McGuire AFB Air Show

[acarlson]

Hi all... ok, who went?   with how many cadets?  SMs?   
and what was your experience with the CAP participation results?

We had 5 cadets, and 5 SMs...  after the SNAFU Friday which extended into Saturday morning (i.e, ~1:00 am).  We kept out unit together, stayed on base to see if we would be tasked in the morning, no improvement then either... so the command decision was made: we pulled our cadets... called parents to update them, took them to breakfast, changed into civies, and enjoyed the Air Show on Saturday, as a unit activity.

I know other squadrons pulled out and went home Friday.

[mikeylikey]

What happened?  Please fill those of us in that could not go!  Sounds like some interesting gossip!

[captrncap]

Hi all... ok, who went?   with how many cadets?  SMs?   
and what was your experience with the CAP participation results?

We had 5 cadets, and 5 SMs...  after the SNAFU Friday which extended into Saturday morning (i.e, ~1:00 am).  We kept out unit together, stayed on base to see if we would be tasked in the morning, no improvement then either... so the command decision was made: we pulled our cadets... called parents to update them, took them to breakfast, changed into civies, and enjoyed the Air Show on Saturday, as a unit activity.

I know other squadrons pulled out and went home Friday.

Agree with that assessment - 1000000%

[captrncap]

What happened?  Please fill those of us in that could not go!  Sounds like some interesting gossip!

It was like the CAP organizers signed up 1100 people and expected 1000 people to cancel or something. Not enough food for the cadets (only 1 slice of pizza per persons for lunch on Sat), no tasking of flights, no breaks if you were lucky of enough to get tasked, no contact numbers for Command Staff, no list of room assignment for Squadron Officers to know what building and room their cadets were in... I could go on.

And Officers (at least 50), including myself offered not only suggestions but even offer to help out by signing people in, contraband check, walk cadets to rooms, etc.

"They" said don't worry we have it under control.

My cadets did not get housing until 0000 on Sat and didn't sleep until 0100 then were woken up at 0445.

[CadetProgramGuy]

What happened?  Please fill those of us in that could not go!  Sounds like some interesting gossip!

.............cut............

My cadets did not get housing until 0000 on Sat and didn't sleep until 0100 then were woken up at 0445.

I know SNAFU's and FUBAR's happen, but be careful regs state cadets are to get 6-8 hours of sleep a night.

Most likely nothing you could have done.

[Pumbaa]

Wow, I am glad we pulled our cadets out early then.

I bet this is going to make Squad'ns think about offering again when this gets out to the general CAP.

[acarlson]

.............cut............
My cadets did not get housing until 0000 on Sat and didn't sleep until 0100 then were woken up at 0445.

I know SNAFU's and FUBAR's happen, but be careful regs state cadets are to get 6-8 hours of sleep a night.  Most likely nothing you could have done.

ummm  well, Yes... preaching to the choir here ... 
I believe the regs spell it...  C-P-P-T ! 
... and D-A-N-G-E-R-O-U-S.....

hence we pulled our cadets out ... and took care of them...

[LtCol White]

Wow, I am glad we pulled our cadets out early then.

I bet this is going to make Squad'ns think about offering again when this gets out to the general CAP.

Yeah, but where was the breakdown? On USAF side or CAP. That wasn't clear. In the future, perhaps it just needs closer coordination with USAF well in advance of the activity.

[JC004]

Several of the items sound similar to what I experienced a few years back...interesting...

[CadetProgramGuy]

.............cut............
My cadets did not get housing until 0000 on Sat and didn't sleep until 0100 then were woken up at 0445.

I know SNAFU's and FUBAR's happen, but be careful regs state cadets are to get 6-8 hours of sleep a night.  Most likely nothing you could have done.

ummm  well, Yes... preaching to the choir here ... 
I believe the regs spell it...  C-P-P-T ! 
... and D-A-N-G-E-R-O-U-S.....

hence we pulled our cadets out ... and took care of them...

Choir or not, enemies of CAP who are familiar with our regs....(waiting on your own mental pictures) will try to hang this story for all it's worth.

[LtCol White]

.............cut............
My cadets did not get housing until 0000 on Sat and didn't sleep until 0100 then were woken up at 0445.

