Wow! Lots of good stuff coming!

[NC Hokie]

I know that I've been critical of NHQ at times, but I have to say that I'm genuinely excited about some of the things I just read about in the new CAP Vector (http://www.capmembers.com/media/cms/JulSept_2014_Vector_Final_DFDE007A24272.pdf).  Here are some of the highlights:

- The Chief Historian and his staff are hard at work on a 75th anniversary history of CAP, a revised edition of the Historian Specialty Track Study Guide, and a revised edition of the oral history guidelines.

- An electronic CAPF 120 and a committee management module are scheduled to be added to eServices this summer.

- The comms team is actively working to rebuild, "CAP's lost art of radio message handling."

- Train-The-Trainer programs are being started to train CAP members in shelter management and Points of Distribution, and these qualifications will eventually be tracked in eServices.  This appears to be the beginning of a national DR program.

- It appears that there is a plan in place to put geo-tagging cameras in EVERY aircraft, with plans to refresh them on a five-year cycle.

- Finally, "[w]ork is well under way to develop a comprehensive brand identity system for use at all levels and across all platforms, using a unified visual voice and brand message."  This will apparently include marketing materials AND website templates.

There's more, but those are the items that stood out to me.

[SunDog]

You have a unique sense of humour. . .

[NC Hokie]

You have a unique sense of humour. . .

...says the guy with one foot out of the door. 

Seriously, though, many of the items I listed are things the rabble rousers here have been complaining about hoping to see movement on for years.

[SunDog]

Standing here, I am; slack jawed, not much to say. For the second time today, I have mistook drama for comedy.

[dwb]

Hey, my scrappy little blog post about the CPP changes made The Vector! I wonder if our Wing web site can handle the extra traffic.

I'm glad they publish The Vector, actually. So much stuff is changing all the time it's impossible to keep on top of things.

[LSThiker]

Curious as to the changes for the Historian rating. 

[MisterCD]

Curious as to the changes for the Historian rating.

- Codifies cadets serving as assistant historians and earning right to wear technician badge
- Updated and expanded reading list with works relevant and available
- Emphasis on formalized education and training incorporating professional public and academic historian standards
- Greater flexibility for training to reduce costs on members while incorporating more opportunities available to members which have not previously been recognized
- Incentives to recognize members with graduate degrees in history
- Incorporation of ethical standards from the American Historical Association for increased accountability and professionalization
- Familiarization of new CAP History Program regulations, forms, and pamphlets also due for release governing donations of artifacts, intellectual property, creation of unit insignia, and heraldry regulations
- Encourages and emphasizes publication and outreach not just to CAP but to the local, state, and national communities

I could go on but this is but a partial list. Bottom line is the existing specialty track is an obsolete document that does little to take a CAP member with no background and history and guide their journey into a competent, capable individual that will be an essential asset to the unit and the organization as a whole. Maximizing the resources we have includes those volunteers who serve as historians, and it is my responsibility to give them the best possible guidance and resources to make them succeed. This new track is the movement towards this and other objectives.

[Eclipse]

- The comms team is actively working to rebuild, "CAP's lost art of radio message handling."

Sounds like every SAREx I've ever been to.

- Train-The-Trainer programs are being started to train CAP members in shelter management and Points of Distribution, and these qualifications will eventually be tracked in eServices.  This appears to be the beginning of a national DR program.

A waste of time without an MOU with the ARC and the Salvation Army, not to mention FEMA and every local health agency, as
they are the ones with the shelters and the PODs.  The ARC MOU expired over 12 years ago, with no one interested in
reopening the conversation.  Locally, the ARC has told us they would love our help, as ARC members, not CAP.

The PODs thing came and went last year, a lot of rehtoric from NHQ, and then nothing.  Again, we have county agencies that
would like assistance, but prefer to do the training themselves, and drill our lists to create their own volunteer corps, not
have us respond in uniform.  The issue of being able to commit to response, never CAP's strong suit, comes up repeatedly in these conversations.

- It appears that there is a plan in place to put geo-tagging cameras in EVERY aircraft, with plans to refresh them on a five-year cycle.

Plans are nice, let's see the money.  Depending on the device(s) chosen, that's a $500K capital purchase, not including accessories.

- Finally, "[w]ork is well under way to develop a comprehensive brand identity system for use at all levels and across all platforms, using a unified visual voice and brand message."  This will apparently include marketing materials AND website templates.

NHQ couldn't even put together a unified style for 39-1, let alone a brand identity.  More consulting dollars towards the well.

[TarRiverRat]

POD is a very big thing in the NC Wing.  Like the idea of it being tracked in eservices.

