Time Commitment for a Senior Member

[CAPital]

I am considering joining the Civil Air Patrol and am curious what the time commitment usually is.  (I am mainly interested in a Senior Squadron).  Some weeks I work 40 hours at my main job and some weeks up to 60.  I really want to volunteer with CAP, though.  Thanks for any info. anyone can provide.

[Eclipse]

It is dependent on your interest and what commitments you make in terms of staff jobs or activities.

Most unit CC expect members to attend meeting regularly, usually weekly for 2-3 hours.  The when and
how often of meetings is very unit-specific.

In addition to the meeting nights, most staff jobs require a few hours per month(+) to accomplish
outside of the meetings, these are usually administrative in nature and vary widely depending on the duty.

Beyond that, most significant ES or Cadet training is accomplished separate from the meeting nights on weekends
how much that takes is completely dependent on what your interested in and how active your wing is.

Depending on which wing you are in where within it, there may be more then one unit which
you could reasonably join so that you can decide if the unit culture and activity level fits your ability to participate.

In my least active years as a rank-and-file member, I went to a few meetings a month and didn't get much accomplished.

In my most active years as a unit and major activity commander, as well as being involved in ES, there were years
when I had CAP activities every weekend for several months straight.

Today, as a wing staffer, I rarely attend meetings, and almost everything I do is virtual (which, frankly, is somewhat frustrating
and doesn't exactly stoke the fires).

[The CyBorg is destroyed]

You will get many variant answers on this.

First of all, remember that it is volunteer - meaning, you are giving of your time, talent and treasure (especially the latter - CAP stands for Come And Pay  ), and you do have a life.

I say this because there are some in CAP who believe that "CAP is life," and that every waking moment outside of your occupation should be spent doing CAP things.  That is a very quick way to burn out and lose interest.

If you give what you know is a reasonable (FOR YOU) amount of your time and give what YOU believe to be your best effort, that is it in a nutshell.

However, if you aspire to promotion beyond company grade (Captain), the demands placed on you CAN increase, almost exponentially in certain cases.

YOU need to decide what works for you and hopefully find a squadron that will affirm and support you in your endeavours.

[pascocap2002]

You will get many variant answers on this.

First of all, remember that it is volunteer - meaning, you are giving of your time, talent and treasure (especially the latter - CAP stands for Come And Pay  ), and you do have a life.

I say this because there are some in CAP who believe that "CAP is life," and that every waking moment outside of your occupation should be spent doing CAP things.  That is a very quick way to burn out and lose interest.

If you give what you know is a reasonable (FOR YOU) amount of your time and give what YOU believe to be your best effort, that is it in a nutshell.

However, if you aspire to promotion beyond company grade (Captain), the demands placed on you CAN increase, almost exponentially in certain cases.

YOU need to decide what works for you and hopefully find a squadron that will affirm and support you in your endeavours.

I agree with this 100% and it is very easy to get burnt out with CAP. My suggestion is to find a senior squadron and spend a few weeks with them before joining. This will allow you to see if you are still interested in CAP or not and it will also give you an idea of what will be expected of you.

Good luck

[Flying Pig]

I am considering joining the Civil Air Patrol and am curious what the time commitment usually is.  (I am mainly interested in a Senior Squadron).  Some weeks I work 40 hours at my main job and some weeks up to 60.  I really want to volunteer with CAP, though.  Thanks for any info. anyone can provide.

I was a Squadron Commander and was only able to attend about 2 nights per month.  The big thing with CAP is be as involved as you want, be as available as you want, just please don't volunteer to do something and not follow through.  Other than that.....   You'll get out of it what you put into it.  Literally. 

If you are a busy person and you get into CAP and find you enjoy it, you will find time for it.  I had no issues with members who joined and then had limited participation for the first several months until they got their personal lives adjusted to accommodate more time with the program.  And lastly what I always told potential members was that I completely understood that CAP didn't make the house payment.  Just keep in touch and do what you can. 

