Being One with the USAF!

[DNall]

hence the second part of that. Most of us are not going to be near an active, reserve, or guard facility of the AF. Of those that are, not all of them are going to get to help out. You probably do have a recruiter near by, or not. That creates two possibilities for you. If their is not one, then you can make contact with the closest, tell them you want to do your part to help out the AF & is there anything you can do to support them in that area, including getting brochures around to schools & in general helping get the word out by representing the AF & referring any interested parties over to them. No recruiter is going to turn that down. If you do have one near by, you may find it very helpful to build a relationship with them. They have a lot of resources at their disposal that they can bring to bear if they feel like it's worth their time & effort, but they don't have time to waste or play around. Doig stuff like stuffing envelopes or really a lot of similiar grunt work is massively helpful to them. It's not exciting at all, but it is working right beside an AF NCO & showing them what CAP is all about. They'll be back to big AF soon enough & you'll be sending them on their way to tell the rest of the AF how great CAP is.

[SAR-EMT1]

Offered to assist Local Recruiters...The AF NCO sent us packing - considered CAP cadets and a Senior or two, to be too unprofessional.
The Army NG on the other hand loved us. However the program fell through when I went to college and Im still trying to get it back up.

[DNall]

call the recruiting Sq. It'll be on an AFB & control a decent sized region. Work with them on things you can do that aren't necessarily in the public eye.

[LtCol White]

Another way of improving this is getting more involved in activities around the base for those who are fortunate enough to be near one... Put together FOD teams that can help check the flightline and pick up debris.

Ah, if only it were that easy.... take a look at the AF regulation governing how they can use CAP and how many hoops anybody in the AF has to jump through to "officially" use CAP for anything.  It is not a system designed to be used as you have suggested (though it should be). 

Anyone who's known me for long realizes that I don't hide my willingness to "steal" good ideas when it comes to CAP.

Col White, we've stolen this little nugget of yours and are now in the process of getting our cadets included in some FOD details on McChord.  It was really easy.  We let the chain know what we're up to (Wing CC, State Director, etc.)  Made contact with PAO and the Maintenance Squadron with the help of one of our cadets' military parents.  Now, we're working out the schedule so that our cadets can join up with the Maintenance Squadron during some of their weekly FOD walks. 

Everyone's excited... Cadets because they get to do something "real" with the USAF.  Maintenance Squadron because they get an occasional boost in manpower.  ES-types because it emphasizes basic line-search techniques.  Overall it's a win-win-win.


Excellent idea and not nearly as difficult as some might think.

Great. Im glad this worked out for you. It REALLY is as easy as I have put it and as you have found out. Your cadets will have a ball and feel like they have made a difference.  This site is all about sharing ideas that work for the benefit of improving the program. You'll prob pick up some cadets from the military guys in the units and maybe even some senior members from USAF guys who didnt know you were out there. It also helps give you some real examples of activities you have done to help with recruiting. The cadets will go to school on monday and talk about that they did for their weekend vs what their friends did.

[LtCol White]

How would a cadet that's part of a squadron that doesn't meet on or near an AFB get something like this rolling (we need some good squadron activities)?  Would recommending the idea to a senior member officer usually do the trick?

If there is a base within a few hours of you, you can always try the same approach. Use your wing channels to contact the base PAO and offer FOD assistance as well as ask them "What can we do to help you? We have X # of cadets and seniors." You might be able to make it a multi sq activity or even get it set up as a wing activity. This could help with transp issues if you work with other sq's or if it is a wing activity.