The Quality Cadet Program added DDR to it's categories for 2012. That's great.
Even though some units within the 30 mile magic circle have access to more stuff, thus have a better advantage..
Then this announcement came out .. great, they leveled the playing field a little.
Yet we're still being refused to get stuff.
I understand that this being an Air Force program, that they're trying to influence the community around their installations.
The answer we get now is that you can only order Red Ribbon week stuff. I realize that's somewhat what the paragraph says, "For starters.."
Or have they blown the $10K first?
If CAP is participating in DDR, the resources should be available to all of us. :(
https://www.capnhq.gov/news/news02Mar12.htm (https://www.capnhq.gov/news/news02Mar12.htm)
Quote from: NHQ eServices News Feed
Exciting news: Drug Demand Reduction (DDR) funds are now available for
ALL CADET UNITS!
02 Mar 2012
Are you feeling left out because you don't have an Air Force
installation nearby? Are you hosting drug-free outreach activities or
events? Are you looking for drug-free education resources and
promotional items? These funds are for you!
Cadet Programs has received extra funds this year that are
specifically dedicated to bringing the drug-free message to units that
are more than 30 miles from Air Force installations. These funds are
from the O&M budget appropriated by Congress, so they are available to
all cadet and composite squadrons - no matter where they are located.
Q: What items can I request?
A: Curriculum materials for Red Ribbon Leadership Academy and National
Character Day, for starters. And stay tuned for the new DDR catalog,
which will allow all cadet units to order substance abuse educational
materials and drug-free promotional items. The online catalog will be
announced through all regular channels once it's ready to use.
Q: Are there strings attached?
A: You'll be asked to fill out a request form to order materials, and
then submit a simple report in eServices to let us know how you used
the materials you received.
Q: How does this affect DDR spending for 30-mile units?
A: It doesn't! 30-mile units will still be able to order from the DDR
catalog, as well as submit requests for direct reimbursements,
courtesy of Air Force Surgeon General funds.
2012 Goal: spend $10,000 this fiscal year to supply DDR materials to
non-30-mile units.
From what I have been told....the 30 mile circle is now null and void.
Yes, exactly. Except when as late as yesterday, they're still refusing to let us get stuff. Citing a 30 mile radius. Of which our address is 33 miles if they use the perimeter of the nearest base, or 29 miles if they use the geographical center. If they're that anal, they must not want to give the stuff out in the first place.
The 30 mile thing was imposed by CAP. We made it up. We took it away.
We (CAP) did?
Not the Air Force, limiting funds to communities around their bases, and we've only been just jumping on because of that? That is what I've heard.
Why would CAP limit the stuff all this time?
... and I'm telling you, yes I've read it, but as recent as this week we've been told "you're not within 30 miles", when we tried to get some DDRx books.
That doesn't make any sense, unless it was a handshake by CAP to get the funds at all.
By far the majority of CAP units are nowhere near a base that fits the definition, and funds go unspent every year.
Why would CAP artificially limit the ability to spend money it actively wants to spend?
My understanding was that, as a2capt said, the USAF was trying to supplement their base DDR with CAP assistance, which was the reason for the limit.
USAF made up the 30 mile rule when they handed CAP their DDR program way back when.
I honestly don't get why CAP still clings to this DDR program. The most exposure I had to DDR in CAP was my Honor Guard 2005 T-Shirt which had the patch on the sleeve, and as part of HGA we had to make a DDR play (which my flight won the top award for!).
Outside of that NCSA? Nada.
P.S. The Honor Guard Polo I purchased also had "drug free and proud" on it. As someone who just recently exited the teenage years, I can't tell you how cheese that message is.
Quote from: usafaux2004 on April 12, 2012, 12:04:22 AM
I honestly don't get why CAP still clings to this DDR program. The most exposure I had to DDR in CAP was my Honor Guard 2005 T-Shirt which had the patch on the sleeve, and as part of HGA we had to make a DDR play (which my flight won the top award for!).
You had the unfortunate luck of living well outside the 30-miles of a base, and during your cadet years, many times the DDR job was vacant.
There are wings that have had good success with the program.
I'd like to see the USAF-base restriction removed and just let the wing's submit plans for approval.
Quote from: Eclipse on April 12, 2012, 12:41:19 AM
Quote from: usafaux2004 on April 12, 2012, 12:04:22 AM
I honestly don't get why CAP still clings to this DDR program. The most exposure I had to DDR in CAP was my Honor Guard 2005 T-Shirt which had the patch on the sleeve, and as part of HGA we had to make a DDR play (which my flight won the top award for!).
