NCC 2011

[Bluelakes 13]

Additionally, the numbers do not hold up for the superteam solution.

In GLR, using last years EOY numbers, I have 161 units with at least 1 cadet.
The average is 19 cadets.  The median is 15 cadets.  Only 3 units have more than 50 cadets, one being a school unit with over 300 cadets.

On average, about half the cadets on the books are active at any time (YMMV).  When I ask units who is interested in the Competiton,  about half the active cadets are interested.  So doing the math, two units with 1/4 the cadets in same Wing, 1-2 drill teams will be coming to Region every year.

This year we only had 2 drill teams at RCC - Col. Carr (at the time) and I were very disappointed.  Bill needs more competition!   

[a2capt]

On this Age 25 thing, 52-16 only says that in relation to IACE.

I guess I should look in the NCC regs, or whatever they are called.

[davidsinn]

On this Age 25 thing, 52-16 only says that in relation to IACE.

I guess I should look in the NCC regs, or whatever they are called.

I'm 26. Honestly, I don't think I would have been mature enough at even 23-24 to have been an escort for NCC.

[SKI304]

Additionally, the numbers do not hold up for the superteam solution.

In GLR, using last years EOY numbers, I have 161 units with at least 1 cadet.
The average is 19 cadets.  The median is 15 cadets.  Only 3 units have more than 50 cadets, one being a school unit with over 300 cadets.

On average, about half the cadets on the books are active at any time (YMMV).  When I ask units who is interested in the Competiton,  about half the active cadets are interested.  So doing the math, two units with 1/4 the cadets in same Wing, 1-2 drill teams will be coming to Region every year.

This year we only had 2 drill teams at RCC - Col. Carr (at the time) and I were very disappointed.  Bill needs more competition!   

...and I think this all comes back to a few underlying factors that if we improved upon, would be better for the whole Cadet Program.  I truly agree that if the competition was more supportive of the weekly meeting and reflective of what we do on a regular basis, I think we'd see a lot more teams competing.  The great thing is that right now it is so close to doing that, that I think with a few of the tweaks we came up with in the NCC Working Group could easily get there.

The recruiting and retention problem is something in which many units struggle.  Getting strong on the program fundamentals and providing a challenge to our cadets plays a big part in alleviating that.  NCC can be the catalyst for it.  Every part of the competition can be learned, practiced, and reinforced at the weekly meeting - except Innovative Drill (which is why I'm in favor of canning it.)  All of these things are also scaleable to the entire unit and not just limited to the 13 on the team.  Drill Team would be the "exam" to test each unit on how it's fulfilling the Cadet Programs mission.

Money was named as one of the primary barriers.  All of these things could also be easily attainable at the unit financially.  Uniforms don't have to be brand new, and right now NCC requires some expensive uniform items that could easily be jettisoned.  If we went with the basic Service Uniform and removed ties, tie tacks/tabs, and shoulder cords, that's around $25 less per cadet.  Uniform expenses would be no extra for NCC.  Volleyball is even attainable in the unit setting.  Since our PT Program is supposed to be  a whole lot more than conducting the CPFT - using volleyball as a regular team sport is a great way to provide additional exercise and promote leadership development.  You can pick up a volleyball for $10, a portable net system for $20, and a pack of cones for $8.  Knee pads can be found for around $8 and every cadet should easily afford that (pretty much one trip to Arby's.)  Beyond that is travel and lodging expenses, and I've never been to a competition that equaled out to be more than $40 per cadet divided.  GLR is $25 a cadet for two nights lodging and around four meals.  Our drive is also going to be 9 1/2 hours one way, and if we make it back this year, distance is no deterrent. 

At OHWG Cadet Competition last year we had three Drill Teams and six Color Guards - all of whom were from single units.  Mine and one other unit sent both, so that ended up being seven units participating total.  For this year we have five Drill Teams preparing for competition and probably a few more Color Guards.  Whether they are doing it because they want to compete or because they want to knock my unit down a few pegs, what matters is that they are competing.  Through that they are reaping the training benefits and the momentum is growing around the wing.  I simply don't believe that would be happening if we just put our best and brightest onto one team.  What's awesome is Ohio's units aren't that much different than every other wings' and our demographics range from very urban to extremely rural.  NCC participation is happening here, and if that's possible, I'd say it's possible in many, many other wings too.

