Cadet Officer Shoulder Boards

[Майор Хаткевич]

Same cut though. CAP should have phased it out 10+ years ago.

[MSG Mac]

I was talking to the guy who manages the CAP sales at a conference several years ago and he told me that VG has been trying to get CAP to change the boards for 2-3 years at that time. Boards are a PITA to them also.

[ThatOneGuy]

I was visiting at the academy not too long ago, and the cadets were all wearing the "old style" cut coat, but looked to be a darker shade of blue (1620?) than the ones cadets are usually spotted wearing here. Say what you will about them being outdated, they were made pretty well.

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[LATORRECA]

This is idiotic. How much time and effort is being spent on arts and crafts projects like this? Ditch the boards. Problem solved. What's next?

I follow this motion. Completely idiotic. Who cares, I'm sure no one will come that close, inspect yours uniform that is worn few times a year.

   Cadets worry about some stuff with no relevance. Why they don't worry about teaching drill properly,  leadership and activities for cadets at the lower ranks.

Top

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[xray328]

I don't know? Maybe it has something to do with going to Legislative Day and wanting to look sharp before members of Congress.


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[Mitchell 1969]

Same cut though. CAP should have phased it out 10+ years ago.

Agreed.

[LATORRECA]

Same cut though. CAP should have phased it out 10+ years ago.

Agreed.

Aye


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[Mitchell 1969]

This is idiotic. How much time and effort is being spent on arts and crafts projects like this? Ditch the boards. Problem solved. What's next?

If we get rid of the shoulder boards then how is VG going to make up the loss of the $25 profit they make from each should board sale?

Seriously you are correct.  For cadets who have service coats without epaulets, they just need to buy the conversion kit ($30) and have it sewn on.  While the price is about the same as the shoulder boards, once the coat has epaulets, it is done and anyone else who uses that coat won't have to do anything.

The shoulder boards are hard on the rank pins too.  I've seen too many fall off because the pins broke.  Just a complete waste of time and money.

I'm just curious. Of the people advocating for dumping the shoulder boards, how many actually wore them? I did, and I'd be sorry to see them go. They were an important symbol in my cadet days and most cadet officers since about 1965 or so have worn them (exceptions being the ones who were transitioning at their introduction and Cadet Warrant Officers who, at first, were not allowed to wear them).

Of course, they probably had greater meaning to those of us who wore them before epaulet slides were introduced. The shoulder boards were worn on both coats and shirts way back when.

If the meaning and gravitas has been lost over time, then shame on us, but why not get it back rather than simply dumping them.

[SarDragon]

 :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

[LATORRECA]

    I like them a lot. I wore them and never had issues with them or placing the ranks on them. I just didn't like the placing Velcro to keep them fastened to the epaulets.
My .02¢

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[THRAWN]

This is idiotic. How much time and effort is being spent on arts and crafts projects like this? Ditch the boards. Problem solved. What's next?

If we get rid of the shoulder boards then how is VG going to make up the loss of the $25 profit they make from each should board sale?

Seriously you are correct.  For cadets who have service coats without epaulets, they just need to buy the conversion kit ($30) and have it sewn on.  While the price is about the same as the shoulder boards, once the coat has epaulets, it is done and anyone else who uses that coat won't have to do anything.

The shoulder boards are hard on the rank pins too.  I've seen too many fall off because the pins broke.  Just a complete waste of time and money.

I'm just curious. Of the people advocating for dumping the shoulder boards, how many actually wore them? I did, and I'd be sorry to see them go. They were an important symbol in my cadet days and most cadet officers since about 1965 or so have worn them (exceptions being the ones who were transitioning at their introduction and Cadet Warrant Officers who, at first, were not allowed to wear them).

Of course, they probably had greater meaning to those of us who wore them before epaulet slides were introduced. The shoulder boards were worn on both coats and shirts way back when.

If the meaning and gravitas has been lost over time, then shame on us, but why not get it back rather than simply dumping them.

I never wore the guayabera shirt but wanted that gone too. These accessories may have had some value at one time, but more and more it seems as if they are just a pain to deal with, and people are spending more time playing craft time. Fix the design issues or dump them. They're as useful as feet on a fish.

[arajca]

I have worn them, both on the service jacket and the NON-EPAULET blues shirt. With snaps.

I think they should be replaced, but, as many cadet officers get AF Enlisted service coats without epaulets, I'm not sure what to replace them with.

As an aside, I think the practice of cadet officer wearing grade insignia on the flight cap should change. A miniature version of the cadet officer service cap device would be appropriate. Perhaps the molds/stamps for the old female beret cadet officer device still exist.

[Майор Хаткевич]

This is idiotic. How much time and effort is being spent on arts and crafts projects like this? Ditch the boards. Problem solved. What's next?

If we get rid of the shoulder boards then how is VG going to make up the loss of the $25 profit they make from each should board sale?

Seriously you are correct.  For cadets who have service coats without epaulets, they just need to buy the conversion kit ($30) and have it sewn on.  While the price is about the same as the shoulder boards, once the coat has epaulets, it is done and anyone else who uses that coat won't have to do anything.

The shoulder boards are hard on the rank pins too.  I've seen too many fall off because the pins broke.  Just a complete waste of time and money.

I'm just curious. Of the people advocating for dumping the shoulder boards, how many actually wore them? I did, and I'd be sorry to see them go. They were an important symbol in my cadet days and most cadet officers since about 1965 or so have worn them (exceptions being the ones who were transitioning at their introduction and Cadet Warrant Officers who, at first, were not allowed to wear them).

