What is your squadron meeting place like? What do you wish it was like?

Started by Starbird, April 07, 2018, 07:57:16 PM

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Starbird

For us in NH-056, it has been an interesting two years.  On one hand, our squadron just about doubled in size (Yay!).  On the other hand, that means we have outgrown the small airport terminal at Laconia Airport (KLCI) where we used to meet (Boo!).  We now meet in a school building in downtown Laconia, NH.  It works, but the building is quite old and well worn and really has no ops/mission value for CAP (We only have access on meeting nights, so if an ES/other type of mission were to arise, we wouldn't exactly have a staging/control point).  Flight Ops continue to fly out of KLCI, and I think we have some stuff stored in the back of a hangar there, too.  Now, on in off in the local newspaper, it has been announced that the school might close.  Nobody really knows if or when it will, but it seems we might be on the hunt for another meeting place soon.  I'm not complaining, and and I'm aware that as a cadet it isn't my place to do anything about it, I am just curious to find out about the types of locations that other squadrons meet. 

So, where do y'all meet? What is the place like?  Does it have the features that you'd like to see in a squadron meeting place?  What are those features that you have available or wish to have available to you?  Are you based on airport property?

Finally, what would your "Dream CAP Squadron Base" feature? Feel free to be as elaborate as you'd like, I know we all wish we had all those luxury bells and whistles available to us  8) 8) 8)


Best,

Starbird

OldGuy

In a perfect world:

1 - reception area, with filing cabinets and work space,
2 - CO office, with conference table,
3 - admin space,
4 - comm shack,
5 - classrooms,
6 - drill field,
7 - PT area,
8 - hangar space,
9 - supply shack.

Oh yeah, an officer's lounge.

SarDragon

Quote from: Cicero on April 07, 2018, 09:48:56 PM
In a perfect world:

1 - reception area, with filing cabinets and work space,
2 - CO office, with conference table,
3 - admin space,
4 - comm shack,
5 - classrooms,
6 - drill field,
7 - PT area,
8 - hangar space,
9 - supply shack.

Oh yeah, an officer's lounge.
My senior squadron meets in the lobby of a small GA airport. Drag it all in, drag it all out, every week. We do have comfy chairs and a large screen TV for presentations. One of the hangar tenants lets us use it for a mission base.

Sent using Tapatalk

Dave Bowles
Maj, CAP
AT1, USN Retired
50 Year Member
Mitchell Award (unnumbered)
C/WO, CAP, Ret

OldGuy

Quote from: SarDragon on April 08, 2018, 03:43:31 AM
Quote from: Cicero on April 07, 2018, 09:48:56 PM
In a perfect world:

1 - reception area, with filing cabinets and work space,
2 - CO office, with conference table,
3 - admin space,
4 - comm shack,
5 - classrooms,
6 - drill field,
7 - PT area,
8 - hangar space,
9 - supply shack.

Oh yeah, an officer's lounge.
My senior squadron meets in the lobby of a small GA airport. Drag it all in, drag it all out, every week. We do have comfy chairs and a large screen TV for presentations. One of the hangar tenants lets us use it for a mission base.

Sent using Tapatalk
We meet in an aviation school, we do the "drag" as well. Getting our own space soon, we hope!

TX CAP Mom

Our squadron meets in a small hangar at a small regional airport. Each week the plane is rolled out and the space is used for classroom activities. Seniors are in the same small space at a table. Outside next to the plane is used for drill and PT. Somewhere close by is a storage room with uniform supplies. It's been working fine, no complaints from my cadet, but I'm sure the seniors wished for a better space.

As of last week we were invited to share meeting space with the local county brand new Public Safety offices. OMG it's so beautiful. Classrooms, a huge yard for drill, PT facilities, not to mention BATHROOMS, HEAT, and A/C!!! Everyone was so excited for the first meeting there and my son couldn't stop talking about how great it was. It's a trial run, and I hope it sticks.

I_Am_Twigs

We have the ideal drill space (a tarmac that's hardly used) which is fun when you're a first sgt.  ;D ;D
Our squadron building is another story though, we have to basically squeeze everybody into a 800 square foot building with two rooms (not including the bathroom). Which sucks when you have 19 cadets and 11 seniors and more coming, we only have like 10-12 cadets and 3-8 seniors that show up weekly.

What I personally would like is a larger space to do activities. More space to store uniforms and other stuff. Better computers to run Cyber Patriot images better. We neeed better drawers to put our ribbons and badges in, they need to be organized better too. I'm tempted to go and organize them myself one day.... (I'm a lil OCD.. Mama, mama can't ya see? Cap has given me OCD.)
C/Maj, CAP
"Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen." --Winston Churchill

Slim

Currently meeting in an American Legion hall.  Not the ideal setup; one common room with cadets on one side, seniors on the other, 2-3 helicopter parents (that I can't seem to convince that their cadets are perfectly fine for a couple hours, but they don't cause or create problems so I tolerate it) laagered in the corner.  Room to do drill and PT inside.  We also have a small lockable cabinet that we store the necessities in (laptop, projector, supply box, color guard gear, flags, etc) in.  It ain't perfect, but we make it work, and the price is right.

