Quote from: Westphal, Charles on December 03, 2019, 01:22:55 AM
Okay, so you're an admin. Can you give me your advice?

Seeking my advice because I'm an admin on a forum board is going to be kind of .. uneven.

Oh. Okay.

From another former cadet - stay one as long as you can. There are so many kool things to do as a cadet that you will never be able to duplicate as a senior member. The fact that you are only PMC* right now should have little bearing on that decision. You can still do all the academic and social stuff with a temporarily bum knee. Unless it's a real disaster, you should heal well enough in the next few months to be able to resume PT.


* Partially Mission Capable

I have three awesome Flight Officers, all former cadets, ages 18, 19, and 20. They decided that staying on as cadets wasn't their "thing." And they're very happy to serve as senior members and mentors to the next round of cadets coming through the program.

So I entirely disagree that you need to stay a cadet for as long as you can. It's a personal decision that you need to make based upon what you would like to gain from CAP and what you feel like you can offer as a member in either category.

I do, however, discourage thinking you need to transition to senior membership over concerns of physical constraints. Not being able to do physical training, at least not running, is not a reason to drop your cadet membership. You can still participate in a number of activities. And this does not affect your promotions in the least.

Deciding in December 2019 if you should turn senior in December 2020...that's way too far in advance of an upcoming surgery to worry about that sort of thing. You have plenty of time to consider your options. Get through the surgery first, worry about fitness waivers, and then consider membership changes later on. You have a long time ahead of you before you need to make that decision.

Okay. Thanks for the insight!

If you are into flying (and the knee is not an issue) then I suggest you get all the o-rides you can between now and 18. In case you did not know those stop at 18 but you can train as aircrew as an 18+ cadet. As someone suggested you don't need to decide now or even next December. You can go senior any time after 18 until 21.

Quote from: TheSkyHornet on December 03, 2019, 02:31:51 AM
I have three awesome Flight Officers, all former cadets, ages 18, 19, and 20. They decided that staying on as cadets wasn't their "thing." And they're very happy to serve as senior members and mentors to the next round of cadets coming through the program.

So I entirely disagree that you need to stay a cadet for as long as you can. It's a personal decision that you need to make based upon what you would like to gain from CAP and what you feel like you can offer as a member in either category.

I do, however, discourage thinking you need to transition to senior membership over concerns of physical constraints. Not being able to do physical training, at least not running, is not a reason to drop your cadet membership. You can still participate in a number of activities. And this does not affect your promotions in the least.

Deciding in December 2019 if you should turn senior in December 2020...that's way too far in advance of an upcoming surgery to worry about that sort of thing. You have plenty of time to consider your options. Get through the surgery first, worry about fitness waivers, and then consider membership changes later on. You have a long time ahead of you before you need to make that decision.

So, what you're saying is, I should choose based on what I want to gain from being in CAP, correct?

Quote from: Westphal, Charles on December 03, 2019, 06:21:03 PM

Quote from: TheSkyHornet on December 03, 2019, 02:31:51 AM
I have three awesome Flight Officers, all former cadets, ages 18, 19, and 20. They decided that staying on as cadets wasn't their "thing." And they're very happy to serve as senior members and mentors to the next round of cadets coming through the program.

So I entirely disagree that you need to stay a cadet for as long as you can. It's a personal decision that you need to make based upon what you would like to gain from CAP and what you feel like you can offer as a member in either category.

I do, however, discourage thinking you need to transition to senior membership over concerns of physical constraints. Not being able to do physical training, at least not running, is not a reason to drop your cadet membership. You can still participate in a number of activities. And this does not affect your promotions in the least.

Deciding in December 2019 if you should turn senior in December 2020...that's way too far in advance of an upcoming surgery to worry about that sort of thing. You have plenty of time to consider your options. Get through the surgery first, worry about fitness waivers, and then consider membership changes later on. You have a long time ahead of you before you need to make that decision.

So, what you're saying is, I should choose based on what I want to gain from being in CAP, correct?

Absolutely.

Why be in CAP if you aren't getting what you want out of it?

That makes sense. Thank you so much!