You had the unfortunate luck of living well outside the 30-miles of a base, and during your cadet years, many times the DDR job was vacant.
There are wings that have had good success with the program.
I'd like to see the USAF-base restriction removed and just let the wing's submit plans for approval.
Which I guess is the point...DDR is just something NHQ and a select few have access to. I think CAP has more impact on the cadets to stay away from drugs by having cadet related consequences, but the community has things like D.A.R.E., M.A.D.D., etc. Maybe it should stay that way, because we simply can't throw enough money at the problem.
Quote from: usafaux2004 on April 12, 2012, 12:50:10 AM
Quote from: Eclipse on April 12, 2012, 12:41:19 AM
Quote from: usafaux2004 on April 12, 2012, 12:04:22 AM
I honestly don't get why CAP still clings to this DDR program. The most exposure I had to DDR in CAP was my Honor Guard 2005 T-Shirt which had the patch on the sleeve, and as part of HGA we had to make a DDR play (which my flight won the top award for!).
You had the unfortunate luck of living well outside the 30-miles of a base, and during your cadet years, many times the DDR job was vacant.
There are wings that have had good success with the program.
I'd like to see the USAF-base restriction removed and just let the wing's submit plans for approval.
Which I guess is the point...DDR is just something NHQ and a select few have access to. I think CAP has more impact on the cadets to stay away from drugs by having cadet related consequences, but the community has things like D.A.R.E., M.A.D.D., etc. Maybe it should stay that way, because we simply can't throw enough money at the problem.
Why do you assume that in order to have a DDR program you need to order "give away" items. My son was DDRA and rarely ordered anything but had a good wg program, the state is rather large and there are many sqdns that fell in the outside the zone problem. He utilized the teaching lessons from the web page but then tore apart his closet to find left over toys and things that could be re-purposed into DDR activities. He had a very small personal budget being in college, so he had to think outside the box.
I didn't mention anything about any "give away" items. I said that we don't have the money to have any noticeable impact on the issue within our communities.
Quote from: usafaux2004 on April 12, 2012, 01:42:43 AM
I didn't mention anything about any "give away" items. I said that we don't have the money to have any noticeable impact on the issue within our communities.
Again, my point that you don't necessarily need money to have a good program and impact on the community. I found that the better contacts you have within the community, the more access to other agencies having a co-opperative activity.
The 30 mile circle only applies to ordering the give away items. So, if you don't order any you can still do the program. Moot point.
Kudos to your son, but everything is about money.
The more professional we can appear, the more likely we are going to get the attention of schools and other organizations,
and like it or not, kids are about Chotchkies.
While a motivated person certainly can have an impact without some money to back him up, in this case he should not
have to.
It's a credit to CAP members who tend to wander like rag-a-muffins, or spend their own money to get things done,
but we're usually operating in a sea of other agencies and organizations that are fully funded, while we're standing there
writing personal checks.
I also have to sadly agree with USAFAUX - a successful cadet career is probably the most "DDR" CAP can do, and goes a long way towards
that goal. We aren't likely to have much success as an outreach. Using DDR as a recruiting tool, which then in turn fosters the DDR goals
through membership is great, but kids who don't join aren't likely to care much whether CAP discourages the use of tobacco, drugs, or alcohol
by young people, we're just a quiet voice in the cacophony they are inundated with.
A successful cadet in uniform is probably the best poster for a clean lifestyle we can offer.
Well, if the DDRx book is considered a give away item, then so be it. However since it's a CAP publication, and that they will send that to units within the 30 mile radius, and not others, then fine.
That's like saying you can only get the AEX books if your within 5 miles of an airport.
Since there's a lot more airports, there's a lot more chances of a unit being within 30 miles of one of those, so I lowered the number.
I'm not after the free pens and cheesy battery operated stuff that comes with dead batteries and a defect rate that ought to put China out of business, we have not even gotten that far yet. But when you can't even get their publications, that's just lame.
Why isn't it just online? And how big is this book? Seems like it could just be printed off if they stuck it on the web.
Quote from: Nathan on April 12, 2012, 12:37:58 PM
Why isn't it just online? And how big is this book? Seems like it could just be printed off if they stuck it on the web.
Or even simply read online. At least it would be something.
It is online, I've moved the PDF to our web site, because finding stuff on theirs isn't the simplest proposition for some people. It's a 1/4 thick. For the purposes of doing the exercises having multiple books, and being able to send home some where there is interest, would be idea and I'd think well within the goals of the program.