I know SNAFU's and FUBAR's happen, but be careful regs state cadets are to get 6-8 hours of sleep a night.  Most likely nothing you could have done.

ummm  well, Yes... preaching to the choir here ... 
I believe the regs spell it...  C-P-P-T ! 
... and D-A-N-G-E-R-O-U-S.....

hence we pulled our cadets out ... and took care of them...

Choir or not, enemies of CAP who are familiar with our regs....(waiting on your own mental pictures) will try to hang this story for all it's worth.

Where was the breakdown that caused the problems?

[mikeylikey]

Sorry to hear it went bad.  From the pre-planning emails I received it seemed like most things were on track.  Perhaps it was just the HUGE amount of people at DIX/McGuire that threw billeting out-of-whack.

[bricktonfire]

it was like they had not planned this i heard that a lot of cadet got sick for the hambragers not me thought and the pool i heard was very bad !!!!!!

[mikeylikey]

I heard the same thing about the food ^^  Too bad......you go to help out and leave with food poisoning!  AWESOME

[JC004]

it was like they had not planned this i heard that a lot of cadet got sick for the hambragers not me thought and the pool i heard was very bad !!!!!!

BAD POOL?!  Now that crosses the line.  We need immediate investigations with a special emphases on this pool matter.

[mikeylikey]

it was like they had not planned this i heard that a lot of cadet got sick for the hamburgers not me thought and the pool i heard was very bad !!!!!!

BAD POOL?!  Now that crosses the line.  We need immediate investigations with a special emphases on this pool matter.

Funny......I watched them fill the pool in at DIX 7 years ago with dirt.  Is there a second pool?  I know the one by the O-Club was shut down for years.  Or was it the pool at McGuire?  Also......whats the deal with this McGuire-Dix Joint Reserve Base rumor I heard.  If anything it should be Dix-McGuire......sounds better (think 70's adult film star)

[mikeylikey]

it was like they had not planned this i heard that a lot of cadet got sick for the hambragers not me thought and the pool i heard was very bad !!!!!!

HAHAHAHA...I can't believe I missed that before.  I guess you could say the Hamburgers were nothing to "BRAG" about!   hahahhahahahha

[afgeo4]

I went by myself, but there were many cadets from my group present (I'm on group staff).

The number 1 problem was that there were too many people there. Too many to feed, too many to inprocess in one day, too many to control. Was it NJWG's fault? Yes. They didn't limit the registration. I was actually glad to see some units drop out. Seems that only the best and strongest were left by sunday. I noticed that about 50% of officers understood that we weren't there to watch an air show, but to support and augment the Air Force and service the guests of McGuire AFB and that mission accomplishment is a priority over what type of pizza a cadet eats. Everyone got housed. Everyone got fed (although not easily). I've heard many rumors about cadets getting sick, but the only cases that I have seen paperwork for were from friday night with cadets who ate at Wendy's and got sick off of uncooked chicken. The BBQ was a miss since it was at night with no lighting (at all) and in the rain, but those who volunteered to cook on the spot, got yelled at by freaked out "parent" officers. All mishaps were handled properly.

Here's what wasn't:

Pool party... cadets took over the indoor pool (at Ft Dix) and forgot that they aren't allowed to make out. They were completely out of control.

Cadets trashed... and I mean TRASHED the barracks when they left. Chinese food packages found in lockers, garbage all over, clothing, ipods, uniforms left all over, etc. It took 10 sea cadets and 10 CAP cadets all day sunday to clean up. I left around 7pm and they were still cleaning. Completely shameful.

No one had been assigned to details prior to arrivals which left a lot of confusion on everyone's part for the duration of the event.

However, it was an overall success. The base commander was thrilled with us and the fact that so many of his airmen were able to enjoy mother's day with their families, that it saved tens of thousands of dollars in man hours for the Air Force and that all guests to McGuire were treated very well by our members. THAT to me is what counts.

[acarlson]

I went by myself...

.... Completely shameful.

I agree...  it was shameful... but I'm not talking about the cadets behavior.

However, it was an overall success. The base commander was thrilled with us and the fact that so many of his airmen were able to enjoy mother's day with their families, that it saved tens of thousands of dollars in man hours for the Air Force and that all guests to McGuire were treated very well by our members. THAT to me is what counts.

well Capt. as long as the AF base commander is thrilled ...
...(boy am I glad you don't work with cadets.)

what counts to me is the safety of our cadets.

[flyguy06]

Statr from the beginning. What was the activity? What was supposed to happen? What happened?