They considered it a waste of time. By working on the new members, who didn't know any different, completing SLS and CLC became the norm. Seeing new members getting promoted, while they didn't, prompted some older members start working on their specialty tracks. For some, they simply didn't know what to do and just needed a little guidance.

It didn't happen overnight, and there are always going to be members who aren't interested. I've got three members currently taking OBC and several more signed up for future sessions. Call it peer pressure or whatever, but the culture is slowly changing.

Yeah, thats a good idea. In fact, we have a new member transfered from the SDF. he is very motivated. He is doing the courses. We shall see if it takes off. Thanks

[flyguy06]

How do I get unmotivated senior members to take this course?

12 hours is a lot for some ofthe sm's in my squadron. Its hard to get them to come to weekely meetings. If i tell them they have to take an online course on their own, it would take them a year to get started. We havemembers thathave been in CAP since 1992 and have omly completed Levle 1 and they completed that becaue we mae them sit down and we went through it with them. They have never done anything on their own accord. Yet they keep renewing their membership.

You can't make water flow uphill.  It seeks its own level.

true Gunner,the poblemis and I am not tootingmy own horn, but I am probably the most active person in the squaddron, and I just got moed to wing staff, so i fear what is going to happen to my squadron. ionly that one motivated gentleman can motivate everyone else

[Eclipse]

Flyguy,

Three years ago, no one in my squadron was interested in professional development. They considered it a waste of time. By working on the new members, who didn't know any different, completing SLS and CLC became the norm. Seeing new members getting promoted, while they didn't, prompted some older members start working on their specialty tracks. For some, they simply didn't know what to do and just needed a little guidance.

It didn't happen overnight, and there are always going to be members who aren't interested. I've got three members currently taking OBC and several more signed up for future sessions. Call it peer pressure or whatever, but the culture is slowly changing.

+ 1

The fix for a failing program is working the program.  It takes a few motivated individuals who will stay the course in the
face of inertia and naysayers, but it works every time.

[Gunner C]

How do I get unmotivated senior members to take this course?

12 hours is a lot for some ofthe sm's in my squadron. Its hard to get them to come to weekely meetings. If i tell them they have to take an online course on their own, it would take them a year to get started. We havemembers thathave been in CAP since 1992 and have omly completed Levle 1 and they completed that becaue we mae them sit down and we went through it with them. They have never done anything on their own accord. Yet they keep renewing their membership.

You can't make water flow uphill.  It seeks its own level.

true Gunner,the poblemis and I am not tootingmy own horn, but I am probably the most active person in the squaddron, and I just got moed to wing staff, so i fear what is going to happen to my squadron. ionly that one motivated gentleman can motivate everyone else

When I came back in, there were three of four of us who joined at about the same time.  Everyone was sitting around in civvies and doing a lot of hanger flying.  When we asked about training, they referred us to the wing email list and they went back to doing nothing.  I was shocked and everyone just about quit.  We were able to convince someone into giving us a level one course.  By that time there were ten of us.  We went on to change the entire squadron.

If it hadn't been for us, quite frankly, NC007 wouldn't be there right now (no combat control orientation course).  I've found that the best cure for a lack-luster/inactive/lackadaisical unit is to go out and recruit.  Leave them behind in the dust.  No matter how persuasive you are, you can't get a dead mule to pull a cart.

[flyguy06]

How do I get unmotivated senior members to take this course?

12 hours is a lot for some ofthe sm's in my squadron. Its hard to get them to come to weekely meetings. If i tell them they have to take an online course on their own, it would take them a year to get started. We havemembers thathave been in CAP since 1992 and have omly completed Levle 1 and they completed that becaue we mae them sit down and we went through it with them. They have never done anything on their own accord. Yet they keep renewing their membership.

You can't make water flow uphill.  It seeks its own level.

true Gunner,the poblemis and I am not tootingmy own horn, but I am probably the most active person in the squaddron, and I just got moed to wing staff, so i fear what is going to happen to my squadron. ionly that one motivated gentleman can motivate everyone else

When I came back in, there were three of four of us who joined at about the same time.  Everyone was sitting around in civvies and doing a lot of hanger flying.  When we asked about training, they referred us to the wing email list and they went back to doing nothing.  I was shocked and everyone just about quit.  We were able to convince someone into giving us a level one course.  By that time there were ten of us.  We went on to change the entire squadron.

If it hadn't been for us, quite frankly, NC007 wouldn't be there right now (no combat control orientation course).  I've found that the best cure for a lack-luster/inactive/lackadaisical unit is to go out and recruit.  Leave them behind in the dust.  No matter how persuasive you are, you can't get a dead mule to pull a cart.

Wow Gunner,

You must have visited my squadron. Sounds just like it. Our problem is its beenthis way since 1984 when the squadron opened. Like I said, there are oneor two of us that do things outside of squadron events. But thats it. The others talk a big game. They say "yeah, i gotta get my mission pilot" but they never do. Keep inmind, most of our members are retired. They are 60 plus years old. So they have "been there, done that" I think they just want to belong to something. Not really interested in participating. but thats just my opinion. They treat meetings like an Elks club meeting. Tgeyshow up once a week to get away from the wife for a few hours.

its hard to recruit in my neighborhood because most people never heard of CAP or really understand what it is all about. They dont have the time nor money to participate heavily.

[cdk77]

I just finished the course today. Here are a few comments.

The material is very well focused resulting in a good CAP specific course. This course would definitely be overload for someone working on their Level I. Although I certainly knew some of it before hand from other sources, I did learn from it. There are a few spelling errors but they don't significantly detract from the course. I don't think the respondus browser is that bad.

I can't directly compare it to the AFIADL 13, but I am sure the OBC is a far better course (based on hearsay). I have to give credit to those who developed it.  :clap:

I also hope that some time in near future this course will replace the AFIADL 13 as an option for cadets working on the Eaker Award.

That will complete my requirements for Level II whenever I receive credit for it. I suppose I need to continue working on my Senior Rating. That will be my big hurdle for Level III.

[EMT-83]

Whew... all done.

I wonder if there's a way to open up the Blackboard license once someone completes the course, to let the next cohort begin. Seems like a waste of five weeks.

[mikebank]

I just completed the course, It was fairly easy, I agree if you don't complete level I, you could be overwhelmed.

[Flying Pig]

Hmmmm, I still have not received my enrollment information yet.