... "Sorry, you can't have any. You're too far from an Air Force base"
Nevermind the press release posted to eServices.
A little revisiting of this topic because it seems things really have not changed. If DDR support and resources are only available to units with 30 miles of an Air Force facility, then how can units be ranked "fairly" against others?
I know, this whole thread about the dropping of the 30 mile radius, but in reality, that didn't happen. Why? When we asked for books, we were told you're not within the 30 mile radius.
We did DDR sessions, the DDR officer is amazing, the cadets looked forward to it, and actually got into it. But we get a big fat zero on the Quality Cadet Program statistics. At least according to our DDR officer, he's done everything he's supposed to. I want to say that out of an average of 70 cadets on the roster if I go back to 1-January, at least 85% have had 2 or more of the 5 DDR sessions we've offered since January.
That makes it impossible for some units to rank in all categories of the Quality Cadet Program rankings, and thus it's not a "fair" sampling across the board, when others have advantages over some.
The only time I've ever gotten DDR materials is when I've gone to other Wing activities like conferences and schools, and the Wing DDR people have been there trying to "get rid of", as in "please take this stuff, we have too much, we don't know what to do with it".
I talked to a DDRA and got some answers.
The books were paid for with DDR funding (from the special AF Surgeon General's account) so they cannot be handed out to units outside of the 30 mile rule. There was separate funding from the regular appropriated account to assist units outside of 30 miles, but that was done after the books were paid for.
Did your DDRO request credit for each cadet that completed 6 lessons from the DDRx book? It's separate than the unit AAR. The procedures are explained on the DDRx web site (http://www.capmembers.com/cadet_programs/drug_demand_reduction/ddrx/). The DDRx book was created for individual cadets to complete and the 20% completion is checked by seeing how many cadets from each unit received credit.
Your issue with "fairness" would also apply to those units that have an airplane versus those that don't. It's easier to get an O-ride if you meet at the airport and there is a plane waiting, rather than having to get a plane and pilot from another squadron. We could also look at urban versus rural areas for the size of the squadron, etc...
Quote from: Offutteer on October 09, 2012, 03:31:12 PMYour issue with "fairness" would also apply to those units that have an airplane versus those that don't. It's easier to get an O-ride if you meet at the airport and there is a plane waiting, rather than having to get a plane and pilot from another squadron.
Apples and Oldsmobiles.
DDR funding is not available at all outside the green zone. Anyone can rent / reserve / use any CAP aircraft.
As to the use of materials, once they are issued to the wing, the wing can do whatever they want with them, no one is checking mailing addresses
for a squeeze bottle or poster, etc.
Quote from: Eclipse on October 09, 2012, 03:34:45 PM
Quote from: Offutteer on October 09, 2012, 03:31:12 PMYour issue with "fairness" would also apply to those units that have an airplane versus those that don't. It's easier to get an O-ride if you meet at the airport and there is a plane waiting, rather than having to get a plane and pilot from another squadron.
Apples and Oldsmobiles.
DDR funding is not available at all outside the green zone. Anyone can rent / reserve / use any CAP aircraft.
I don't understand, given the limits on DDR goodies, why most wings bother with wing level programs for this?
Quote from: usafaux2004 on October 09, 2012, 03:36:05 PMI don't understand, given the limits on DDR goodies, why most wings bother with wing level programs for this?
Give that man a cupie doll!
However, I've argued for years that a creative DDRA, assigned to a squadron within the green zone, could come up with a very effective program that serves the entire wing.
Quote from: Eclipse on October 09, 2012, 03:34:45 PMDDR funding is not available at all outside the green zone. Anyone can rent / reserve / use any CAP aircraft.
An airplane can fly. A phone call or two is all it takes. They come to us, or we meet at common ground as arranged. We had around 80 cadets fly last year. It wasn't a problem at all. Very easy.
..and yes, credit was requested separately from the AAR, using the eServices module. I suspect there's a disconnect there as there are a lot of units that have 0% in their statistics.
They bothered to make a huge workbook, the designed the program around them, and then they say "but you can't have them".
Quote from: Exciting news: Drug Demand Reduction (DDR) funds are now available for ALL CADET UNITS! - 02 Mar 2012Q: What items can I request?
A: Curriculum materials for Red Ribbon Leadership Academy and National Character Day, for starters. And stay tuned for the new DDR catalog, which will allow all cadet units to order substance abuse educational materials and drug-free promotional items. The online catalog will be announced through all regular channels once it's ready to use."
Looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, but isn't available outside the fence, despite them saying so. Right there.