Anyone else taking SOS right now?

[DNall]

^ indeed they will. You'll have the box checked already which makes your life easier, and because you've had it done for a while it makes you look like you are on the ball and/or over-quald for where they have you. That produces good opportunities, which in turn are good for your career. Eventually though you will have to take the in-res. The content is a bit different & that's the time when they watch you like a hawk to see who's going to get groomed for command & who's going to manage the kitchen in Korea... well it's a big step in that process anyway. It's good to get ACSC & AWC done via CAP later in your career. If you were say a pilot & didn't want to come out of the cockpit & lose your currency to attend a 9-12mo course, & here you already have it checked off. Those are great courses to go to in-res as well though. You get to be involved in some strategic doctorine type discussions that can shape policy.

[SAR-EMT1]

Thats always good, but sadly I dont have 20/20 vision - even with specs- though I am picking up some credits towards a PPL.
THat said, Big Brother Blue has stated that if/ when I commission Im going to Minot to a nice big hole in the ground where I get to stare at a panel and contemplate the meaning of life. 

Its the one way I know to be avoid being an "unrated weenie" while being forced to avoid an airframe.

[SAR-EMT1]

Ok, my journey off topic aside. What are the chances of a CAP member ever being allowed to attend an IN RESIDENCE Course? Be it SOS ACSC etc...

I was told that even the AFIADL courses require some base visits to AU. Is this accurate? And if so what for/ how long?
Oh..and would the AF pay for the visit or would I?

[shorning]

Oh..and would the AF pay for the visit or would I?

The Air Force isn't going to pay.  There is no surplus of money for something like this.  They have a hard enough time getting all the funding they need for the warfighters.  Beyond that, there isn't a mechanism that would allow you to pay for the training.    If there were, it would cost you thousands of dollars for some of the courses.

[O-Rex]

In-residence PME courses for CAP members?  The answer is "no."  

Slots to resident intermediate (ACSC) and advanced (AWC) courses courses are limited and very competitive within USAF.

Remember that SOS is several weeks in length, ACSC and AWC are about a year long.

Also, folks don't realize is that Military schools aren't free: when a servicemember attends a school, their organization gets a bill (these things go on way behind the scenes.)  That's why there are extended service committments associated with mil schooling: return on investment.  That's also why unit commanders get real ticked-off when their servicemembers flunk courses-it's not just a matter of pride: the unit still gets billed.  

DL courses are relatively cheap, so we get to participate pro bono.    

[SAR-EMT1]

Understood gentlemen. However what of hearing that visits to AU are required - even for DL courses. ?

[shorning]

Understood gentlemen. However what of hearing that visits to AU are required - even for DL courses. ?

I say again:

The Air Force isn't going to pay. 

[SAR-EMT1]

Ok, I understand that sir. But whether I pay or not my current question is this:
Are CAP students of the SOS, ACSC or AWC DL courses advised/required to visit Maxwell during the course? Ex: to participate in a table top or turn in assignments, graduation, etc.

[shorning]

I was told that even the AFIADL courses require some base visits to AU. Is this accurate? And if so what for/ how long?

Are CAP students of the SOS, ACSC or AWC DL courses advised/required to visit Maxwell during the course? Ex: to participate in a table top or turn in assignments, graduation, etc.

CAP members are voluntarily taking AFIADL courses; there will not be a requirement for you to travel to Maxwell for any portion of the class.  Could you voluntarily?  Doubtful.  Why?  Because those courses do not have a mechanism for you to participate. 

For example, info from AWC says, "Civil Air Patrol officers in the grades of lieutenant colonel selectee and above are eligible for enrollment in the Correspondence Program only."  That means you can't participate in the in-residence classes.  By extrapolation you could apply that to the other courses.  So there would be no requirement to visit Maxwell during the course.

To me, it sounds like you're looking for a reason to go "play Air Force".

[DNall]

Hey I think it'd be a good thing to have a few top notch CAP officers in on the strategic doctorine defining resaerch & discussions that happen at AWC, but there's other ways to do that, and no way in hell anyone's taking a slot away from AF personnel to put you there. If you're lucky they might let you participate on base w/ other people enrolled in the DL course, but I doubt it, again no mechanism.

