New members should complete the online Foundations course before you do the in-person portion of the orientation.
The instructors guide is on the page jeders linked to, but here is a direct URL:
https://www.gocivilairpatrol.com/media/cms/P050004_AD5B97E7BC733.pdfMy basic flow for orientation is as follows:
- Ask some questions about their background, what brought them to CAP, and what they hope to do
- Talk a little about my background and things I've done, and what I have gotten out of CAP
- Go through each section of the instructors guide (which follows the same flow as the Foundations course), and highlight things I think are important. I tailor this to the audience -- for example, if they're prior military, I don't need to describe why we salute. I always cover core values, cadet protection, and risk management thoroughly regardless of audience's background.
- Talk about expectations and how you get out of it what you put in to it
- Have the new member complete the plan of action, and talk about which duties and specialty tracks might be most appropriate. Sometimes this is obvious, sometimes it's not.
- Make the intros to their OJT trainer and provide concrete next steps with deadlines (GES and FEMA courses for ES-inclined, meeting a local IP for pilots, etc.)
Once you complete the in-person portion, you record it in the "Mentor Input" section of Learning Management System. You only input the completion of Foundations; once you do this, their membership record should also show completion of cadet protection and they should be pending Level I completion, which their commander can approve.
Recording Level I completion is non-intuitive in eServices, with multiple places to do things and it's not clear where you should put what. Just record Foundations completion in the mentor input then have commander approve Level I.
IMO, a good orientation is critical. Gets everyone started on the right foot and it's the first step to prevent people from becoming disengaged. Good luck!
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