CAP Officer Basic Course - Launching announced

[flyboy76]

I had the ECI 13 course materials, and having taken the new course, I can safely say that I learned more *useful* information in the new course than I did studying the old material.

The new material is online, you can read it and (re)draw your own conclusions.

Did the old ECI 13 test have more than 400 questions???

Totally agree.  I took the ECI 13 last October at a wing PD conference, but due to a paperwork snafu, never got enrolled through AU.  After several attempts, I decided to just take OBC and finished it tonight. 

While there's a lot of opportunity to take the OBC without actually learning anything, it's a well-designed course if the person takes it seriously.  The material is good and the PDFs make good quick-references.  Overall, I give NHQ a lot of credit for the effort to improve both the content and delivery of this training.

Just my $0.02.

[Eclipse]

Totally agree.  I took the ECI 13 last October at a wing PD conference, but due to a paperwork snafu, never got enrolled through AU.

How could you take it at a Wing Conference?  Any wing giving these tests without the member being enrolled directly is asking for trouble with the USAF.  They shouldn't even have the test to start with.

[flyboy76]

Totally agree.  I took the ECI 13 last October at a wing PD conference, but due to a paperwork snafu, never got enrolled through AU.

How could you take it at a Wing Conference?  Any wing giving these tests without the member being enrolled directly is asking for trouble with the USAF.  They shouldn't even have the test to start with.

Didn't take the test, just the classroom portion.  That was part of the snafu.  Thought I was enrolled and attributed the fact that I hadn't gotten the materials to the printing backorder that I'd read about.  Took the classroom portion and requested the test from AU.  They indicated that I wasn't enrolled.  So, I resubmitted the enrollment...no response...rinse...repeat...surrendered.  OBC was my destiny, I suppose.

[Eclipse]

Ah!  Bach!

[flyboy76]

Ah!  Bach!

Perhaps the greatest of all M*A*S*H lines.  Pretty much says it all.

[Spaceman3750]

Hmm... I was told I would receive more information about my cohort 1 February, however I have not gotten an e-mail yet. I will probably send one this weekend.

[rroberts]

Just got an email that my Cohort is starting tomorrow.  My original date was April 15th.

I think they are doing a wonderful job managing this role out.

[exFlight Officer]

Just got an email that my Cohort is starting tomorrow.  My original date was April 15th.

I think they are doing a wonderful job managing this role out.

How is it coming along for you?

[rroberts]

Just got an email that my Cohort is starting tomorrow.  My original date was April 15th.

I think they are doing a wonderful job managing this role out.

How is it coming along for you?

All finished.  Took me about two days to do the tests.  I had printed all the modules ahead of time and studied/made notes.  I learned a lot from this course.  They should send this course out to new people that want to get more involved / know more faster than what might be normal.  Good job to all involved.

[exFlight Officer]

I got an email this morning that my Cohort starts today. I am in the fourth cohort that was scheduled to start in May but got rescheduled for April 1st. Looking forward to this course     Anyone else starting today?

[Always Ready]

I got an email this morning that my Cohort starts today. I am in the fourth cohort that was scheduled to start in May but got rescheduled for April 1st. Looking forward to this course     Anyone else starting today?

I did! I was originally scheduled to start in June, but I was bumped up to yesterday.

I finished the course about 20 minutes ago. (I was off today and used this as an excuse to procrastinate on other things.) Overall, I think this is a great course. It provides an excellent foundation for newer members to build upon. I must admit, I actually learned a thing or two.

I did not study for any portion of this course before I opened up the lesson in Blackboard. On most of the lessons, I only took a minute or two to skim through the information and then proceeded to take the test. There were a few lessons where I HAD to read through the entire lesson, because I was a little rusty; for example: 'Legal Basis for CAP' and 'Support to Civil & Military'.

I passed most of the tests first time. The few I didn't pass the first time were caused by brainfarts and blond moments. I quickly passed them the second time. I usually didn't spend longer than 5 minutes on any particular lesson, including the quiz.  As stated before in this thread, there were a few errors and irregularities, especially to any Regulation Nazi.

I considered most of the information presented to be a review of what I learned as a cadet. I was fairly recently a cadet and I attribute my quick completion of the course to that. I transferred to the darkside three years ago next Monday.

Since becoming a SM, this is the first course I've seen that was on par with what is in the Cadet Program. I hope that CLC, RSC, and NSC are just as well presented and informative. I highly recommend this course and will be encouraging others in my area to register for it. Kudos to the folks who put this together!

[EMT-83]

This has been my concern with the OBC since I completed it. The objective isn't to see how fast you can blow through the tests. There's some really good material presented, and you're doing yourself a disservice by not taking your time and reading it.

[AdAstra]

Competitive OBC! It's only taken four months to launch. Just to keep things fair, we ought to come up with divisions such as Prior Military Service, Non-Prior Service, Former Cadet, Professional Appointees who get captain immediately, 18-21 age bracket, 22-30 age bracket, 31-40 age bracket, Old Fart, etc.

Seriously, folks, Level One and Officer Basic Course should set the foundation and framework for each member's career of service to CAP and our country. If we expect to render professional-level service, we ought to take our education and training seriously. A recurring gripe during the Pacific Region Staff College this last week was "We heard this in Level One." Response: it's still a problem in CAP so we are re-emphasizing it. Gripe 2: I wish I'd known this in Level 1 or 2. Response: a summary version was there but maybe you glossed over it.