[Brit_in_CAP]

You will get many variant answers on this.

First of all, remember that it is volunteer - meaning, you are giving of your time, talent and treasure (especially the latter - CAP stands for Come And Pay  ), and you do have a life.

I say this because there are some in CAP who believe that "CAP is life," and that every waking moment outside of your occupation should be spent doing CAP things.  That is a very quick way to burn out and lose interest.

If you give what you know is a reasonable (FOR YOU) amount of your time and give what YOU believe to be your best effort, that is it in a nutshell.

However, if you aspire to promotion beyond company grade (Captain), the demands placed on you CAN increase, almost exponentially in certain cases.

YOU need to decide what works for you and hopefully find a squadron that will affirm and support you in your endeavours.

I agree with this 100% and it is very easy to get burnt out with CAP. My suggestion is to find a senior squadron and spend a few weeks with them before joining. This will allow you to see if you are still interested in CAP or not and it will also give you an idea of what will be expected of you.

Good luck

I agree with both of my colleagues completely.  I also agree with the post:

I am considering joining the Civil Air Patrol and am curious what the time commitment usually is.  (I am mainly interested in a Senior Squadron).  Some weeks I work 40 hours at my main job and some weeks up to 60.  I really want to volunteer with CAP, though.  Thanks for any info. anyone can provide.

If you are a busy person and you get into CAP and find you enjoy it, you will find time for it.  I had no issues with members who joined and then had limited participation for the first several months until they got their personal lives adjusted to accommodate more time with the program.  And lastly what I always told potential members was that I completely understood that CAP didn't make the house payment.  Just keep in touch and do what you can. 

Like you, I had a very busy job when I joined CAP and it provided some relief from work, to be honest

I also found two work colleagues who were active in other squadrons.

I think that flyingpig's comment is one to keep in mind: CAP doesn't pay the bills!  Do what you can, when you can and do it well.  Start with an open mind and if CAP or the squadron doesn't seem to be a good it at first, give it some time but don't let the squadron drive you towards commitments or activities that are not 'you'. 

Good luck, and let us know how it works out!

[Elmer]

Lots of good advice here.  I would add that sometimes it takes a while to find where you fit in best.  I've enjoyed everything I've done since I joined (10+ years) but I particularly like the job I'm in currently.  It's not a job I could have done, however, without several years of CAP experience.  So be patient - it may take some time.

You might comment on if you are interested in anything specific, such as being a pilot, ground team member, etc.

[CAPital]

Thank you for all of the great advice.  Very good points.  Like the point about if you enjoy it, then you'll find time.   I also like the idea of giving it a few meetings before joining, to get a better idea of where and how I might fit in.  As for what role i'm interested in,  just looking over the info online without too much knowledge of the organization,  I would say I'm most interested in being a spotter/scanner (?), as I would like to help in the plane,  even though I'm not a pilot.  Also pretty interested in emergency services too, so I'm still undecided.   I arranged to visit a meeting for the first time this coming Thurs.  I'll keep you all updated.  Thanks for the advice!

[Private Investigator]

If possible you could visit 3 Squadrons and see how each one is. We have several options where I currently live. One child like the more military Unit while the other child like the one that served punch and cookies. Each Unit is very different even Senior Squadrons are different. Some meet for a hour and that is once a month. Others meet weekly and have a Unit weekend activity every month.     

You could be in a situation where only one Unit exists with in an hour drive. So good luck, it is a lot of fun if it all works out well.

[The CyBorg is destroyed]

^^^Good advice.

Some Cadet squadrons are basically places for senior NCO cadets to pretend they're Gunny Hartmann from "Full Metal Jacket."  Others have some of the most motivated young people I have ever met.