Hopefully we'll see more teams at region this year, but then again I might be living in an idealistic bubble.  I hope not, because those ideals are so basic, fundamental, and down to Earth as to form the basis of our Cadet Program.

[Ron1319]

I'm so glad to hear that Ohio is still strong! I wish I were 3,000 miles closer and could help my original unit (34282, I think? Was Sq 705 - //[url="http://www.squadron282.com/"]http://www.squadron282.com/[URL]) compete against you   I'm sure it's earlier in the thread, but I was the team commander in '97 when we took 3rd at NCC.  We spent 4 years trying to beat Illinois at Region Comp.

I don't know demographics, but we had about 4 cadet officers in the group at this time last year and now we have at least 10 with at least 4 more on the way shortly.  I attribute it DIRECTLY to NCC participation.  I really believe it just takes some encouragement and a little shove in the right direction. 

[Paul Creed III]

Having worked as staff at two NCCs now, I have been witness to incredible dedication that it takes - from the cadets and the seniors both - to field a team. NCC is really the culmination of the excellence of the cadet program and I think it is worth every penny that NHQ (and the teams) spend on it. Cadets needs that ultimate level of cadetship (if you will allow me to make up words) to work towards attaining.

I know that money is a sore spot with some teams and the proposed changes would help that a bit, but there seems to be a possible solution to the money problem that might be over-looked at the local level: fundraising.

Fundraising is actually a very powerful tool and it doesn't take a whole host of people to pull it off. Fundraising serves two roles: raising money and recruiting since you get your squadron some face time with the public. I know that fundraising in uniform is a no-no, but getting your name out there is still very valuable and might help get a few more bodies at the meetings.

[Bluelakes 13]

At OHWG Cadet Competition last year we had three Drill Teams and six Color Guards - all of whom were from single units. 

Bill, totally agree on all you've said.  Of the 5 largest units in GLR (ignoring Anderson Prep in INWG for now), guess where three of them are?  OHWG.  Then the numbers change quickly from the 50's to the 30's and 20's.  So, purely statistically based on cadet membership alone, OHWG has an advantage in the Region.  I would guess that applies to make Regions. I wonder if I can get my paws on a National Capwatch database dump....

Paul, welcome aboard this loony place we call CapTalk.  In addition to fundraising, another option many forget is the most easy - ASK FOR HELP.  Ask the parents for contributions, ask your chain of command.   I know things are different now than back in '05 '06, but we got a good amount of money by asking!  And it's not just cash.  We had parents that were seamstresses, former volleyball coaches, sport uniform outfitters, etc.  It's amazing how much help a team can get by just asking.

[SKI304]

At OHWG Cadet Competition last year we had three Drill Teams and six Color Guards - all of whom were from single units. 

Bill, totally agree on all you've said.  Of the 5 largest units in GLR (ignoring Anderson Prep in INWG for now), guess where three of them are?  OHWG.  Then the numbers change quickly from the 50's to the 30's and 20's.  So, purely statistically based on cadet membership alone, OHWG has an advantage in the Region.  I would guess that applies to make Regions. I wonder if I can get my paws on a National Capwatch database dump....

Paul, welcome aboard this loony place we call CapTalk.  In addition to fundraising, another option many forget is the most easy - ASK FOR HELP.  Ask the parents for contributions, ask your chain of command.   I know things are different now than back in '05 '06, but we got a good amount of money by asking!  And it's not just cash.  We had parents that were seamstresses, former volleyball coaches, sport uniform outfitters, etc.  It's amazing how much help a team can get by just asking.

While it's true that two of the Drill Teams in Ohio last year were from the two largest cadet units in the state, the third was from a squadron with 28 cadets.  Their staff saw the value in forming a Drill Team and grew the unit from the two cadets they had on the books the year before.  They used the training in all the areas to give immediate purpose to their cadet program and there was no questioning it - they WOULD have a Drill Team.  It was going to be a learning experience whether they won or lost.  And they did it.  Sure they faced a lot of the problems new cadets face in a first year team, but they held their heads up and performed to the best of their abilities.  They even took second place in a couple of events and they all had a great time and learned a lot.  Now they're preparing for this year's competition.  Perfect example of what NCC can do for a squadron if Commanders just set it as a goal and stick to it.

As for Ohio having larger units than some other wings, there is nothing so special about it that can't be replicated elsewhere.  It just takes some work and NCC can be a great motivator and carrot to get units working towards a very immediate and tangible goal.

