Mistaken for military?

[WK95]

Hi,

New guy to these parts. I'm interested in joining CAP and plan to do so once I move in to my college dorms next year.

Out of curiosity, what do you do if you are mistaken for being in the military? For example, what would you do if a person were to come up to you and say "thank you for your service" assuming that you are in the military based on your uniform? Of course, thank you for your service also ought to apply to volunteer groups like CAP but would you correct the person saying this?

[LSThiker]

You say "you are welcome" and move on.

[SunDog]

Dude, it CAN be funny sometimes, too!

I was filling my tank right outside the gate to my Air Force base long ago, and the Thunderbirds were in for a show.  Little kid in a mini-van leaned out and asked if I was a Thunderbird! (I was in my flight suit). . . ego!

Told him no, but was feeling pretty cool about it. . .and a little old lady pulled up and asked me to fill it up and check her oil. . . so I did.

[SunDog]

PS

Occurs to me you might be too young to know that gas satins used to have attendants, dressed in coveralls. They pumped gas, washed windshields, checked oil.  I think they still do in New Jersey. . .

[raivo]

Same in Oregon.

I was in Portland for a friend's wedding a year or two ago and got yelled at for trying to pump my own gas.

[lordmonar]

You say "you are welcome" and move on.

+1

[SilentPhantom]

^+1

Anyways, so me and some other cadets had just come from a Wreaths Across America wreath laying event and we stopped at a mall for lunch. We had people say 'thank you for your service' etc three+ times in a half hour. We were in dress Blues so we looked like AF. This little kid ran up to me and this other female cadet and says 'Thank you for fighting for our country,' We were just speechless for like two seconds and then managed to get out, 'Yeah, uh, you're welcome.' It was akward, but nice to see that some Americans actually do appreciate the people who fight save their butts; or, search to save their butts, in this case.

[Eclipse]

You say "you are welcome" and move on.

+1

+ Another.

I've had more then one person in the military thank me as CAP as well, usually around the time they
realize we've both been on the base for a week but only one of us is getting paid.. 

Respect is respect, service is service.  We all do what we can.

[The CyBorg is destroyed]

I was once mistaken for store security...in the short-sleeved AF blue uniform!

A woman came up to me and asked if I was a store security guard.  I told her what I was, pointing at my nameplate, and she said, "Oh, you are a security guard, for our country!"  Nice warm fuzzy.

Only rarely have I been mistaken for RealMilitary (much less than some of the hand-wringers about "low light/at a distance" would think).  When I get asked "are you in the Air Force?" my usual response is "I am an officer in the Civil Air Patrol, the volunteer Auxiliary of the Air Force.  We are very loosely comparable to the Air Force Reserve, except that we are civilian non-combatant volunteers."  I usually give a brief rundown of our three missions.

Once an older man in a restaurant said to me, "I had no idea the Civil Air Patrol was still around.  I remember you guys from WWII."

Once on the way home from a practice mission I was eating in a restaurant and was in my flight suit.  A gentleman who had been in SAC sat down next to me and started telling me stories of how he liked the Civil Air Patrol units who operated out of bases where he was stationed.  When he left he gave me a very firm handshake and said "good talking to you, Lieutenant."  That means more to me than any salute.

Another time a guy who had been in the Army (I think) said to me, "you guys put up with the bull[mess] from the military and don't get paid for it?!"

Military members usually treat me as sort of a colleague, which is nice.  As I've said before, I usually get better treatment from Soldiers, Sailors, Marines and Coasties than from Air Force members.

When I get the "thank you for your service," I usually just say "you're welcome, very kind of you to say so."

[SilentPhantom]

I was once mistaken for store security...in the short-sleeved AF blue uniform!

A woman came up to me and asked if I was a store security guard.  I told her what I was, pointing at my nameplate, and she said, "Oh, you are a security guard, for our country!"  Nice warm fuzzy.

Only rarely have I been mistaken for RealMilitary (much less than some of the hand-wringers about "low light/at a distance" would think).  When I get asked "are you in the Air Force?" my usual response is "I am an officer in the Civil Air Patrol, the volunteer Auxiliary of the Air Force.  We are very loosely comparable to the Air Force Reserve, except that we are civilian non-combatant volunteers."  I usually give a brief rundown of our three missions.

Once an older man in a restaurant said to me, "I had no idea the Civil Air Patrol was still around.  I remember you guys from WWII."

Once on the way home from a practice mission I was eating in a restaurant and was in my flight suit.  A gentleman who had been in SAC sat down next to me and started telling me stories of how he liked the Civil Air Patrol units who operated out of bases where he was stationed.  When he left he gave me a very firm handshake and said "good talking to you, Lieutenant."  That means more to me than any salute.

Another time a guy who had been in the Army (I think) said to me, "you guys put up with the bull[mess] from the military and don't get paid for it?!"

When I get the "thank you for your service," I usually just say "you're welcome, very kind of you to say so."

That's awesome!

[Panache]

You say "you are welcome" and move on.

^ +1

As said, service is service.  Additionally, some of us are either in the active-duty military or (in my case) is a veteran.