Some Composite squadrons are places where "never the twain shall meet" between the senior and cadet sides, where the cadets work hard and the seniors sit around, drink coffee and tell war stories and/or talk about airplanes, or where the cadets spend much of their time talking about what a hotshot they're going to be in the Air Force, how they'll be the ones instructing their flight at Lackland, not the MTI (I always have a good laugh at that one, and the senior side works diligently at PD and being mission-ready.  Others have a intertwined working relationship between both sides and the seniors are always available to mentor cadets.

Some Senior squadrons are really operational, with loads of finds and not a few lives saved in the process.  Others...well, I belonged to one of the other kind.

[Storm Chaser]

While it's true that every unit is different and that some are more active than others or more focus on a specific area or mission than others, I've found that you get from CAP what you're willing to put in.

I've seen many members walk away disappointed because CAP wasn't what they thought it was. Most of the time, these members weren't very active to begin with. Or maybe, they joined with unrealistic expectations. I've also seen the opposite side to this, where members were doing too much and got burned out.

You need to decide what time commitment you can make and come up with realistic expectations from that. The more you put in, the more you'll get out. But ultimately, it's all about coming up with the right balance that works for you and the unit you're joining.

[J2H]

I would love to get back into going to meetings, but I'm only avail one night a week

[CAPital]

Thanks all.  Good advice.  I went ahead and set up visits to 2 different squadrons in my area- 1 senior and 1 composite.  I hope to get a good feel (even if it takes going to each one multiple times) and will then decide from there.

[The CyBorg is destroyed]

Thanks all.  Good advice.  I went ahead and set up visits to 2 different squadrons in my area- 1 senior and 1 composite.  I hope to get a good feel (even if it takes going to each one multiple times) and will then decide from there.

Sounds like your prop turns in the right direction.

[Private Investigator]

While it's true that every unit is different and that some are more active than others or more focus on a specific area or mission than others, I've found that you get from CAP what you're willing to put in.

I've seen many members walk away disappointed because CAP wasn't what they thought it was. Most of the time, these members weren't very active to begin with. Or maybe, they joined with unrealistic expectations. I've also seen the opposite side to this, where members were doing too much and got burned out.

I am going to be an advocate for the new guy. I know several cases were a gung ho new member just stopped coming because the Squadron Commander would not accept new guys into his circle of good ole boys. A good example was a teacher who was a pilot who joined a SQ and was immediately given three jobs including AE. He asked for Captain and got 2LT. Basically he was told, that SQ only does time in grade promotions. I asked his Squadron Commander, a Captain, why that was and his reply was it took him six years to get Captain, he was not going to give Captain to anybody. (note: another good reason for term limits)

I think the whole thing starts and ends at the Squadron. If you got a bad Commander you got a bad Squadron. Now when a bad Squadron gets "Squadron of the Year", that really means the good Units did not put in for it and you really beat out the other bad Squadron. JMHO, YMMV      

[Panache]

Basically he was told, that SQ only does time in grade promotions.

Probably a topic for another thread, but I personally feel that this is entirely appropriate.  With the exception of prior cadets, most insta-promotions hurt CAP more than it helps it.

I understand that this person was a teacher and a pilot, but when you see somebody wearing a certain grade insignia in our organization, there is an expectation that he's "put in his time" and learned how we work and do things.  It's jarring when you encounter a CAP Captain or Major who don't have the slightest clue how to accomplish whatever mission or routine adminitrivia it is in CAP because they were direct appointments.

[The CyBorg is destroyed]

I understand that this person was a teacher and a pilot, but when you see somebody wearing a certain grade insignia in our organization, there is an expectation that he's "put in his time" and learned how we work and do things.  It's jarring when you encounter a CAP Captain or Major who don't have the slightest clue how to accomplish whatever mission or routine adminitrivia it is in CAP because they were direct appointments.

Fully agreed.  I have encountered several of those, some of which try to lord it over others despite not knowing tuppence about CAP in general. 

Conversely, I knew one who, despite having CFI (I think) status, being a professional pilot and a graduate of Embry-Riddle, pointedly did not want to do that and worked his way up like the rest of us.

I know who I respected more.