NCSA - not leaving the base

[xray328]

From a parents perspective, it would be nice if there was some way a day (or half a day) could be incorporated into the NCSA's for cadets to venture into the local area a little during their week.  I know the purpose of the NCSA is to do whatever activity they're doing but it's a shame to go somewhere like Seattle for instance and not get to see the Space Needle, or Florida and never step foot on the beach.  Seems like a lot of NCSA's (from what I've seen) pick you up at the airport, send you to the local base/post and drive you back to the airport.  I'd be happy to let my cadets stay an extra day for the added experience.  E-Tech (Robotics) seems to be incorporating that (volleyball/bonfire on the beach).

[jeders]

It all depends on the NCSA. Some allow for "local time" because there's actually local stuff to do. For example, NBB has a flight night out where your flight can go out and relax and have fun for a few hours; though it has been curtailed due to the shenanigans of a few bad apples.

However, if you go to SUPT FC at Laughlin, I can guarantee that there is no point in going outside the base for local culture. Del Rio has a couple of decent dive restaurants and bars, but that's about it.

[Eclipse]

From a supervisory and safety perspective, this is a nightmare.  One missing or injured cadet and the whole thing could
get shut down.

View it as a work trip - you can see Disneyworld from the hotel, but that's not what you are there for.

[xray328]

Understood, but I can tell you that while my daughter wanted to go to E-Tech regardless, the added time at the beach etc sure excited her a lot more about the activity.  If I sent you to Las Vegas I bet you'd at least want to drive down the Strip.  There's risk in every activity, we all know that.  It's just how we manage it.

Look at NBB, ton of risk there.  Certainly more than there would be taking the cadets on a tour of a local tourist attraction.  But they do an exceptional job of managing the risk.

Again, it's just an observation from the parents perspective.  It a "that would be nice" sorta thing...for your consideration.

[Eclipse]

If I sent you to Las Vegas I bet you'd at least want to drive down the Strip. 

Want to?  Yes.  Have time?  No.

The comment about your daughter being excited about the beach vs. the activity is actually part of the issue
(as someone who's dealt with this issue) - it become all about the beach, and sometimes the logistics of those day
trips get in the way of the actual event.

[xray328]

Understood.  She didn't want to go just to go to the beach of course but that was a pretty cool aspect of an already pretty cool activity. 

I think it'd be a shame if we had cadets come to an activity up here and didn't at least put them in a CAP van and drive down Lake Shore Drive.  Imagine if they were excited to see Chicago and we took them from Midway Airport to a local unnamed squadron and back to Midway and that's all they saw...bummer. (Personally, I'd make a trip to Portillo's required in there somewhere as well...lol)

Again, just a way to make things better for the cadets.

[Spaceman3750]

I think it'd be a shame if we had cadets come to an activity up here and didn't at least put them in a CAP van and drive down Lake Shore Drive.  Imagine if they were excited to see Chicago and we took them from Midway Airport to a local unnamed squadron and back to Midway and that's all they saw...bummer. (Personally, I'd make a trip to Portillo's required in there somewhere as well...lol)

Would the staff of an NCSA in Chicago qualify for hazard pay, for serving in a combat zone?

[xray328]

Depends what airport the cadets fly into


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[RogueLeader]

This may just be me, but I'm of the opinion that when I go to an activity, I want to focus on the activity during the duty day.  For example, during National Staff College, we took the afternoon and went to Motton Field, where the Tuskegee Airman trained.  While I loved the historical aspect and what they did there, what did that have to do with NSC?  I'd have rather had another few classes about NSC.  We did go out one evening, as a seminar, and that was great.

[PHall]

I thought the reason you went to a NCSA was to attend the NCSA.
You wanna go to the beach? Go on vacation instead. It will probably be cheaper!