Of course, they probably had greater meaning to those of us who wore them before epaulet slides were introduced. The shoulder boards were worn on both coats and shirts way back when.

If the meaning and gravitas has been lost over time, then shame on us, but why not get it back rather than simply dumping them.

As a former cadet officer, I too liked the boards. At least 10 years ago (wow, I'm getting pretty old), it was something to aspire to. The pips alone aren't cool, but pips on boards? Certainly.


That said, they need to redesign them with a better attachment system.

[Papabird]

As a former cadet officer, I too liked the boards. At least 10 years ago (wow, I'm getting pretty old), it was something to aspire to. The pips alone aren't cool, but pips on boards? Certainly.
That said, they need to redesign them with a better attachment system.

As a former CAP & AFJROTC cadet the board have always been interesting to me and seem more like Navy than Air Force.  With the exception of AF Academy and Mess Dress, the boards have gone away.   But I also remember striving for the boards.

In JROTC we used to wear the hard metal pentagons on our epaulets on all classes of blues.  Hurt like heck when someone hit your shoulder.  After my time (in the 90s) they came out with the epaulet sleeves for the shirts, which seemed to help.  At some point in the late 90s, after the uniforms change, the JROTC units standarized on the enlisted coats and changed the grade location for officers to the lapel (where the US, CAP or Cadet Eagle was).  Sometimes it is hard to make out the number of stripes, and therefore differentiate between grades, but it works.

If CAP were to get rid of the boards we would have to either mandate the epaulets or look to another location on the uniform for the cadet officer grade.  But good feedback to be taken up the chain.

[PHall]

People keep saying that you need the epaulets on the jacket to wear the shoulder boards.
No you don't...

To me it was much easier to attach the boards to the "enlisted" jacket.  Cheaper too!

[NIN]

People keep saying that you need the epaulets on the jacket to wear the shoulder boards.
No you don't...

To me it was much easier to attach the boards to the "enlisted" jacket.  Cheaper too!

The velcro method always worked better with one less layer (epaulet) in there.

[Hyperion]

As a former cadet officer, I too liked the boards. At least 10 years ago (wow, I'm getting pretty old), it was something to aspire to. The pips alone aren't cool, but pips on boards? Certainly.
That said, they need to redesign them with a better attachment system.

As a former CAP & AFJROTC cadet the board have always been interesting to me and seem more like Navy than Air Force.  With the exception of AF Academy and Mess Dress, the boards have gone away.   But I also remember striving for the boards.

In JROTC we used to wear the hard metal pentagons on our epaulets on all classes of blues.  Hurt like heck when someone hit your shoulder.  After my time (in the 90s) they came out with the epaulet sleeves for the shirts, which seemed to help.  At some point in the late 90s, after the uniforms change, the JROTC units standarized on the enlisted coats and changed the grade location for officers to the lapel (where the US, CAP or Cadet Eagle was).  Sometimes it is hard to make out the number of stripes, and therefore differentiate between grades, but it works.

If CAP were to get rid of the boards we would have to either mandate the epaulets or look to another location on the uniform for the cadet officer grade.  But good feedback to be taken up the chain.

Former AFJROTC cadet officer here as well. I agree, AFJROTC has the right idea.

Whether you are a cadet officer or cadet enlisted, you wear hard metal ranks on the lapels. This negates needing to worry about which version of the service dress you have bought. I am also sure that our cadets will not have a hard time distinguishing from a distance if there is a stripe or dot on the collar of the person they need to salute. Shapes are not hard to recognize.

Make things simpler and cheaper for our cadets: Just use the small metal officer ranks in the same place that the cadet enlisted wear their ranks for all our uniforms. It will save so much time and money. You can change the pin-on rank in seconds between your uniforms as well, removing the need to buy so many pairs of ranks per promotion. Done.

[Jaison009]

 :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

This is idiotic. How much time and effort is being spent on arts and crafts projects like this? Ditch the boards. Problem solved. What's next?

If we get rid of the shoulder boards then how is VG going to make up the loss of the $25 profit they make from each should board sale?

Seriously you are correct.  For cadets who have service coats without epaulets, they just need to buy the conversion kit ($30) and have it sewn on.  While the price is about the same as the shoulder boards, once the coat has epaulets, it is done and anyone else who uses that coat won't have to do anything.

The shoulder boards are hard on the rank pins too.  I've seen too many fall off because the pins broke.  Just a complete waste of time and money.

I'm just curious. Of the people advocating for dumping the shoulder boards, how many actually wore them? I did, and I'd be sorry to see them go. They were an important symbol in my cadet days and most cadet officers since about 1965 or so have worn them (exceptions being the ones who were transitioning at their introduction and Cadet Warrant Officers who, at first, were not allowed to wear them).

Of course, they probably had greater meaning to those of us who wore them before epaulet slides were introduced. The shoulder boards were worn on both coats and shirts way back when.

If the meaning and gravitas has been lost over time, then shame on us, but why not get it back rather than simply dumping them.

[GaryVC]

I said this before but I never liked them a bit. I thought they were excessively gaudy. I can't say I care for the little tiny (almost invisible) cadet rank insignia for the slip on epaulets, either. They would be ok if they used full size cadet rank.

[PHall]

I said this before but I never liked them a bit. I thought they were excessively gaudy. I can't say I care for the little tiny (almost invisible) cadet rank insignia for the slip on epaulets, either. They would be ok if they used full size cadet rank.

Full size insignia works when you have 1 or 2 devices, but that 3rd device makes them too wide to fit on the epaulet sleeve.