To show what a squadron-centric team approach can do, here's a brief history of Drill Teams in Ohio over the past decade.  For years it was mostly Group Drill Teams in our wing, namely just one - the Group 7 Drill Team composed of cadets from around the Dayton area (Wright Patt AFB).  They came year after year to be the only team in Ohio.   In 2002 my unit decided to give Drill Team a shot since we saw some great value and potential to grow our rather mediocre unit.  As luck would have it, the Group 7 team didn't show up that year.  We went to Region unopposed and got our butts handed to us.  The next year Group 7 came back and beat us at wing competition, but we kept working and improving.  In 2004 their team disbanded because they were sick of working so hard just to loose to Illinois every year (according to their commander) so we became the only team left in Ohio and it stayed that way until 2007.  It appears that the focus was just on winning, not using competition as a tool for improvement.  During that time frame we had tons of cadets asking to be on our team, but denied them because those efforts needed to go back into their own units.  There was one exception when in 2005 we had some big internal problems and four cadets from a neighboring unit were brought in and competed with us at Region.  Two of those cadets transferred to another unit for college and trained and commanded Drill Teams against us in 2007 and 2008.  These two would have probably done it on their own without ever being on our team.  The expectation was set and the values clear that squadrons could and would do very well with Drill Team as a motivator.  That other unit grew around 50%.  In 2009 some last minute shortfalls left us again as the only team in Ohio.  However in 2010, like I said, there were three teams - all from single squadrons.  This year there are at least five teams shaping up.  All again from single squadrons.  The cadets have seen what it can do and what they can get from it, and they are hungry to compete.  All of this I really don't think would happen if we started having just group teams again.

[Ron1319]

For the record, the core of the Group VII drill team was from 705 (now 282) and we were out of New Lebanon, not Wright Patt.  Maj Spurling was the project officer and my commander.  We eventually drew from all over the group but started in 1992 and finally beat Illinois in 1997.  It is true that we practiced at Wright Patt that year due to it's central location, but let's not draw the conclusion that we had an advantage due to Wright Patt being a large AFB.  I know all of the participants and I can't think of one of them that was in CAP because of AF parents stationed at Wright Patt. 

Back to 2010, I love the points on $ and coaching above.  One of the seniors that just transferred to out unit went to college on a full ride volleyball scholarship.  We also are friends with a Spaatzen stationed at Travis who flies C-17's and competed internationally in volleyball.  Between the two of them, the most we'd need to do would be rent a gym, but my cadets assure me that there are church and school options for free.

[Paul Creed III]

And, if a squadron is not large enough to field a drill team, they could still field a competition color guard. Many aspects of a competitive drill team are present in competitive color guard (minus the volleyball component, obviously). The smaller squadrons can use a color guard to help bolster their ranks until they have enough bodies for a drill team.

[tinstar]

I was on the Illinois Wing Drill Team for 4 years as a cadet.  Drill team was hands down the best things that ever happened to me so I'm very emotional about it.  For me my team was my second family.  It was were I fit in.  I agree with the posts that encourage you to start a team even if you have no hope of winning.  I also agree that inspection is an event that has gotten out of control.  When I was a cadet our uniforms were brand new, never worn before and never worn again.  It was the single biggest expense for our team and it was paid for by our very supportive senior members (out of pocket).  My suggestion for dealing with this comes from ROTC.  In college I particiapted on our school's ROTC competition where the inspection was done before the actual competition occurred and it was simply pass/fail.  The judges made sure the uniform was put together properly and that it was serviciable.  Too many demerits and the member was disqualified.  A system like that at NCC would eliminate the need for teams to buy new uniforms every year.
As for eliminating volleyball...it's a pain to prepare for and is the most challenging part of preparing for the competition but the cadets love it.  It's also really the place where the cadets come together and bond as a team.
And finally innovative...NEVER get rid of innovative.  Innovative is, IMHO, the most important part of drill team.  Some people have argued that its too time consuming and doesn't add anything to the program.  To those I would say, innovative provides cades with the opportunity to work together, be creative and solve problems.  Also in order to do innovative well you have to be really good at standard.  In other words you get good at standard by doing innovative.  However, where standard drill can get very boring when done repetitively, innovative can be done for hours and still feel fresh.

