Generic name for CAP members?

[BuckeyeDEJ]

I really like Volunteer Airmen.

It works well as part of Air Force's Total Force concept.

Airmen, Citizen Airmen and Volunteer Airmen

Thank you, thank you, I'll be here all night. Try the veal.

Oh, and those royalty checks? Send them to....

[Eclipse]

Something that has always irritated me is the use of cap (as a spoken word, AKA hat) instead of spelling it out C A P. CAPer just doesn't make it. UGH!

I hate that to drives me crazy especially when it's someone with higher grade then me and I can't say  anything.

Of course you can say something, as long as you are polite and professional.  Grade doesn't make people "right", especially in CAP.

We're the C.A.P. not "CAP".

[RiverAux]

I really like Volunteer Airmen.

It works well as part of Air Force's Total Force concept.

Airmen, Citizen Airmen and Volunteer Airmen

Well, that sort of works as a descriptive name for marketing purposes, but isn't really what I was shooting for.  No one in the AFR is going around telling people they're "citizen airmen". 

[Rob Sherlin]

  If people want to use the term "Airmen" but "Citizen Airmen" is allready taken, why not use "Civil Airmen"

[BuckeyeDEJ]

I'd like to think we're all civil. I'd hate to work alongside Hostile Airmen.

[Rob Sherlin]

 I was just thinking in terms of the name Civil Air Patrol. Of course we're civil. We're not the Hostile Air Patrol (for some reason, I get an image of a Cessna armed with missles....haha ha)

[BillB]

The Cessna L-19 WAS armed with rockets for target marking

[afgeo4]

I'd like to think we're all civil. I'd hate to work alongside Hostile Airmen.

I'll second that. That's why I worked in AMC, not ACC. Those fighter pilots get hostile often.

[winterg]

Something that has always irritated me is the use of cap (as a spoken word, AKA hat) instead of spelling it out C A P. CAPer just doesn't make it. UGH!

I hate that to drives me crazy especially when it's someone with higher grade then me and I can't say  anything.

Of course you can say something, as long as you are polite and professional.  Grade doesn't make people "right", especially in CAP.  We're the C.A.P. not "CAP".

I use "CAP" and "CAPer" all the time and will, more than likely, continue using this verbage.  I heard it bandied about by Senior Members when I was kaydet and use the term myself today. LOL

[winterg]

Buck up, lil' CAPer! 

[flyerthom]

I was just thinking in terms of the name Civil Air Patrol. Of course we're civil. We're not the Hostile Air Patrol (for some reason, I get an image of a Cessna armed with missles....haha ha)

Saw  a picture of a guy who painted a length of septic drain pipe black. Slipped it over a length of regular black pipe so it looked like a .30 Browning barrel. He then duct taped it to the wing of his 172. Caption - "STC? I don't need no stinkin STC!"

[BuckeyeDEJ]

I'd like to think we're all civil. I'd hate to work alongside Hostile Airmen.

I'll second that. That's why I worked in AMC, not ACC. Those fighter pilots get hostile often.

[Bob Loblaw Law Blog]

air⋅man
   /ˈɛərmən/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [air-muhn] Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun, plural -men.
1.    an aviator.
2.    U.S. Air Force. an enlisted person of one of the three lowest ranks (airman basic, airman, airman first class).
3.    a member of a military aircrew.
4.    (in other countries) an enlisted person in the air force.
Origin:
1870–75, for an earlier sense; air 1 + -man, on the model of seaman

Those of you that are in the USAF, Active, Guard, or Reserve are Airmen. Those of you that fly, according to this, could be airmen but "pilot" seems a little better fitting. People that are solely C.A.P. Members are not part of the Armed Forces and are not  required to fight wars on this country's behalf. Search and Rescue missions, scouting out domestic areas, and whatever else aren't military actions. Member, CAPper, Cadet, Volunteer, Auxie, Auxilarist, and a few others fit just fine. Members of state militias aren't Marines or Soldiers, they're militiamen. They are different from anything that they might be connected to. It's not the same and their name reflects that difference.

[LtCol057]

Funny, but I was reading the Army Times tonight and this issue has come up with the Army Reserves too.  Some of the reservists don't like the word "reservists". They want to be called Reserve Soldier.   

But I have to agree on one thing. I hate hearing it called CAP (like the headgear). It's C.A.P. 

I had an instructor at the Police Academy that said he hated to be called a cop. He said he'd almost rather be called a pig than a cop. He felt the word "cop" was demeaning.  I told him if "cop" was the worst thing he was called, he was lucky. I got called worse than that by my own family.

[Cecil DP]

Funny, but I was reading the Army Times tonight and this issue has come up with the Army Reserves too.  Some of the reservists don't like the word "reservists". They want to be called Reserve Soldier.   

The Navy got rid of Navy Reserve several years ago. The proper term now is "Reserve of the Navy"

[SarDragon]

Funny, but I was reading the Army Times tonight and this issue has come up with the Army Reserves too.  Some of the reservists don't like the word "reservists". They want to be called Reserve Soldier.   

The Navy got rid of Navy Reserve several years ago. The proper term now is "Reserve of the Navy"

That's funny - here's the official site, and I see no mention of that terminology. I still have an outside association through former shipmates of my sweetie, and none of them have mentioned any such thing. Where did you hear it?