Required vaccination isn't farfetched for CAP members

[JohhnyD]

Fast forward to 2022, and everything but CAP is open.

Yep, and that is a real problem.

[Майор Хаткевич]

I know of a number of members who may not fully quit CAP, but they'd take a break until it starts to get walked back.

There are a lot of unvaccinated members. At the squadron level, we know who some of them are. We are also not allowed to ask who is and who isn't when it comes to mask mandates (i.e., "Masks must be worn by unvaccinated members but may be removed if vaccinated." Suddenly, nobody in the room is wearing a mask...you think they're all actually vaccinated?

People in CAP who lack integrity. Shocker.

[arajca]

I know of a number of members who may not fully quit CAP, but they'd take a break until it starts to get walked back.

There are a lot of unvaccinated members. At the squadron level, we know who some of them are. We are also not allowed to ask who is and who isn't when it comes to mask mandates (i.e., "Masks must be worn by unvaccinated members but may be removed if vaccinated." Suddenly, nobody in the room is wearing a mask...you think they're all actually vaccinated?

People in CAP who lack integrity. Shocker.

That attitude is extremely common in the general public as well, so CAP is not extraordinary in that regard, just a reflection of the population they come from.

[Майор Хаткевич]

I know of a number of members who may not fully quit CAP, but they'd take a break until it starts to get walked back.

There are a lot of unvaccinated members. At the squadron level, we know who some of them are. We are also not allowed to ask who is and who isn't when it comes to mask mandates (i.e., "Masks must be worn by unvaccinated members but may be removed if vaccinated." Suddenly, nobody in the room is wearing a mask...you think they're all actually vaccinated?

People in CAP who lack integrity. Shocker.

That attitude is extremely common in the general public as well, so CAP is not extraordinary in that regard, just a reflection of the population they come from.

Agreed. I'd say CAP, because of other venn-diagram overlaps, probably has a higher than average percentage of vaccine deniers. But just like pencil whipping, non-compliance with uniform regs, this is just the continuation of the cognitive dissonance a lot of members have when it comes to their self-perception.

[TheSkyHornet]

I know of a number of members who may not fully quit CAP, but they'd take a break until it starts to get walked back.

There are a lot of unvaccinated members. At the squadron level, we know who some of them are. We are also not allowed to ask who is and who isn't when it comes to mask mandates (i.e., "Masks must be worn by unvaccinated members but may be removed if vaccinated." Suddenly, nobody in the room is wearing a mask...you think they're all actually vaccinated?

People in CAP who lack integrity. Shocker.

That attitude is extremely common in the general public as well, so CAP is not extraordinary in that regard, just a reflection of the population they come from.

Agreed. I'd say CAP, because of other venn-diagram overlaps, probably has a higher than average percentage of vaccine deniers. But just like pencil whipping, non-compliance with uniform regs, this is just the continuation of the cognitive dissonance a lot of members have when it comes to their self-perception.

It's really a matter of simplicity:
Are you vaccinated—yes or no?

We're not even allowed to ask that question out of the concern that we're going to chase members away by getting involved in their private affairs; yet, we're, at the same time, making the claim that their private affairs aren't private when they're at a CAP activity.

Take all of the mask requirements out of the equation. A simple questionnaire asking if the member is vaccinated, and, if not, they cannot be in the building...Is the matter here that we're down the manpower, or that we're no longer being inclusive?

A major outcry in all of this is the subject of inconsistency in the messaging: We can't gather with more than 10 people, but there's a waiver process to accommodate more than 10 people. We can't ask if a person is vaccinated, but we say that unvaccinated persons must wear a mask. All the while, CAP is not reflective of state or local mandates anymore. A number of states have no mandates, while a number of cities require a vaccine to even enter the building at all.

Another concern that a lot of our members have is the question of how far is this going to go in the future? And I think a lot of individuals nationwide have that same sentiment, not just in CAP. But I'll stick with CAP for the sake of discussion here on CT. Are there going to be situations where, if an individual doesn't have their annual flu shot, they have to wear a mask during a CAP activity?

This is an EXTREMELY polarized topic right now in the United States and across the globe. And, unfortunately, organizations need to take a side and really stick to messaging: are they going to go with the mandates, or not go with the mandates? Are the members of that organization going to feel proud that their governing hierarchy took the side of caution, or that they are going way overboard?

I think we need to also respect that the majority of the world, and particularly your local community, spent nearly all of their lives not having mandates much like this and, to many, those mandates were relatively short lived. In some instances, mandates never even existed, yet, here is an organization that they have been a part of for x-number of years now saying, "If you want to continue to stay, you have to do (this)."

One of the points that I have made with my members has to avoid the narrative, "We need to do this for our fellow man." Frankly, there are just too many members who have different opinions on the subject. Rather, the point is "We don't make the rules, and we're here to do a job. We've had challenges before, and we're going to get through this one. Let's just do as we've been asked, and we're going to make the best of a tough time and overcome this eventually. How long? I don't know. But this is what we do—overcome the hard stuff—and we're the best at it."

Honestly, the best thing that we can do as unit leadership is to turn off the debate about should/shouldn't. But, at some point here, the retention just won't hold up. There's only so much people can take. And me shouting "have some integrity" to members isn't going to boost them into getting vaccinated and slapping masks on. You can argue whether or not we need those individuals in the organization, but these are some of the best people on the planet, and the most loyal/dedicated, when they're not in the middle of a mask debate.

The less questions I have to ask about their personal healthcare, the better.

[Shuman 14]

Well a Texas Federal District Judge just slapped an injunction on the VAX Mandate for the entire Federal Civilian workforce, things are headed to the SCOTUS for sure.