A Summary

[BillB]

Reading the various threads, it appears that there are several directions members want to see the organization go.
On one hand you have those that think that CAP should be more military. On the other it should be more a laid back teaching organization, in all aspects, ES, AE and CP, with less emphasis on the military.
Others say CAP's main function is ES and all other areas including promotions should be based on ES qualifications. That any way to get missions, from whatever organization, State, FEMA, universities and other sources is what is required for CAP. The arguement to that is such missions are the "flying club mentality" for free flying.
Requirements for promotions range from having those ES qualifications, to holding a college degree. And we hear even those former military can't get their earned military grade unless they qualify for it in CAP by some unknown method. Or that members that earned their grade via completing the AFDLI (read that as ECI also) advanced courses including Air War College, have to go back and take a lower level CAP course.
The roots of CAP in the 1940's and 50's are ignored and new untried directions are put forth. Moans are heard from all directions on the drop in membership, lack of retention and lack of direction of the organization. But one theme keeps reoccuring, the lack of communication from the leadership of CAP. The lack of providing the membership with the path for CAP, the lack of providing goals for the future of the organization, and the lack of support and direction from the parent organization, the United States Air Force. Also heard is the cross purposes between the CAP Corporation and USAF, or the Corporations actions effects on the local CAP unit.
What is the answer? I'll leave that to someone in a higher pay grade. But it's up to the membership to attempt to provide the answers via the chain of command.

[NEBoom]

There's certainly no lack of opinion and ideas on where we should go.  A person could literally spend hours reading through such ideas just on this board!  Everyone has their own ideas, and sifting through it all is kind of like chasing a bag of marbles that's been dumped down the driveway.  Or better yet, marbles on one of those old vibrating electric football games!! 

But all my reading on here has lead me to a conclusion or two.  The main one being that without the guidance and vision from the leadership we'll never be able to reach a consensus on much of anything.  Seriously, how many times either here or on the Portal did we ever get to the step of actually having a coherent proposal (on any subject) that we reached a consensus on?  I don't recall any, but if there were some it was for sure a small number (like 1 or 2 is all).  And how many of those got taken up the chain?  How many actually were acted on?  It seems to me like we're expending a lot of energy with little to show for it.  We need that leadership at the top to give us some vision.  Something we could all latch on to and start pulling in one direction.

When I start feeling overwhelmed by all the tail chasing we're doing (that's chasing our own tails, not the other kind... ), which is what's been happening to me for the last few days, I need to step back and just get back to the reality of what my wing and CAP is like today.  Serious proposals on what to do are good, but too much just becomes noise and a big distraction to me.

Don't really know why I'm even making this reply, but there you go...

Oh, and Happy New Year everyone!!  Let's hope that 2007 brings some great things to all of CAP!!