Unfortunate Out of Uniform Picture

[RADIOMAN015]

See:
http://www.citizen-times.com/article/20100404/LIVING/304040036

For some reason it appears that the drill team had to wear athletic shoes rather than their black dress shoes in the competition.  (Might be because of the gym floor).

It's too bad the sponsors couldn't find a building that would allow the use of the proper footware.  Of course unless this is a file picture of the cadets at their own squadron practicing.

It's great that the cadets won an award, but the PAO's challenge is to at least take a picture of them in proper uniform.
RM   

[vmstan]

This looks like a job for photoshop!  :angel:

All joking aside, it is too bad, as the gym shoes really break up what I'm sure was an impressive drill.

[Major Lord]

They also listed our Cadet ages as 12-18, silly civvy shoes notwithstanding. Probably a safety officer behind the shoes thing....you'll put your eye out!

Major Lord

[Rotorhead]

It's great that the cadets won an award, but the PAO's challenge is to at least take a picture of them in proper uniform.
RM   

It is more than that; it is the PAO's responsibility to do so.

To submit this photo to a newspaper shows an utter lack of understanding of that fact.

[NCRblues]

I hate to bring this up...but since the topic is headed so nice, i guess i will since i need to get this off my chest.

In the Jan/Mar issue of the always wonderful "volunteer" it was pointed out to me that their was a great article about a ground team having a find. I was very very excited to have this particular person come and find me to speak about cap.(he is not in cap but is very influential here at Whiteman AFB) Until....

He pointed out an unfortunate picture located on page 15....  In this picture is the ground team that was credited for the find. Also in this picture are 2 persons of intrest.

The first and most obvious is the cadet in ABU's, with a ranger rolled cover..... The second and less obvious ( i only discovered it after looking over the photo carefully), is a cadet on the far left. His cover is pulled down so far he has to look up to see...also if you look carefully his pants are being held not by a belt, but by his hands and a little bit of white cloth can be seen under the pants. ( i wont speculate what the white cloth is.....)

It is great what this ground team did, and more coverage of finds and other good things need to be done.....BUT 2 minutes to prepare themselves for the photo could have made this 10x better.

Please don't think i am bashing this ground team....just kind of ashamed that someone (a SM mainly) could allow members to be photographed in such a state....

[Eclipse]

The first and most obvious is the cadet in ABU's, with a ranger rolled cover..... The second and less obvious ( i only discovered it after looking over the photo carefully), is a cadet on the far left. His cover is pulled down so far he has to look up to see...also if you look carefully his pants are being held not by a belt, but by his hands and a little bit of white cloth can be seen under the pants. ( i wont speculate what the white cloth is.....)

That's already been discussed here - that's not a cadet...

[NCRblues]

i did not know it was discussed here...can you show me where so i can see how you came up with "its not a cadet"?

[shorning]

...so i can see how you came up with "its not a cadet"?

Well...the stripes on the sleeve for one...

[SarDragon]

It's great that the cadets won an award, but the PAO's challenge is to at least take a picture of them in proper uniform.
RM   

It is more than that; it is the PAO's responsibility to do so.

To submit this photo to a newspaper shows an utter lack of understanding of that fact.

OK, now we're down the the classic PAO dilemma - use an after the fact grip'n'grin in exactly the right uniform, or one showing the team in action with jacked up shoes?

[EMT-83]

OK, now we're down the the classic PAO dilemma - use an after the fact grip'n'grin in exactly the right uniform, or one showing the team in action with jacked up shoes?

When I read the article, the fact that the cadets traveled six hours to the competition stuck with me more than the sneakers being worn on a gym floor.

[Rotorhead]

It's great that the cadets won an award, but the PAO's challenge is to at least take a picture of them in proper uniform.
RM   

It is more than that; it is the PAO's responsibility to do so.

To submit this photo to a newspaper shows an utter lack of understanding of that fact.

OK, now we're down the the classic PAO dilemma - use an after the fact grip'n'grin in exactly the right uniform, or one showing the team in action with jacked up shoes?

Or crop the shoes from the frame while shooting or later...or come up with a better shot that doesn't show the shoes.

The composition of the shot used isn't very good in the first place.

There were several options other than a posed shot.

[tarheel gumby]

The venue that the MER Cadet Competiton was not chosen by PAO's or the Teams competing. The venue was Fort Pickett, VA a US Army National Guard facility...... those teams had to play by the ARNG's rules. Reading this tread just made me a little hot under the collar. Those cadets worked very hard to get there and that was the first time that they had been to the MER Cadet comp since 2001. I and the rest of their squadron are very proud of them. I don't think the athletic shoes are going to cause the world to end or the planets to fall out of alignment.