[Spaceman3750]

- The comms team is actively working to rebuild, "CAP's lost art of radio message handling."

Here, I'll help...

1. Pass messages to the recipient the way they are written or spoken.

2. When you receive a message, relay it to the recipient ASAP, not in 30 minutes. It took me 10-15 minutes once to get a FIND message across the room to GBD. Fortunately it was training.

3. In most scenarios, especially in training, if you can't stick to items 1 and 2, or generally make yourself a pain, field resources will usually fall back to text or phone communication and won't bother with you. It's not right, but I've watched it happen more than once.

Until we get these core principles down pat, the rest is pointless.

[Eclipse]

+1 - Like everything else in CAP that isn't flying, somehow this critical role and function gets handed down to the newest,
least experienced cadets and then we wonder why messages pile up in the breakroom.

I am all for cadets participating in ES, but we have to get away from this idea that they can be the primary
in most cases. 

We need experienced adults as GTMs, MROs, running the flight lines, etc., etc.  There's plenty of places
cadets can be amazing resources, but these are not "cadet jobs".

[JoeTomasone]

I am all for cadets participating in ES, but we have to get away from this idea that they every one of them can be the primary
in most cases. 

We need experienced adults members as GTMs, MROs, running the flight lines, etc., etc.  There's plenty of places
cadets can be amazing resources, but these are not "cadet jobs" including these, if they are experienced.

FTFY.

I know many Cadets who are outstanding communicators.    They tend to get rusty due to CAP's policies all but keeping them away from radios much of the time, but still.   I know one Cadet - a SNCO at the time - who was flown from TXWG to serve during Katrina due to his excellence as a CUL.   On the other hand, I have witnessed many SMs who had no clue what to do at the mic - or in the log, in WMIRS, etc, etc, etc.     Excellence and incompetence know no age boundaries.

[Eclipse]

Fair enough.

[SARDOC]

POD is a very big thing in the NC Wing.  Like the idea of it being tracked in eservices.

I know that we've been in discussions in our wing and region with some of the FEMA reps for PODS, so much that they have had at least three PODS TtT classes here just for us this year.

[Devil Doc]

POD is a very big thing in the NC Wing.  Like the idea of it being tracked in eservices.

I know that we've been in discussions in our wing and region with some of the FEMA reps for PODS, so much that they have had at least three PODS TtT classes here just for us this year.

POD is HUGE!!! in the NC Wing. NWS SKYWARN is also a big thing in NC. FEMA training along with NCEMS is also huge in our Wing.

[LTC Don]

North Carolina Wing has been in partnership with NC Emergency Management since 2010 on the POD program.  Since 210 we've trained over 300 personnel to and beyond the IS-26 standard. NC Wing functions as a state resource so our program is customized beyond the FEMA standard.  In North Carolina, the counties must request assistance from the state before resources move.  CAP is a primary POD provider so once a county requests POD support, the request is passed to us and we take care of the customer.

The training is super easy and only takes one day.  The real challenge is putting together the logistics and command infrastructure to move human assets in and out of the 'zone' and keep the system working over multiple days.  It is very, very difficult and goes way beyond just putting food and water into someone's trunk.  Also, we are finding that counties without good resources are quite happy to turn over the whole POD operation so CAP becomes the de facto POD coordinator for the whole county, which could have anywhere from 1 to 10 POD operations running concurrently. That is very significant considering a Type III POD requires upwards of 20 personnel to operate.

It's rather sparse right now, but here is our resources page which includes a PDF of the current POD slide deck:
http://www.ncwgcap.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=page.display&pageID=544

[Eclipse]

It looks like you're going to get hammered this weekend...

[Garibaldi]

It looks like you're going to get hammered this weekend...

And not in the good way...

[LTC Don]

It looks like you're going to get hammered this weekend...

And not in the good way...

We already have staffing at our state EOC in Raleigh, a skeleton mission staff at our wing hq, and have vans and personnel working at one of the state warehouses preparing to transport supplies as needed.

[ColonelJack]

It looks like you're going to get hammered this weekend...

And not in the good way...

We already have staffing at our state EOC in Raleigh, a skeleton mission staff at our wing hq, and have vans and personnel working at one of the state warehouses preparing to transport supplies as needed.

Just be sure you and all other personnel involved stay safe.

Jack

[Devil Doc]

I was going to volunteer for Van Duty, Work is kina Fickle on me just leaving.

However, my Squadron ES officer sent out an Email on our Availability and Qualifications. I will get my gear ready and Refit, waiting on my State to call us in need. I didnt do all this training for nothing.

Hope you guys on the Right Coast be safe.