[Ned]

Tinstar,

Question:  during your successful years on the Illinois team, how many cadets came from the same unit?  IOW, was it a squadron team with a few augmentees, or was it drawn from a lot of different units from throughout the wing.

What are your thoughts on the "superteam" issues?  Does it help or hurt a local unit to have one or two of the unit's best cadets spend so much time on wing drill team practice and competition?

I agree that volleyball is usually a great bonding experience, but does it tend to discriminate against smaller/younger cadets, especially women?  Do you think teams limit the number of women and shorter cadets as a result?

I see your point that innovative is far more fun and interesting that standard drill, and like volleyball certainly is a team-builder in terms of coming together and problem solving.  Does that mean that if it was eliminated (yes, I know that you and others are strongly opposed to it, but bear with me for a moment), that the team could be just as competative in the remaining events with fewer total hours expended in practice and preparation?

[coudano]

change the NCC sport from volleyball to ultimate (!)
-applied aerospace ed
-team orientation required (if you want to stand any chance of winning at all)
-aerobic
-less special equipment facilities, and judges needed
-arguably less accident/injury prone

innovative provides cades with the opportunity to...solve problems. 

I'm not trying to be combative, i'm truly interested... (having never done it)
but what "problem solving" is innovative (other than the problem of pushing it as far as you can without 'offending' the judges, rather than impressing them, which let's face it, is true of standard drill as well, practically speaking)

I've seen some real atrocities (nearly crimes against humanity) committed by innovative drill demo's in ROTC, and even active duty...

[Bluelakes 13]

Ultimate what?

[coudano]

Ultimate what?

frisbee!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultimate_(sport)

[Ron1319]

I've been absent from my own thread for a while.  It seems appropriate that I'm writing from the CAWG Cadet Competition!

I really want to answer the questions directed at Tinstar from my current perspective and my 1993-1997 cadet perspective.

Question:  during your successful years on the Illinois [Ohio] team, how many cadets came from the same unit?  IOW, was it a squadron team with a few augmentees, or was it drawn from a lot of different units from throughout the wing.

Both our GLR 1997 NCC team and our PCR 2010 (and hopefully 2011) NCC teams were/are fairly evenly split with the best cadets drawn from the best/biggest 3-4 squadrons in the group.

What are your thoughts on the "superteam" issues?  Does it help or hurt a local unit to have one or two of the unit's best cadets spend so much time on wing drill team practice and competition?

Help strongly in our case both then and now.  We hardly had a cadet officer in the group a year and a half ago when we first started trying to put together a team.  At this competition (today), we now have a c/Capt, four c/1Lt's (one eligible for c/Capt submission this coming Thursday), four c/2Lt's, 2 c/CMSgt's and 2 c/SMgt's on our team.  Directly related?  Absolutely.  If anybody suggests that we're promoting them without them growing as leaders I'm going to do the equivalent of forum screaming.  They're still junior cadet officers in my assessment, but many of them will make fine Spaatz cadets in another 12-24 months.  They're motivated and their competing with each other to be better.

I really wish I had more Phase IV cadets right now to provide certain leadership elements, as they're certainly not perfect, but they're doing great.

The progression of competing against IL wing at region competition for years as a cadet lead to us finally going to NCC with 6 Spaatz cadets on our team. 

I agree that volleyball is usually a great bonding experience, but does it tend to discriminate against smaller/younger cadets, especially women?  Do you think teams limit the number of women and shorter cadets as a result?

In my cadet days, we were fairly loyal to all of our team members who had competed before and we had a fair number of girls on our team who were good at volleyball and very competitive at the mile run. 

For the CAWG competition that I'm at now, we had 3 of 4 girls that tried out for the team make the wing competition team.  They did very well in volleyball today.  They did not do very well in the mile run yesterday.  I'd say the one girl was amongst the best players on the team.  Note that we had 18 cadets try out for 13 spots and we brought 15 to competition.  The other three were invited to join us here.  Two chose to do an actual color guard performance this weekend instead and one had school work and decided to focus on that instead.

I see your point that innovative is far more fun and interesting that standard drill, and like volleyball certainly is a team-builder in terms of coming together and problem solving.  Does that mean that if it was eliminated (yes, I know that you and others are strongly opposed to it, but bear with me for a moment), that the team could be just as competative in the remaining events with fewer total hours expended in practice and preparation?

