CAPP 52-24

[Eclipse]

So...I got my hot little hands on a pre-release copy of 52-24. (That's the CAP Encampment Guide for you who haven't been keeping up.)
I can't find it anywhere for publication, so I won't post it, even via PM.

Maybe Ned can?  It's dated July, so one could assume that it will be posted for comment soon.

In general I think it's a well-thought out, comprehensive guide that will take us in the direction of standardization.  There's plenty
of hints that the collaborators have paid attention to many of our gripes and suggestions, and a lot of the baseline annoyances
that drive us OCD-types crazy have been specifically addressed in a "knock it off" kind of way. 

Some terminology is changing, a few oft-used terms are being officially disavowed, and the curriculum is moving towards more hands-on and less .ppt.
The administrative requirements are going to increase, as will the academic expectation for the basics.  The days of "attendance" being the
sole requirement for completion appear to be over.

There's going to be a learning curve, but the pain is going to be spread around pretty evenly.  Those encampments that have been
run close to the book, with common sense procedures and no FMJ nonsense won't have to adjust much, but I know of a few that
will definitely have some major heartburn to deal with as they transition.  The weekend ones will need to take a hard look at schedules
and policies and make some adjustments.

I would personally like to see a subset of this become a general guide for cadet activities, since the same issues pop up at bivouacs and
flight academies, but one thing at a time.

Any idea when it'll be made generally available so we can start the "wailing and gnashing of teeth".

[JaL5597]

Its nice to hear they have been working on it.  I have a draft copy of the proposed CAPP 52-11 which was called the Encampment Training Manual, but this was dated ten years ago. 

Too bad the latest version is out there for viewing.  Maybe they want the encampment season to be done with first.

[cap235629]

a word to the wise.  The Smokey the Bear hat at the Massachusetts wing encampment has been used as an example as what NOT to do by NHQ.  In fact a picture of that cadet was sent out with a huge admonishment to all involved.  Don't be "that" guy.

[Eclipse]

a word to the wise.  The Smokey the Bear hat at the Massachusetts wing encampment has been used as an example as what NOT to do by NHQ.  In fact a picture of that cadet was sent out with a huge admonishment to all involved.  Don't be "that" guy.

Yeah, that note is pretty "direct".

[NCRblues]

It is open for comment from wing commanders and DCP's first.

From the comments I have heard today alone, the gnashing and wailing has started from DCP's already.

9 hours of uninterrupted sleep for basics

8 hours of uninterrupted sleep for cadet staff

no CQ or fire watch at all

50 contact hours, up from 40

Mandatory "cadet journal" that the basics have to write in every day

Just to name a few that are causing some of the heartburn

[Eclipse]

Those were definitely ones I expect to be "challenged" and for all the wrong reasons.

The sleep and CQ issues are fine with me and too long in coming.  The activity I ran always had that policy anyway - less then that, especially
for a normal week-long encampment is just dangerous and unnecessary.

CQ is where a lot of the "bad ideas" happen, since in a lot of activities this means unchaperoned cadets lurking all night.  I know a fair number of
activities have moved to having seniors who are there "off-shift" specifically to man the CQ. I think someone needs to keep an eye on the doors,
but it should not be cadets or primary staff.  Anyone whining about that is doing so because of some "rite of passage" nonsense.

I really like the new structure of the classes, 50 hours is no big deal for a week-long activity, but will be a challenge for the weekend encampments.
The actual indicated curriculum is 47 hours with 2-6 for administration.  Graduation requires a minimum of 40, so that really hasn't changed much.
The weekend encampment I ran already exceeds that with room to spare, though the new curriculum's emphasis is now in different areas.

I don't personally think the journals are going to live to the final - I like the idea, but anyone who has seen the literacy rate among the average
adolescent these days knows why this won't be of much use.

My biggest concern, frankly, is the requirement of academic testing- easy enough to accomplish, but a new mindset for cadets who are
used to simply showing up.  How do you handle a cadet who has blown it by mid-week?  You know there will always be some.  Do you send them home?
Refund their money?  Do they graduate with their flight and then get an empty folder? All TBD.

IMHO, the loudest whining will be from activities that have been playing fast and loose with the regs and mission of encampments, and
won't like being told what to do - they will fixate on trivialities of terminology or tradition and miss the point of the curriculum itself, which is to provide
a rich, immersive environment for cadets to grow basic skills they should already have from their home squadrons, not "mini-basic training".