[Rotorhead]

The venue that the MER Cadet Competiton was not chosen by PAO's or the Teams competing. The venue was Fort Pickett, VA a US Army National Guard facility...... those teams had to play by the ARNG's rules. Reading this tread just made me a little hot under the collar. Those cadets worked very hard to get there and that was the first time that they had been to the MER Cadet comp since 2001. I and the rest of their squadron are very proud of them. I don't think the athletic shoes are going to cause the world to end or the planets to fall out of alignment.

No, but they are not in uniform.

Their accomplishment is not diminished.

The PAO made the mistake we're discussing. Unless you're him, no reason to become riled up.

[a2capt]

I've been places where our dress shoes and combat boots were not permitted to be worn on gym or similar floors. These cadets probably got caught in that same bit, whoever scoped out the facilities probably got caught with their pants down on that bit.. probably after they booked it, arranged it, or whatever and who knows, probably the morning of the event, or even right when the first appearance was going to be, someone said "they can't wear those in there.. " and well, luckily PT is part of the competition and they had them. Otherwise.. that would have sucked worse.

[jimmydeanno]

In 2006 the VAWG Group 2 Cadet Competition was held on Langley Air Force Base at the base gym.  At the last minute they told us that the cadets would not be able to wear any shoes that had black soles.  As a result, all the teams competed wearing only their black socks.

Sometimes, you just have to roll with the punches and sometimes things don't go as you would like, but that's how it goes. 

[Major Carrales]

The venue that the MER Cadet Competiton was not chosen by PAO's or the Teams competing. The venue was Fort Pickett, VA a US Army National Guard facility...... those teams had to play by the ARNG's rules. Reading this tread just made me a little hot under the collar. Those cadets worked very hard to get there and that was the first time that they had been to the MER Cadet comp since 2001. I and the rest of their squadron are very proud of them. I don't think the athletic shoes are going to cause the world to end or the planets to fall out of alignment.

No, but they are not in uniform.

Their accomplishment is not diminished.

The PAO made the mistake we're discussing. Unless you're him, no reason to become riled up.

Why "edit" history?  A simple addition to the caption would maintain the integrity of the photograph.  Something along the lines of...

"Cadet Color Guard Excels at Competition: Cadets from the ANYTOWN CADET SQUADRON placed favorably in the East Carolina Wing Color Guard Competition on 31 Octember 2010.  The Cadets did an outstanding job despite having to compete in athletic shoes due to the rules of the facility."

I often have issue with the practice, of which even I do, where real Orwellian practices are used to present a false image of CAP.  I hold these feelings as a PAO because there is an element of Intergrity being lost in these practices.

[CadetProgramGuy]

To do somthing like this one of several thing happened:

1:  (and most probable)  The school would not allow the dress shoes on the gym floor, as they would mark up the floor

or

2:  A cadet forgot part of his uniform and the rest dressed the same for uniformity

[Pylon]

Why "edit" history?  A simple addition to the caption would maintain the integrity of the photograph.  Something along the lines of...

"Cadet Color Guard Excels at Competition: Cadets from the ANYTOWN CADET SQUADRON placed favorably in the East Carolina Wing Color Guard Competition on 31 Octember 2010.  The Cadets did an outstanding job despite having to compete in athletic shoes due to the rules of the facility."

I often have issue with the practice, of which even I do, where real Orwellian practices are used to present a false image of CAP.  I hold these feelings as a PAO because there is an element of Intergrity being lost in these practices.

    Welcome the world of public relations.  Nobody is suggesting violating integrity, so I have no idea why you'd bring it into the discussion.

And I have to completely disagree with your suggested approach.  It serves no purpose in educating the public or promoting Civil Air Patrol by mentioning the shoes.  Therefore, leave it out all together.  We only have a limited amount of time to capture the interest of the reader, and mentioning unimportant internal regulatory minutae does not further the goal of a media release or article on the event.

Instead:  Take a better photograph (because let's be honest, that photo with or without the sneakers wasn't winning any awards) from the start, use an angle that doesn't show the footwear (because their footwear isn't integral to the event) and both the objective of promoting the event and maintaining our professional image is solved. 

[Flying Pig]

Having done NCC 3 times, I say bad choice for a photo, however my guess is that they were practicing and not wanting to scuff their shoes prior to the actual performance.  I would hope the Flight Commander wasn't commanding the flight with a stack of papers in his hand during the real performance.

Or, the gym didn't want black military soled shoes on their floor.

[JoeTomasone]

Simple fix, folks, although I don't have the full-sized image to crop from:



This is the picture I would have submitted.