Fun in C.A.P

[johnboy]

What is the must fun thing ever happened to you in C.A.P?   Mine was going to see Space Shuttle Atlantis! It was FUN  :clap:

[DC]

Groan.

[Al Sayre]

Simulated war games with M16's firing blanks & smoke grenades at encampment (Back around 1976)

[capchiro]

Flying (from the right seat) a C-47 for 10 minutes or so during cadet encampment in 1963..  Riding in a C-119 to and from the encampment.  Watching a jet engine on a test bed during the encampment.. Flying to Wright-Patterson AFB and the museum on a C-130 in 1986.  Flying to Patriot Point in Charleston on a C-141 and staying on an Aircraft Carrier for the weekend in 1988.  Earning my Observer Wings in 1979 and my Solo Wings in 1980.  Starting a squadron in 2004..  I could go on and on, but I digress... It's all good and may you have 1/10 of the enjoyment that I have in your long journey with CAP..     

[CadetProgramGuy]

Assistant to the Commandant of Cadets, NCR Encampment 2005

[Bayareaflyer 44]

A 1 hour joyride in a T-37 for being the honor cadet at ATCFC back in 1985.

[tsrup]

My first Solo.

Didn't even see it coming, my instructor fiddled around with something in my flight kit (turned out to be my student certificate), then hopped out on the tarmac after landing and told me to "keep it under 8 crash and dashes, have fun!"

[vmstan]

Winning the last uniform thread argument.

[RickFranz]

Going to Houston Manned Space Center in the 70's as a Cadet, then getting to repeat that trip in the 90's with a C-130 load of folks from the Dakota's.

[lordmonar]

Calling is simulated air strikes agains insurgent targets! (Today)! 

[billford1]

We had an ELT Mission July 8, 2007 that involved  an A/C salvage yard, Sheriff Deputies and the Girl who had to unlock the place to let us in. I'm working on how to post the photo.

[Stonewall]

Training with 20th Special Forces Group in Ocala National Forest in 1989.  Yes, we were 15 and 16 year old cadets and we did stuff like this.


Me on "patrol".


My best friend since 1987 on "patrol".

We were members of the Jacksonville Composite Squadron from 1987 to 1991 before entering the Army.  We did things like fly in helicopters, train with Navy EOD in the pool on base, spend hours in F/A-18 simulators, SH-60 simulators, P-3 Orien simulators, do drills with National Guard Special Forces, road trips to 1st Ranger Battalion in Savannah Georgia, marksmanship training with the military...

[JC004]

Lots of things over the period of a decade...

• boarding an oil rig to shut off an EPIRB
• using the roof of a hotel for DFing
• flying in various military aircraft
• traveling places
• trying to get people to take us seriously while hunting an ELT on Halloween.  Then the drunk guy who owned the ELT (actually, an EPIRB wire tied to an ultralight) and didn't know what it was.
• various stuff with the military like the M-16 range
• trying to afford the latest uniform changes and college at the same time
• looking for little orange boxes in the middle of the night
• lots more...

[AlphaSigOU]

Rapelling of the side of Whiteside Mountain in North Carolina when I was but a young 13-year old cadink. 250-foot drop - 50 feet of rock wall, the rest hanging in mid-air with nothing but the trust of the belayer down on the ground!

[Cobra1597]

Looking down at an F-16 and having the pilot waive back to me while I was lying in the boom operator station of a KC-135.

Flying a multi-million dollar videogame (C-5 simulator), and managing to land it safely after the operators decided to make the weather "difficult"

O-Flights, every single one of them

The satisfaction from finding a very difficult ELT that even the aircraft were having trouble picking up

Many many more (some along the lines of those already stated)

[Eagle400]

Earning both the Excellence in Speaking and Excellence in Writing awards at COS (2003).

Can't really explain it, except to say it was an absolute miracle.

Mike Smith
Earhart 11826

[JC004]

Earning both the Excellence in Speaking and Excellence in Writing awards at COS (2003).

Can't really explain it, except to say it was an absolute miracle.

Mike Smith
Earhart 11826

That sounds fun.

[notaNCO forever]

Going to COS last year I met some great people and I think that prepared me more for the Air Force than anything else in CAP.

[Eagle400]

Going to COS last year I met some great people and I think that prepared me more for the Air Force than anything else in CAP.

Amen; Me too!!  That's why I always tell folks to just stick with the AF-supervised/instructed NCSA's (except for IACE -- that one's okay).   

[GeorgeM]

Just curious, anybody out there from Miami Cadet Sqdn 2 when we used to fly with the C-119s of the 76th TCS?