There's a lot of emphasis around intensity levels and parental involvement as well, again, most well-structured activities are already doing 70-80%
of what will be called for, and just need to adjust and tweak.  I think the extra requirements will also bring in a need for more technology and
more staff, which is a good thing as well.

[Extremepredjudice]

Ugh, we had to write journals for ATS. MAJOR HEADACHE.

At a certain point you dash some vanilla thing off just to get it done in time. Kinda moves away from the idea of a journal and becomes a burden.


Not only that, but seriously who will read 150 basic's journals?

[NCRblues]

Oh I agree with you Eclipse (shocking I know  )

The only problem I can foresee with this would be brining in more SM staff. Some areas already struggle to provide a good amount of seniors.

(I also agree that the journal will never see the official light of day)

[AngelWings]

It is open for comment from wing commanders and DCP's first.

From the comments I have heard today alone, the gnashing and wailing has started from DCP's already.

9 hours of uninterrupted sleep for basics

8 hours of uninterrupted sleep for cadet staff

no CQ or fire watch at all

50 contact hours, up from 40

Mandatory "cadet journal" that the basics have to write in every day

Just to name a few that are causing some of the heartburn

That much sleep!?! That'd cause me heartburn!!! The last thing I want to do is to sign up for some weak sleep session! That's sad, really. And a cadet journal, sounds more like a cadet diary to me! I wonder if they want cadets to write down their "emotions" each day or if they're going to be all about recording experiences. Either way, it sounds like a waste of time and money to me, mainly since encampment isn't a language course (even though a lot of cadets could really use it) nor is it assured accuracy. Good riddence to CQ watches though!

What's next, are they going to take away PT? Drill? I don't want to spend any of my complitation of hard earned money that I've earned and my parents earned to head to some activity that isn't going to give me a challenge. While I don't expect it to be something like PJOC, I expect it to have difficult times. I want to know if I go that I truely earned another ribbon on my rack.

Just my 0.02 cents.

[Eclipse]

As a matter of fact there is significant emphasis on PT.

[Garibaldi]

It is open for comment from wing commanders and DCP's first.

From the comments I have heard today alone, the gnashing and wailing has started from DCP's already.

9 hours of uninterrupted sleep for basics

8 hours of uninterrupted sleep for cadet staff

no CQ or fire watch at all

50 contact hours, up from 40

Mandatory "cadet journal" that the basics have to write in every day

Just to name a few that are causing some of the heartburn

That much sleep!?! That'd cause me heartburn!!! The last thing I want to do is to sign up for some weak sleep session! That's sad, really. And a cadet journal, sounds more like a cadet diary to me! I wonder if they want cadets to write down their "emotions" each day or if they're going to be all about recording experiences. Either way, it sounds like a waste of time and money to me, mainly since encampment isn't a language course (even though a lot of cadets could really use it) nor is it assured accuracy. Good riddence to CQ watches though!

What's next, are they going to take away PT? Drill? I don't want to spend any of my complitation of hard earned money that I've earned and my parents earned to head to some activity that isn't going to give me a challenge. While I don't expect it to be something like PJOC, I expect it to have difficult times. I want to know if I go that I truely earned another ribbon on my rack.

Just my 0.02 cents.

I just got back from 3 days at ARWG encampment, and I will tell you first hand that cadets need that amount of sleep to function. As do seniors.

We had cadets crashing and burning before noon every day because they weren't getting enough sleep. I am currently sleep deprived, and I am having to re-type all of this as I go to avoid spelling and grammar issues. Numerous cadets went on sick call because they had "stomach aches" or "headaches" that magically disappeared after taking a nap. Cadets who were shambling around between classes suddenly had pep and energy.

Today, we were on such a tight schedule that we actually got everything done...early. Tours, messing, and pickups and deliveries of cadets went off without a hitch and by 1300 we were ahead of schedule. We forewent PT and standing at attention before sitting and eating in order to accomplish the near impossible.

Sorry, but this got a little off topic. I just got home 30 minutes ago and I am blubbity-blub tired. Cadets can be told what time lights out is and that they are to hydrate hydrate hydrate (we had a cadet who went through 4 camelbacks full of water and STILL became a heat casualty) but that won't mean they will do it. They will stay up late and complain and moan that they didn't get enough sleep. We could build 10 hours of sleep a night into the schedule and they would stay up til 0400 talking. The SM drivers, on the other hand, got not much more sleep. We had lights out at about 2130 or so with reveille at 0500, but unfamiliar cots and inadequate air conditioning caused us to toss and turn all night. I think I got about 5 hours of useful sleep in the last 72 hours.