If I was to become suddenly wealthy to the point of buying property and building my own headquarters, I'd call up the Army Corps of Engineers and ask to buy or obtain a set of plans for "Armory, National Guard, company-sized unit, 1 each."  Think about it.  Office space for commander and staff sections, supply cages, classrooms, comm shack, computer lab/WiFi, sufficient latrine/shower/locker room facilities, large multi-purpose room with attached kitchen for chow, drill, PT, formations, etc.  Maybe reallocate some of the space into sleeping quarters.  Find some land near/on an airport, with enough room for some field/GT and AE training.  Set up enough of an endowment to keep the place paid up, lights/heat/air on, etc.

Dreaming is still free, right?


Slim

Starbird

Quote from: Slim on April 08, 2018, 08:05:34 AM
Currently meeting in an American Legion hall.  Not the ideal setup; one common room with cadets on one side, seniors on the other, 2-3 helicopter parents (that I can't seem to convince that their cadets are perfectly fine for a couple hours, but they don't cause or create problems so I tolerate it) laagered in the corner.  Room to do drill and PT inside.  We also have a small lockable cabinet that we store the necessities in (laptop, projector, supply box, color guard gear, flags, etc) in.  It ain't perfect, but we make it work, and the price is right.

If I was to become suddenly wealthy to the point of buying property and building my own headquarters, I'd call up the Army Corps of Engineers and ask to buy or obtain a set of plans for "Armory, National Guard, company-sized unit, 1 each."  Think about it.  Office space for commander and staff sections, supply cages, classrooms, comm shack, computer lab/WiFi, sufficient latrine/shower/locker room facilities, large multi-purpose room with attached kitchen for chow, drill, PT, formations, etc.  Maybe reallocate some of the space into sleeping quarters.  Find some land near/on an airport, with enough room for some field/GT and AE training.  Set up enough of an endowment to keep the place paid up, lights/heat/air on, etc.

Dreaming is still free, right?

Still free, last time I checked!  ;) ;D

Quote from: I_Am_Twigs on April 08, 2018, 04:19:07 AM
We have the ideal drill space (a tarmac that's hardly used) which is fun when you're a first sgt.  ;D ;D
Our squadron building is another story though, we have to basically squeeze everybody into a 800 square foot building with two rooms (not including the bathroom). Which sucks when you have 19 cadets and 11 seniors and more coming, we only have like 10-12 cadets and 3-8 seniors that show up weekly.

What I personally would like is a larger space to do activities. More space to store uniforms and other stuff. Better computers to run Cyber Patriot images better. We neeed better drawers to put our ribbons and badges in, they need to be organized better too. I'm tempted to go and organize them myself one day.... (I'm a lil OCD.. Mama, mama can't ya see? Cap has given me OCD.)

I'd trade.  ;D  We have plenty of classroom space, and a school gym at our disposal, but we are nowhere near an airport and we have nowhere for outdoor activities, unless you count the parking lot  ::)

Quote from: TX CAP Mom on April 08, 2018, 04:04:49 AM
Our squadron meets in a small hangar at a small regional airport. Each week the plane is rolled out and the space is used for classroom activities. Seniors are in the same small space at a table. Outside next to the plane is used for drill and PT. Somewhere close by is a storage room with uniform supplies. It's been working fine, no complaints from my cadet, but I'm sure the seniors wished for a better space.

As of last week we were invited to share meeting space with the local county brand new Public Safety offices. OMG it's so beautiful. Classrooms, a huge yard for drill, PT facilities, not to mention BATHROOMS, HEAT, and A/C!!! Everyone was so excited for the first meeting there and my son couldn't stop talking about how great it was. It's a trial run, and I hope it sticks.

There's a hanger for sale at our local airport, but I'd doubt we'd ever be able to afford it... It has office and utility space, too!  I wonder if any organization writes grants for this type of thing, hmmm....  Currently our planes sit outside on the ramp, except for extreme weather, when we rent a spot from an FBO  :(

I hope you get that new meeting place, though!  Sounds perfect.

Quote from: SarDragon on April 08, 2018, 03:43:31 AM

QuoteMy senior squadron meets in the lobby of a small GA airport. Drag it all in, drag it all out, every week. We do have comfy chairs and a large screen TV for presentations. One of the hangar tenants lets us use it for a mission base.

Sent using Tapatalk


Sounds like what we had, before we ceased to fit in the GA terminal.  Minus the hangar, all we have in a hangar is some storage.  Also, add about 40 cadets.  It was certainly a whole lot more fun being at the airport, though!

Quote from: Cicero on April 07, 2018, 09:48:56 PM
In a perfect world:

1 - reception area, with filing cabinets and work space,
2 - CO office, with conference table,
3 - admin space,
4 - comm shack,
5 - classrooms,
6 - drill field,
7 - PT area,
8 - hangar space,
9 - supply shack.

Oh yeah, an officer's lounge.



Don't forget a CC office and C/officer lounge ;) lol jk (maybe)


I have an assignment in CAD architecture (Yay, class...  at least it's not calculus :P  ::) ) coming up, and I need to pick a project.  Expect some colossal plans for a gigantic CAP base within the next few days  >:D ;D  Lol, I'm going to have fun with this...