I don't necessarily agree with all the content, emphasis or short length of some of the topics in Level One and OBC; at least it's an attempt to get everyone started and on the same page. But it doesn't address the need to inculcate an attitude of commitment and service in our new members. That rests on the shoulders of squadron commanders who set the example (uniform wear, professional attitude, etc.) tone and enforce the standards in the unit. These should have been embraced by the time the member gets to group/wing level courses such as SLS and CLC, and region-level courses such as RSC.

YMMV

[High Speed Low Drag]

I did! I was originally scheduled to start in June, but I was bumped up to yesterday.

I finished the course about 20 minutes ago. (I was off today and used this as an excuse to procrastinate on other things.) Overall, I think this is a great course. It provides an excellent foundation for newer members to build upon. I must admit, I actually learned a thing or two.

I did not study for any portion of this course before I opened up the lesson in Blackboard. On most of the lessons, I only took a minute or two to skim through the information and then proceeded to take the test. There were a few lessons where I HAD to read through the entire lesson, because I was a little rusty; for example: 'Legal Basis for CAP' and 'Support to Civil & Military'.

I passed most of the tests first time. The few I didn't pass the first time were caused by brainfarts and blond moments. I quickly passed them the second time. I usually didn't spend longer than 5 minutes on any particular lesson, including the quiz.  As stated before in this thread, there were a few errors and irregularities, especially to any Regulation Nazi.

I considered most of the information presented to be a review of what I learned as a cadet. I was fairly recently a cadet and I attribute my quick completion of the course to that. I transferred to the darkside three years ago next Monday.

Since becoming a SM, this is the first course I've seen that was on par with what is in the Cadet Program. I hope that CLC, RSC, and NSC are just as well presented and informative. I highly recommend this course and will be encouraging others in my area to register for it. Kudos to the folks who put this together!

Whoa – slow down.  I am also in the current OBC and have been taking my time to enjoy it.  I could have gone through it in a day or two – but I didn't.  One thing time has taught me is no matter how much I think I know, there is always room to learn, which is what this course is about.

AlwaysReady- I am a former cadet (C/LTC).  At work, I am responsible for 4 sergeants and over 30 officers in life & death situations - poor leadership could get someone killed.  I have testified in Federal Court as an independent expert witness.  I have been to a graduate-level (which I got credit for, yea) school of supervision and leadership that was four months long.  HOWEVER, I still have managed to learn things from the OBC.  There is always another perspective, there is always another theory, there is always something that YOU haven't thought of before.

The OBC is great – a lot of good material in there.  I look forward to the rest of it.

[Always Ready]

I did not mean to give you all the impression I was just speeding through the course to get it done or that I did not learn anything.

I did learn a lot from this course; just not in the context I was expecting. Was most of it a review for me? Yes, but I did still learn new things.

I did not take this course quickly so that I could check another box on my Form 2 or anything like that. I took it quickly, because that's my learning style.

Unfortunately, I'm mostly a kinesthetic (hands-on) learner. With online courses, or anything taught visually or orally, I only have one effective learning speed: fast. If I don't complete the work all in one shot and quickly, I will have a hard time understanding and retaining the information. The case studies help with connecting it to real world situations, but they usually don't help me pass the test. Yes, it is unusual. However, I would not have been able to have a 4.0 GPA throughout high school and, so far, a 3.5 GPA or higher in college without knowing how I learn best.

[caplegalnc]

My cohort was 1 May.  I was able to start yesterday.  I am in Block 2.  The course is pretty good.  It seems to be a combination of every leadership/manager/military PME class I have ever taken.  National may have gotten it right this time.  Blackboard is a good system.  I have used it for USAR applications and found it to be easy to use.  So far, only one sub-course/block was subpar.  Distance learning will never replace hands-on but it beats "Death by Power Point"

Chief Justice

[Wildblueflyer]

Completed and passed! 

[dogboy]

The replacement course for the ADL-13 has finally been announced for release:

http://www.capmembers.com/cap_university/officer_basic_course.cfm

I've just finished the course. My technique was to take written notes during the lessons which I sometimes had to refer to during the test.

Some suggestions:

If there's a regulation, publication, law, person, or date in the lesson, it's likely to appear on the test. You'll need to know, for example, the specific regulation number.

Anything quantifiable is likely to be on the test ( eg: how many members on the National Board?)

Anything enumerated is likely. (eg: what kinds of sexual harassment)

Some of the questions are inane and can only be correctly answered in the context of the lesson.

Example:

What is a common kind of pet?

1. a dog
2. a cat
3. a Komono dragon
4. a goldfish

Answer: d. Because goldfish were discussed more in the lesson!

All, in all, a pretty good course. I didn't have to take it (because I have a former military appointment) but did anyway because I believe I should be able to counsel new members about it. Frankly, the information is so basic that all SM should be required to take it, including Professional and former-military appointments.

[High Speed Low Drag]

There were a few questions that there were actually multiple answers for but you had to choose one.  That was really frustrating.

I think I came across about 10 really stupid, what the heck were they thinking questions.  All-in-all, an excellent product.  I think this course should be requried before promotion to 1st. Lt (or next promotion if special appointment).

[dogboy]

I got my certificate as an email pdf attachment. It looks pretty cheesy.