It's not a corporate efficiency study where spending the least amount of time and man hours is the objective.  Building a solid program to bring cadets together and encourage them to strive to be awesome far outweighs the extra time.  And what they're spending the time on expands their brains in the case of innovative and gets the exercising in the case of volleyball.  Take it from someone who plays a fair amount of video games (me), it's better than the alternatives.

It's essentially a condition for me that they do not abandon or hurt their home units by putting time into drill team.  As I'm sure I've mentioned earlier in this thread, we're limited in the number of hours that we will practice, but if we progress to NCC again this year we're 100% confident that we will do better than we did last year.  They're running, they're studying, improving the innovative routine, and they're playing volleyball much better.

Now, onto the point that brought me to this thread in the first place -- for the first time in YEARS (at least so I've been told), we finally have had a REAL drill team competition at CAWG competitions!  Our cadets have been encouraging others to come compete in the wing and at the OR/WA encampment that they staffed and the word is that Washington wing is sending a drill team to region competition so we look forward to having competition next month!  That's a huge improvement from going to NCC uncontested last year and makes us much stronger (win or lose) based on the additional experience that we get from the competitions.

Very exciting improvement, and a fun competition this weekend.

I'd like to add that I spent a fair amount of time talking to drill team escort from the other team today.  They're fairly motivated, their team seems really excited to compete, and it seems that the activity and preparation for the activity has been really good for them.  Unfortunately, they went unchallenged at their group competition.  I still think there could be a lot gained by adding guidelines for smaller competitions at lower levels to build teams, expertise and competition at wing comps, region comps and NCC.

I'd go so far as to say that I believe the structurally encouraging the super team would be to the advantage of every cadet in the country.  I'm saying this from the perspective of knowing that the best drill team cadets I've known are the best leaders at their squadrons and help build great units.  Diminished NCC participation saddens me. 

And have I mentioned in the last page or two of this thread that I believe if you want to grow drill team participation, you should allow cadets to only participate in ONE SEASON and ONE SEASON ONLY of color guard competition?  Lower the level of that competition and push the color guard cadets to form drill teams to compete.  A cadet that participates in multiple color guard competitions (at least >2 seasons) is by definition, not progressing in the program. 

Ponder what is being encouraged:
1) Non-progression and fewer cadet officers -- from some of the best cadet NCO's
2) Less drill team participation

It's a very positive thing that there were all 7 groups of CAWG represented at the color guard competition this weekend.  However, wouldn't the competition have been much more successful with 7 color guards of more junior cadets and another 3-4 drill teams?  That would have meant significantly more than double the participation in the competition and that NCC (on the wing level) participation would have been GREATLY improved.

Again, I don't care if they had a one minute long innovative routine and wore the same uniforms that they wear to their squadron meetings.  My team's cadets love their tailored shirts (cost $5/each to tailor them) and can't WAIT to wear them at their squadron meetings so they can look sharper than everyone else.  Seems like that will immediately motivate more interest in drill team to me.  There is some senior member time commitment and some organization involved, but really it hasn't been that much work.

[mrg]

So many things to address in this thread...

1. Color Guard- NO to cadet officers!! The U.S. Military color/honor guard consists of enlisted members only. NCO's, no officers. This is the reason CAP does not have cadet officers compete in color guard. CAP already skirts around USAF customs & courtesies and wells a uniform wear. We are an auxiliary and should be respectful of their customs & courtesies.

2. DT Volleyball (NED)- I have competed in the 90's with the NJ Wing Drill Team and I'm currently the PO for the NER team. I can assure you that volleyball does not discriminate against woman and smaller cadets. I'm sure you don't mean offense by that comment but it's down right insulting. Believe me, there are young woman and smaller cadets that are extremely talented on the court. I have seen some young women with amazing over-hand serves in CAP and are able to set and return the ball efficiently. This is the same for smaller cadets.

3. "Super Teams"Drill Team- The reason why many teams are an amalgam of cadets from all over the state is because most squadrons aren't large enough or have enough cadets interested within one squadron to field a team.  What about the 2 cadets that want to compete but there squadron doesn't? I have noticed that this is a great opportunity for cadets to work and meet new cadets throughout the state. Also, to work with different personalities. I'm still very close to my old team mates.

4. Innovative- Cadets love innovative. If properly taught, it takes no time to learn. Also, cadets develop their creativity and problem solving skills with this event.