PhoenixRisen

My unit splits our Cadet and Senior meetings at two separate locations roughly 10 miles apart:

Cadets:  We meet weekly in a drill hall at our state's National Guard Joint Force Headquarters.  We have a huge indoor area for meetings, free roam across the complex for drill, PT and other activities, and also have use of a meeting room, AV equipment, and dedicated section of storage in a large equipment cage.  The drill hall is co-located on the same campus as our state's Emergency Operations Center and our cadets regularly support emergency management personnel during times of activation (office support, gopher duties, etc.).  We have our own "lease" with the NG, as do other tenant organizations (Sea Cadets, Boy Scouts, etc.), but we don't pay rent or any utilities.

Seniors:  We have permanent offices in the General Aviation terminal here at KRDU and ramp access for our aircraft.  The offices space includes three individual offices, a meeting room w/ kitchenette and a storage room.  We also have use of the much larger shared meeting room in the terminal, which is where our senior meetings are conducted.  I don't believe rent is paid, but we do pay for phone, power and water within our office space.  Our cadets used to meet weekly in the terminal years back, but as our numbers grew, it started to get a bit too busy, which led to us finding the space for them described above.

We're definitely lucky!

CAPed Crusader

My squadron is moving out of an Army Reserve, we are looking for a new place, but, we are currently with the Marine League.

V/R
Cadet Airman
DeRosa Francis

Jester

At this point I'd just be happy with internet.

Ideally, 3 good-sized classrooms; a supply room each for ES, AE, and uniforms; a lobby for parents to stay in during meetings so I'm not tripping over them; a cadet lounge/study/hangout area they can access any time; office space.  An indoor 1/4 mile track with a field in the middle for sports and drill.

NIN

many years ago, while talking about a unit facility, I said "I just want a commander's office."

"Sir, thats pretty selfish, don't you think?"

"No, you don't understand.  The commander's office is last on my list of things after classrooms, supply room, drill area, comms shack, staff office, etc.  So if we get to the point where I have an office, we've won!"

Darin Ninness, Col, CAP
I have no responsibilities whatsoever
I like to have Difficult Adult Conversations™
The contents of this post are Copyright © 2007-2024 by NIN. All rights are reserved. Specific permission is given to quote this post here on CAP-Talk only.

Holding Pattern

Quote from: Starbird on April 09, 2018, 12:54:15 AM

I have an assignment in CAD architecture (Yay, class...  at least it's not calculus :P  ::) ) coming up, and I need to pick a project.  Expect some colossal plans for a gigantic CAP base within the next few days  >:D ;D  Lol, I'm going to have fun with this...

So long as you are making a colossal plan, here are some secondary resources for you:

http://flghc.org/ppt/09-10/TS%20EM7.pdf

https://www.wbdg.org/FFC/DOD/UFC/ufc_4_141_04_2008_c1.pdf

EOC specific, but we all dream of our ideal base becoming an important mission base too, so run with it!

jeders

Our squadron has met in many places, everything from the bottom of a control tower to a national guard armory (the best in my opinion) to a youth center. Currently we call the local CAF hangar home; it has a couple of large room that we use as classrooms and gathering areas and we have use of a small office where we store some files and supplies.

If we're talking dream facilities; mine would have 4-6 large classrooms (20-30 person each), storage spaces, comm room, a large drill area, PT area with 1-mile track, dining, billeting for 200, ramp space, two runways (one for prevailing winds, one for crosswinds), control tower, and, as NIN points out, a commander's office. But, until I win the half-billion dollar lottery, I'll just have to keep dreaming.
If you are confident in you abilities and experience, whether someone else is impressed is irrelevant. - Eclipse

Eclipse

I had a unit CC about 8 or so years ago put together a project for a "CAP Facility" basically the dream facility
most members would like to have - meeting rooms, hangar space, EOC, the airport even committed to extending a ramp
to the facility at their cost.

A professional architect donated the plans and 3d fly-through.

This was at a major GA airport, (one of the few left in the area) within 20 minutes of ORD, (inside the Class B).

Build cost was estimated to be $1.5MM with an annual operational budget in excess of 6 figures.

Our recently "retired" Wing HQ, which had been donated to CAP by the state in exchange for a number of
different services, and was also located at a manger regional airport, we were told, had annual operaiting
costs in excess of $85,000.

Considering the Operational budget of most wings is under $100k, probably more like $50-75K, the
ability for most units to maintain a "dream facility" is well out beyond the reality of what a unit can raise
in a given year, which is why CAP units are at the mercy of benefactors, and generally wind up in "well-used" buildings.

"That Others May Zoom"

J2H

Our meetings are in the same hangar facility its been in since I was a Cadet in '96.  Large hangar building with offices underneath (local news channel flight crews, Aeromed Sqdn, State Police Flight unit), and we have a couple good-size classrooms and our main "meeting" room with Commander's office, Cadet leadership office, and Ops office.  Drill is done outside in the parking lot.
SSgt Jeffrey Hughes, Squadron NCO
Glenn L. Martin Composite Squadron MD-031
#217169