[Alaric]

From a parents perspective, it would be nice if there was some way a day (or half a day) could be incorporated into the NCSA's for cadets to venture into the local area a little during their week.  I know the purpose of the NCSA is to do whatever activity they're doing but it's a shame to go somewhere like Seattle for instance and not get to see the Space Needle, or Florida and never step foot on the beach.  Seems like a lot of NCSA's (from what I've seen) pick you up at the airport, send you to the local base/post and drive you back to the airport.  I'd be happy to let my cadets stay an extra day for the added experience.  E-Tech (Robotics) seems to be incorporating that (volleyball/bonfire on the beach).

You like adding liability risk do you?  When I go on business trips, I'm there for business which means I see the plant, whatever restaurant I eat in, and the hotel.  The next 9 days I'll be in Maine, New Hampshire and Connecticut, would I like to take some time and see the Ocean, visit Boston or NY, sure but that's not what I'm here for.  If as a parent you are sending a cadet down to an NCSA, take a day or two before or after to enjoy the local sights with your child, CAP is not a vacation planner.

[xray328]

Goes toward retention and recruiting though. 

Hey cadet xyz, let's see some pictures of that NCSA you just came back from...sorry don't have anything to share with you, we never left the base.   


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[xray328]

Not to mention it helps with the "fun" aspect of the program. Seems to be a lack of that. Cadets will not stay in our program if it's not fun, period.


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[Alaric]

Goes toward retention and recruiting though. 

Hey cadet xyz, let's see some pictures of that NCSA you just came back from...sorry don't have anything to share with you, we never left the base.   


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NESA and NBB post literally hundreds of pictures and they never "leave the base"  JFA is constantly posting pictures, so not really seeing the issue

[Майор Хаткевич]

Not to mention it helps with the "fun" aspect of the program. Seems to be a lack of that. Cadets will not stay in our program if it's not fun, period.


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The special activity is supposed to be fun.

[Alaric]

Not to mention it helps with the "fun" aspect of the program. Seems to be a lack of that. Cadets will not stay in our program if it's not fun, period.


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If the NCSA is not "fun" for them, perhaps they should have applied to something they would have found "fun" or, if they couldn't find a "fun" enough activity they should have left the slot for someone else

[xray328]

Seems like some NCSA's are being run more like encampments.  Anyway, just feedback I'm hearing among the cadets for what it's worth.


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[Spaceman3750]

Goes toward retention and recruiting though. 

Hey cadet xyz, let's see some pictures of that NCSA you just came back from...sorry don't have anything to share with you, we never left the base.   


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NESA and NBB post literally hundreds of pictures and they never "leave the base"  JFA is constantly posting pictures, so not really seeing the issue

This. And I can assure you that there is very little off-post at NESA that the average teenager would consider "fun", unless they've never seen a corn field or a cow in their life, and have always wondered where their food comes from. Not that we even have time for that anyways.

[Ned]

From my perspective, it is mostly a supervision/CPP issue.

Every week-long type of activity normally has some unstructured or "down" time for things like studying, laundry, etc.  But we normally do not permit cadets to leave the immediate activity area because we have a responsibility to supervise them until they leave to go home.  And given the "two-deep" leadership and "rule of three", the logistics of supervising cadets who want to go to town, the BX, or a local museum or attraction get complicated very quickly.

Depending on the nature of the specific activity and the curriculum, we often organize a group trip to a place that furthers the activity.  At the Civic Leadership Academy, there are multiple trips to places like Arlington, Lincoln Memorial, the Smithsonian, Udvar-Hazy, etc.  Depends on the curriculum and year.  At COS, we've toured the Tuskeegee heritage site, gone to the state capitol, etc.

But we simply can't have a system where we say something like "OIK, free time.  Everybody back by midnight.  Have fun."


Ned Lee
National Cadet Program Manager

[xray328]

I can see the CPP issue.

If I were planning an NCSA in the Chicago area for instance it would be nice to take the cadets to Millennium Park for an afternoon, maybe over to Buckingham Fountain.  Just a half a day to show them them the city.  It's clearly not what the NCSA is about or for but I think the cadets would come away with a different experience than if we stayed locked into the squadron/base all week. 

I know that not all the NCSA's are lucky enough to be somewhere the cadets would want to visit, but if they are I just think we should take advantage of it.