[DNall]

Just to update. I'm all of halfway thru the first section (profession of arms) and holy crap that's a good course. I'm sure I could highlight it in power point to get teh points across w/o the serious academic (mental) investment this is taking, but I'm quite impressed with the content so far. A lot of complaints people have aboutlack of leadership in CAP, be it from the top or at any other level, are directly addressed in a straight forward manner.

[Robert Hartigan]

I am glad someone else sees the benefits of the course. I am also preparing for the Professions of Arms test. It is ordered and should arrive at the TCF shortly. I believe the test is more than power point deep and others should be cautioned that even though the material is good stuff it is not without work. You get two chances to take the tests. Fail any one of them twice and you are done.  It seems that the material is presented in a clear concise manner to stimulate conceptual understanding of the authors presented.

[DNall]

It is pretty clear. the audio is horrible, & the slides a little small, but otherwise pretty good. It does skip around a bit in places though rather than following the sort of strict outline format you'd expect in a college lecture, enough so that you do feel spoon fed at all. I don't want to put anyone off, but I do think it'd be much more difficult w/o some college experience. Not just in the presentation & intellectual requiremenets, but the depth of the material as well. The readings are superb. I just read officership foundations last night; in all seriousness, wish all corporate officers would review it; gonna use it as the base for a pre-C/CC sort of course we're putting together here.

Need to order the tests... how do I do that?

[O-Rex]

I don't want to put anyone off, but I do think it'd be much more difficult w/o some college experience. Not just in the presentation & intellectual requirements, but the depth of the material as well.

Good point: remember that SOS is geared to a USAF 1st Lt./Capt who should already have an undergraduate degree (also, ACE recommends upper level college credits for SOS)  ACSC ratchets it up a-notch: be prepared.  I'm told that the new DL AWC is essay/term-paper intensive.

Tests-It's been a while: I think for SOS, exam requests were included with the material.  I do know that for ACSC, when you get your grade on your completed test, they automatically send you the next one.

[DNall]

They don't send any material now. It's all an online course w/ video modules & PDFs for the readings. The provide PDFs if you want to print the text version, but I got no interest in that other than to save the content for outside use - also some real nice course creation tools in the system so I can rip conent to slides to make a cadet class. Still need to explore that more, but looks very cool for my purposes.

I did figure out though that the TCO has to email a specific address & explain why I can't take it at an on-base computer testing facility, then they'll mail the first one & others come one at a time as I pass them. The proceedure for all this was not exactly user friendly, but they are in transition & CAP dpesn't have the update info anywhere that I've found.

[James Shaw]

I ahve just requested my test for the SOS course. I am doing the paper exam through one of the local squadrons. Requesting the paper one was very easy with a short explination as to why I could travel 1 1/2 hours to take each test. Should come in the next few weeks. I will keep folks informed.

[DrJbdm]

How much does AFIADL enforce the rule of being a Captain to get into SOS? is AFIADL very picky about that sort of thing with CAP? any chance I could "sneak" in as a 1st Lt??? 

[arajca]

Why would you want to jepardize our ability to take AFIADL courses by breaking the rules?

AF officers need to be Capt's (Capt selects don't qualify) before they can take SOS either in residence or by correspondence. CAP follows the same rules. AFIADL may just refuse your enrollment or it may decide to block all CAP enrollments because of you. I don't know exactly how they will react, so I wouldn't push the issue.

Now, for ACSC, the AF allows Maj selects to take it and actually includes CAP Maj selects in their requirements. Question comes up, what is a CAP Maj select? A Capt with Level III completed?

[mikeylikey]

How much does AFIADL enforce the rule of being a Captain to get into SOS? is AFIADL very picky about that sort of thing with CAP? any chance I could "sneak" in as a 1st Lt??? 

So you would LIE and say you are a Captain when registering?

[DrJbdm]

So you would LIE and say you are a Captain when registering?

  Who said anything about lying?? My question was can 1st Lt's get into SOS or does AFIADL really restrict enrollments to Capt? I have heard of CAP Capt's taking ACSC and so I was wondering about Lt's taking SOS. No where in there did I say I would LIE! Please do not assume I am the type who would nor should you read too much into the question.  I also wouldn't attempt to take SOS without knowing if others have gotten into the program as Lt's.

I'm not going to be the one who causes everyone else to lose a great privilege. Thats why I ask the questions first.