[PhoenixRisen]

Getting to be in the cockpit of a C-17 while it was being refueled by a KC-135.

Being out on the deck of an aircraft carrier during catapult operations (video linky) - did this a second time, on the USS Peleliu, too.

A flight in a CH-47, and getting to play around with Marine Corps F/A-18 & C-130 simulators.

[a2capt]

^^^ Oh yeah.. he's not kidding either.

[PhoenixRisen]

^^^ Oh yeah.. he's not kidding either.

[billford1]

It's late I'll try tomorrow.


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[Thrashed]

I can honestly say that I have not experienced anything fun in CAP.

[fyrfitrmedic]

 Satisfaction? Sometimes... but it's a real challenge at times.

Fun? Not in a long time, to be honest.

Way too much nonsense to deal with from time to time.

[cap235629]

Being out on the deck of an aircraft carrier during catapult operations (video linky) - did this a second time, on the USS Peleliu, too.

Kind of hard to be on the flight deck of the USS Peleliu during catapult operations seeing as how it does not have a catapult     

[cap235629]

I can honestly say that I have not experienced anything fun in CAP.

Then you are doing it wrong.

[a2capt]

Kind of hard to be on the flight deck of the USS Peleliu during catapult operations seeing as how it does not have a catapult

I suspect that in the added 'excitement' of entering that reply, the cadet meant in much more broad terms, having simply "gone aboard" USS Peleliu during a day cruise of aircraft operations.

Which I might add is probably a lot more fun than the thrice that I'd gone aboard to track down the source of the rather strong carrier only signal on guard, each time to find it in the radio room. .. the third time being, "just have someone check the transmitter at the bottom of the stack". Sure enough..

[nesagsar]

My favorite was NESA advanced in 2004. I learned a lot there and it was actually a factor in getting my current job in emergency management.

[PhoenixRisen]

I suspect that in the added 'excitement' of entering that reply, the cadet meant in much more broad terms, having simply "gone aboard" USS Peleliu during a day cruise of aircraft operations.

...and we have a winner!

It was an after thought.  Simple mistake.

[cap235629]

it was a joke, hence the       

[Thrashed]

I can honestly say that I have not experienced anything fun in CAP.

Then you are doing it wrong.

I'm open to suggestions. I'm a senior member. What fun should I be having?

[cap235629]

I can honestly say that I have not experienced anything fun in CAP.

Then you are doing it wrong.

I'm open to suggestions. I'm a senior member. What fun should I be having?

If it all seems like a chore, then maybe CAP isn't for you. I get a great sense of enjoyment from ES and working with cadets in things like Honor Guard and Comms.

[SarDragon]

Flying is fun. If that's what you do for a living, then I can see the "CAP flying is a busman's holiday" aspect, but I've never had that problem. The other fun part of CAP for me is the opportunities to "get on the stump" and teach classes. I used to teach the formal Level I classes, and now I teach ROA and SLS/CLC classes.

[Flying Pig]

Accompanying an SR-71 crew through their prep to fly.  We got to watch them brief, get suited up, sit in their chairs and get acclimated to their suits and follow them out to the plane and watch them do the pre-flight all the way to the grand finale of them roaring down the runway and literally (or at least in my memory) go straight up.  Pretty cool.  Location: For those of you in CAWG who recall Norton AFB in San Bernardino.  This was probably about 88'.  Later on, we got to do the same thing at Beale with a U2 pilot who had been a CAP cadet at some point.  Either that or the crew chief had been a CAP cadet.  Dont recall.

Maybe not the "funnest" but it was cool.  I even got a Habu patch

[a2capt]

That reminds me of flying into Beale, and doing our normal GA thing, we enter on the 45, report downwind abeam, get clearance to land.. and about 45 seconds later, still downwind,  tower comes on "CAP Flight xxx, Land now." Huh? We were #2 .. behind a U-2.

Oooohkay. Power back, drop flaps, turn, land.. On the ground, too late for the turn off, that we would have used had we landed as planned, because the aero club was right there at that end. Now the next turn off is halfway to San Diego.. and the controller is asking for expedite..  the aircraft practically flies again with the high speed taxi to reach the center of the field to turn off. About the same time, we hear "U-2 (uninteligible) go around" ... A bit later, there it went.  Right over the top as the mid field turn off neared.

In the end, after reaching the aero club we had a nice 45 minute or so "air show" watching a pair of U-2's (One single and one dual seat) to touch and goes.

[caphornbuckle]

My fun in CAP was the entire time I was a cadet!  Kinda went a little downhill from there as a senior but still enjoying it.