There was a touchy-feely moment during our ES class when the instructor asked the cadets to name a rose and a thorn for the course. Roses being positives and thorns being negatives.

Bleh. I should have stayed an extra day, because the C-130 flights are tomorrow. Supposed to have been today but they scrubbed it.

[cap235629]

There was a touchy-feely moment during our ES class when the instructor asked the cadets to name a rose and a thorn for the course. Roses being positives and thorns being negatives.

That is something I instituted as a morale booster on our FTX's.  I like that I am present even when I am not there.....

The proper terminology is thorns and roses as we always end on a positive.....

[Eclipse]

I just got back from 3 days at ARWG encampment, and I will tell you first hand that cadets need that amount of sleep to function. As do seniors.

We had cadets crashing and burning before noon every day because they weren't getting enough sleep. I am currently sleep deprived, and I am having to re-type all of this as I go to avoid spelling and grammar issues. Numerous cadets went on sick call because they had "stomach aches" or "headaches" that magically disappeared after taking a nap. Cadets who were shambling around between classes suddenly had pep and energy.

There are cumulative issues at work as well - sleep deprivation, stress both generated and real, a significantly increased mental and physical ops tempo (usually from zero the week before), coupled with no caffeine or other garbage which a lot of kids these days live on.  Energy drinks and sodas are specifically prohibited for cadets - something most encampments are doing already, at least for the basics.

Put that all together and what do you get? The "Thursday Crash" - a major uptick in sick call, injuries, and homesickness.

Most gaia-days are 24 hours.  Subtract 9 and that's like...

...um....

...something around...um, 15-16 hours left (ish).

In a 5-day encampment, not including the weekends, that's 75 hours to accomplish 47 hours of class. Add in the weekends and
there should be no issue.  If you can't get it done in 15 hours a day, you won't get it any more done if you're up all night.

[Eclipse]

There was a touchy-feely moment during our ES class when the instructor asked the cadets to name a rose and a thorn for the course. Roses being positives and thorns being negatives.

That is something I instituted as a morale booster on our FTX's.  I like that I am present even when I am not there.....

The proper terminology is thorns and roses as we always end on a positive.....

GLR does something similar for RSC with "sharp and pricklies" vs. "warm and fuzziess"

[cap235629]

For those of you interested, this is the letter we received.

[Ned]

As it turns out, the release of the draft version this morning was a touch premature.  We had hoped to finish one more round of internal editing before posting it on the Cadet Proving Grounds for comment after the NB meeting.  But through an internal communication error it was sent out this morning attached to another message concerning cadet uniform wear at encampment.

But no harm was done; it is just a slightly rougher draft than we normally release.  The whe point is to solicit comments and input Before going to final draft.  We will then look for a winter encampment to volunteer to help us field-test it before finalizing the document.

If all goes well, we hope to have it in place by next Spring for use during summer 2013.

There is no problem with sharing and discussing the draft here.  All of us are pretty busy with COS here, or I would do it myself.  Or just wait a bit and it will be posted on the Proving Grounds for comment.  Just remember that it is an evolving document and be careful to watch the draft revision date during any comparisons.

Despite being down a few positions, the NHQ corporate CP team does tremendous work.  We have a lot of high-quality product coming out of the shop.  Kudos to Curt LaFond and crew!

[Eclipse]

If all goes well, we hope to have it in place by next Spring for use during summer 2013.

One question or comment to this issue - there are encampments that take place during the winter and Spring, encampments that already have
very aggressive schedules which are difficult to juggle.

Is the initial roll-out going to include phase-in for the first year?  Timing on this, too close to an activity which is already "in the can" could be
next to impossible to fix if it's mandatory.

Or will there be an option to use the draft as the specification before it is fully approved?

[a2capt]

For those of you interested, this is the letter we received.

That photo, and that letter, are the product of a recent encampment? (I know, that thread, this thread, etc..) but it says CAPMart in the text of the letter, and it's not signed by anyone. One would think that anyone that high up involved at NHQ today would know that CAPMart has not existed in many years.

[Eclipse]

^ Re-emphasizing just how long it's actually been since 39-1 was written / updated.

[AngelWings]

Wow that photo made a huge wave!