5. Uniforms- I understand both arguments with concern to inspection. On one hand, it's great for cadets to see how the uniform is supposed to look and be worn. However, you don't need a brand new uniform to do demonstrate proper wear and fit.

Cadet participation is low for a variety of reasons that have nothing to do with the above. Many senior members or Wings have mismanaged the program in the pursuit of a win and created these issues. Training should not take a year and with good leadership, a well trained motivated team can be formed and prepared to compete with in a 6-8 week period. Also, mismanagement of this program by senior members and cadets in pursuit of a win have led to some of the aforementioned problems.

[a2capt]

Training should not take a year and with good leadership, a well trained motivated team can be formed and prepared to compete with in a 6-8 week period.

Good luck with that. Otherwise, depending on your definition of "prepared". In that 6-8 weeks, are you talking one day a week, three days a week? Three days a week would equal about the typical 6 month practice sessions in quantity. But there is nothing wrong with training hard for the preceding six months leading up to NCC, inclusive of the prior competitions. But if you're insinuating that teams that otherwise have trained hard, worked their collectives off are some how presenting an unfair advantage to the 6-8 week ones..

Also, mismanagement of this program by senior members and cadets in pursuit of a win have led to some of the aforementioned problems.

Politics. ... and it's a crying shame that cadets get caught up in it, and/or victims of it.

I do like to think that the NCC is a chance to demonstrate how hard a team has trained to be there. No matter the outcome in ranking. If they did their best, they win.

[RADIOMAN015]

SDWG has 9 squadrons, with active cadet participation ranging from 2-15 cadets.  Two squadrons in the state have 10 or more active cadets.

Yeah, that's kinda my point.

Those two cadet "squadrons" need to devote their time and effort to improving their own programs to get theri units up to size and speed rather than farming out their best and brightest cadets to some sort of SD Superteam.  Every hour spend transporting a cadet to/from and participating in the superteam is an hour spent not improving the two cadet "squadron."  If that means that those two cadets do not participate in wing, region, or NCC this year, they are in good company.  They will be just like the other 95% of all cadets in CAP who do not participate in one of the most expensive cadet activities we put on.


Ned

I'm very familiar with the time, effort, and dedication that cadets & their senior member advisers put in for a Color Guard Team to win a competition.    As far as a Drill Team, there were No single unit drill teams in the Northeast Region competitions.  Some of the wings that are more spread out have tried to form Drill teams BUT it just isn't going to happen because of the travel expense & time involved to practice in one location.  Personally (although I support the teams), my fear is that if a unit tries to form a drill team than the entire cadet program becomes centered on drill and ceremonies/physical fitness training,  and little time is spent on aerospace education and emergency services which are also part of the program.   Also as far as unit funds being expended I think we need to spend the funds that will have the most impact on the overall program (e.g. hardware/long lasting assets & materials to support programs) versus travel expense funding.       

It should be interesting to see what the results are this year from the NCC competition, BUT in the unit I'm familiar with it's unlikely that most of those members will be involved with the team next year, because the cadets are either off to college or want to do other things with their lives.  Also the parents are concerned with the cadets school workload and getting very good grades, so they can get into a good college or get a scholarship.

Again I salute the cadets & senior members that are involved with Color Guards & Drill Teams --- it takes a very significant time (and money) commitment :clap:
RM 

[Bluelakes 13]

When I was an escort for a drill team, we practiced Saturday and Sunday every week from school start to NCC.  We got 3rd place both years.  The team was from many squadrons, one (my own) over 30 miles away. The winners, Puerto Rico, were quite a team. Far above and beyond the rest.  When we were talking the subject of practicing, they said they practiced every day, but I believe they were also part of a school program.  You can't beat the saying, practice makes perfect.  Many of those cadets aged out and Puerto Rico was in the rebuilding phase.  They are back this year so it will be interesting to watch.

For Color Guards, being a huge proponent of the Competition, every reason I hear is just an excuse.  Every unit should have a Color Guard for their events.  Every unit promotes their cadets, thus they are studying the texts.  Every unit does PT, so the mile run is done, usually.  Thus every unit should be competing at the Group/Wing competitions.  But reality is full of excuses...

James Kalemis, Major, CAP
Public Affairs Officer, 2006 -
National Cadet Competition
http://www.nationalcadetcompetition.com/