[JohnKachenmeister]

I can honestly say that I have not experienced anything fun in CAP.

Then you are doing it wrong.

I'm open to suggestions. I'm a senior member. What fun should I be having?

Don't you think its fun to take cadets on a tour of a flying museum and answer their questions?

Don't you think its fun to socialize with your comrades after a meeting?

Don't you think its fun to fly?

Don't you think its fun to bring the CAP plane into an air show and show it off to the little kids?  (and their mothers... )

[manfredvonrichthofen]

You know what? I can't think of a single thing that I have done with CAP that wasn't fun.

[Dad2-4]

One thing that just popped into my head:
After taking some new cadets to work at an air show, one of the cadets, a new immigrant to the US from India, thanked me for taking her because she never thought she'd have an opportunity to do something like that.
That was fun.

[EMT-83]

I'll be the first to admit that CAP is probably more "fun" for cadets than seniors. Perhaps it's too easy to focus on administrivia and forget that some things really are enjoyable.

[manfredvonrichthofen]

I'll be the first to admit that CAP is probably more "fun" for cadets than seniors. Perhaps it's too easy to focus on administrivia and forget that some things really are enjoyable.

At times, that is how it should be. In a composite or cadet squadron, the cadets should be the main focus. For me, that is part of the fun, getting to watch them have so much fun and see all of your time and hard work pay off with your cadets enjoying themselves.

[Thrashed]

Sorry, as rewarding as some of the stuff is in CAP, I don't consider it "fun". Perhaps I have a different definition.
As a checkpilot, flying is not "fun"; it's a chore (that I'm not paid for). Glider flying sounds fun though.
Taking cadets to a museum and answering questions? No one wants to go to one (except me).
Take a plane to an airshow? What airshow? There is NO airshow anywhere near where I live.

I didn't join the CAP to have "fun", so I'm fine.

[manfredvonrichthofen]

No, you don't join CAP for fun, you do it to give. Fun is just a byproduct that occurs rather often. I have even had fun on disaster relief missions. Even though they are hard, tiring, and rather depressing, it is still fun to me to interact with my team both SMs and Cadets and work hard together and look at what we have accomplished and done for the people we are there for.

[FW]

 +1 :clap:
My CAP "job" is not done for fun however, it can be rewarding.  Thankfully, everything else I do in CAP is fun; at least for me.  I guess I'm one of the lucky ones.

[meganite]

You know what? I can't think of a single thing that I have done with CAP that wasn't fun.

Same here! 

One thing I learned from writing a masters' thesis on video game design is that fun = learning. I sure am learning a lot here! And it's all fun! I can't wait to participate in more training exercises too! Exhausting but rewarding.

[JohnKachenmeister]

They offer a MASTERS' degree in video games?  You're kidding, right?

[HGjunkie]

They offer a MASTERS' degree in video games?  You're kidding, right?

...writing a masters' thesis on video game design...

[bosshawk]

KACH: in our day, we joked about getting a degree in Underwater Basketweaving.  Now it is video design.

[meganite]

Haha, I suppose so. It's a lot more complicated than one might expect though. Requires a wide variety of skills. Programming and art. Building a world out of nothing but math. Ok would it make you feel better if I said I had written a master's thesis about flight simulators? Though, I kinda wish I had done the entrepreneur thing instead...then I might actually have money now instead of an expensive piece of paper.

Flying is a lot easier than modern video game design, I can tell you that much. (And more fun, strangely enough.)

[bosshawk]

Just making a funny: at least you have two degrees(I assume a Bachelors).  That is a lot more than most people have.  I happen to have two, also, plus 45 hours beyond a MA.

[meganite]

I've heard they still have that degree for Underwater Basket Weaving though

[JohnKachenmeister]

Here in FL, we have a college that gives Bachelor degrees in video games, but we also have at least one that gives a BA in Golf.  I was thinking about starting an internet college to award bachelor of arts degrees in "Adult Entertainment."  Researching the course load would be a blast, and even more fun if its tax deductable.

[HGjunkie]

Here in FL, we have a college that gives Bachelor degrees in video games, but we also have at least one that gives a BA in Golf.  I was thinking about starting an internet college to award bachelor of arts degrees in "Adult Entertainment."  Researching the course load would be a blast, and even more fun if its tax deductable.

[Tim Medeiros]

A Bachelor degree in video games might actually be useful, especially to someone applying for a job at Blizzard Entertainment, Cryptic Studios, Activision, etc.  Especially when it comes to video game design, development, and testing (QA is huge for a company like Blizzard Entertainment).

[meganite]

Or for working on games that state "Only a small amount of simple calculus is necessary in order to play this game."