[JacobAnn]

Dude, it CAN be funny sometimes, too!

I was filling my tank right outside the gate to my Air Force base long ago, and the Thunderbirds were in for a show.  Little kid in a mini-van leaned out and asked if I was a Thunderbird! (I was in my flight suit). . . ego!

Told him no, but was feeling pretty cool about it. . .and a little old lady pulled up and asked me to fill it up and check her oil. . . so I did.

That is funny.  Same thing happened to me many years ago at a gas station when I was wearing the blue flight suit that looked more like coveralls than a flight suit.  I was glad to help out by checking the oil.

I believe it's just in NJ and OR where they don't have self-serve gas pumps.

[MSG Mac]

Dude, it CAN be funny sometimes, too!

I was filling my tank right outside the gate to my Air Force base long ago, and the Thunderbirds were in for a show.  Little kid in a mini-van leaned out and asked if I was a Thunderbird! (I was in my flight suit). . . ego!

Told him no, but was feeling pretty cool about it. . .and a little old lady pulled up and asked me to fill it up and check her oil. . . so

That is funny.  Same thing happened to me many years ago at a gas station when I was wearing the blue flight suit that looked more like coveralls than a flight suit.  I was glad to help out by checking the oil.

I believe it's just in NJ and OR where they don't have self-serve gas pumps.

New Jersey also has the lowest gas prices on the East Coast.

[antdetroitwallyball]

Hi,

New guy to these parts. I'm interested in joining CAP and plan to do so once I move in to my college dorms next year.

Out of curiosity, what do you do if you are mistaken for being in the military? For example, what would you do if a person were to come up to you and say "thank you for your service" assuming that you are in the military based on your uniform? Of course, thank you for your service also ought to apply to volunteer groups like CAP but would you correct the person saying this?

1) Always return the "Thank you" with a "You welcome, thank you for saying so."

Then, if the person doesn't seem to be entirely in a rush, it may be appropriate to describe to him what CAP is. Keep in like 2 sentences. Something like,

" Thank you for saying so, Sir. I'm actually a member of the Civil Air Patrol, an volunteer organization that functions at times as a auxiliary to the air force."

IF the person, seems to have a lot of time on their hands and presses you for more information, then you can go into more detail, perhaps even giving a subliminal recruiting speech.

The key is to not disregard the person's gratitude, and at the same time, not try to use the opportunity to recruit EVERYONE into CAP. Most of us are mature adults (most of us) and we have enough social experience to sense which of these senerios is a good opportunity to go into detail about CAP, and when it is simply appropriate to return the thank you with "you're welcome" and move on.

[lordmonar]

We are the Civil Air Patrol.....we ARE ALWAYS functioning as an auxiliary to the Air force.

AUX ON-AUX OFF only exists in people's minds.

[Garibaldi]

I just usually say "I'm a civilian volunteer in the Air Force Auxiliary, and I will pass on your thanks to those who are actually serving."

[The CyBorg is destroyed]

We are the Civil Air Patrol.....we ARE ALWAYS functioning as an auxiliary to the Air force.

AUX ON-AUX OFF only exists in people's minds.

Quite well said.

The AUX-ON/AUX-OFF mentality needs to be banished to the depths of Gre'Thor.

I am an officer in the Civil Air Patrol, the Auxiliary of the United States Air Force.  Period.

[Private Investigator]

I was once mistaken for store security...in the short-sleeved AF blue uniform!

Three of us walked into a Jack in the Box in the USAF short sleeve uniform. I know Spanish and the young people identified us police officers and they left quickly so I sat with my back against the wall because I want to be the first one to duck, WTSHTF amigos. 

[antdetroitwallyball]

We are the Civil Air Patrol.....we ARE ALWAYS functioning as an auxiliary to the Air force.

AUX ON-AUX OFF only exists in people's minds.

Quite well said.

The AUX-ON/AUX-OFF mentality needs to be banished to the depths of Gre'Thor.

I am an officer in the Civil Air Patrol, the Auxiliary of the United States Air Force.  Period.

Okay, so here's the deal: I'm a newer member, so I will defer to your wisdom and experience on this whole AUX On/Off thing as being completely fictional, which is what you seem to be indicating.

It was my previous understanding that the US Code authorizing CAP was written very clearly that we are only an auxiliary when on an AF mission with an mission number. At all other times, we are simply a non profit. It was my understanding that because we can often function as a non-auxiliary at times, we have the legal ability to function in non-air force activities, like supporting local community's police departments in SAR and having a cadet program.

It was my understanding that this other-than-military-agency-support was not possible for the other auxiliary, the USCG AUX (an integral component of the CG, a full govt agency), which is explictly a full-time aux to the CG, and which CANNOT perform anything other than official CG missions, which limits what we can do. For example, we cannot accept donations to our organization, and we cannot help the local sheriff do search and rescue unless specifically under the task direction of a local CG unit, and we can't work with anyone under 18.

If I'm incorrect on anything, please correct me. But up til know, I thought the regs were very clear on this.

[lordmonar]

We are only a "government agency" on AFAM time....but we are always the Civil Air Patrol, the USAF Axillary.