encampment size

[Cecil DP]

CAWG has 1356 cadets.  Hmm, every cadet in the wing?  Anybody have a vacant base laying around some place? 

One of the best aspects of the ACA is that they create an expectation that everybody goes to encampment/annual training each summer.

For the majority of our cadets, we tend to treat encampment as a "one time check box" for the Mitchell.

And that's a shame.


BTW, while there could easily be room for a "all boots on deck" CAWG encampment at a places like MCRD San Diego or Camp Pendleton, there is nothing that says we couldn't do it in 100 GP Large tents on Vandenberg AFB.  There's plenty of room.

Wouldn't that be fun?

Ned Lee

You'd spend half your time erecting and pulling down tents. Not to mention folding and cleaning. The safety report would list at least 10 incidents of sledge hammer dings to individuals, both cadet and senior

[jimmydeanno]

The encampment that I was C/CC of, we had a two day long bivouac.  We used 3 GP Large Tents.

It took each squadron approximately 30 minutes to set theirs up.  It worked out to be a pretty good leadership/teamwork exercise.  They worked out great and didn't take half the week to set up.

SIDEBAR - GP Large Tent
18'X52'

[BillB]

Due to USAF downsizing, there isn't an Air Force Base in Florida that can handle a 300 cadet week long encampment. The barracks facilities are fully utilized by AD personnel.

[Grumpy]

Due to USAF downsizing, there isn't an Air Force Base in Florida that can handle a 300 cadet week long encampment. The barracks facilities are fully utilized by AD personnel.

CAWG uses the Army National Guard facility in San Luis Obispo.  We average 300+ cadets every year and it works out great.

[PHall]

Due to USAF downsizing, there isn't an Air Force Base in Florida that can handle a 300 cadet week long encampment. The barracks facilities are fully utilized by AD personnel.

CAWG uses the Army National Guard facility in San Luis Obispo.  We average 300+ cadets every year and it works out great.

Except it takes me an extra day to draw the buildings and two days to turn them back in.
I didn't finish clearing the post for encampment until 1330 Sunday.

But I did get two extra zeros on my CAP pay check though.

[Eclipse]

But I did get two extra zeros on my CAP pay check though.

Sadly that was before the BRAC'ing and force reductions.  These days you'd probably only get one extra zero, or maybe some points towards CAP retirement benefits.   

[PHall]

But I did get two extra zeros on my CAP pay check though.

Sadly that was before the BRAC'ing and force reductions.  These days you'd probably only get one extra zero, or maybe some points towards CAP retirement benefits.   

No, that was last month.

[Grumpy]

"Except it takes me an extra day to draw the buildings and two days to turn them back in.
I didn't finish clearing the post for encampment until 1330 Sunday.

But I did get two extra zeros on my CAP pay check though."

Phil,

You deserve every zero you get.     The good news is that the cadets benefit from your efforts.

[jeancalvinus]

I would like to see a large encampment tried with a cadre of senior members and active duty air force. not sure they would fund that on the AF side, but with the right facility it could be done, with around 500-800 cadets. do a port/ starboard approach to the training day, and provide (mandatory) cadet staff/ senior member training for 2 days before. Among other things, it would provide a sight many cadets (those who do not go on to military service) would never see again: a large formation (I have been in far larger, one time over 17,000, but it would still seem large to them), and the chance to see what larger scale training is like.

Logistics and planning would take a real time sacrifice for quite a few....but i would still like to see it once. I think this question has already been answered, but what s the largest encampment folks have seen?

[Ned]

I would like to see a large encampment tried with a cadre of senior members and active duty air force. not sure they would fund that on the AF side, but with the right facility it could be done, with around 500-800 cadets. do a port/ starboard approach to the training day, and provide (mandatory) cadet staff/ senior member training for 2 days before.

We have done National encampments in the fairly recent past, and several Regions do regional encampments.  But the usual show stopper is transportation costs for cadets.  If the encampment is not in your home state, then airline or extremely long auto commute costs are more than most cadets (and their families) can pay.

I also agree that Big Blue probably doesn't have several dozen trainers to loan us, and probably doesn't have funding to transport and subsist them in any event.

That's one of the reasons the CP is such a bargain for the AF when compared to their AFJROTC.  If we were to use AF funding to transport our cadets to the encampment, and then pay several dozen AF cadre to train and support the encampment, it would likely occur to a staff officer that they really don't need CAP to be part of that plan.  They could just use their existing JROTC cadre and logistics support.

Then where would we be?

And what is port/starboard training?

[jimmydeanno]

And what is port/starboard training?

Split training day.  Group A does something different in the morning than Group B.  In the afternoon they switch. [I think]

[jeancalvinus]

precisely!

[Ozzy]

Yep well over the past three years I've been to four encampments, loving all of them and seeing differences in all of them.

The first three were in NY, 2007 - 2008 - 2009. For all of them we had about 125 inflight cadets, the max the base can hold (We also had about 30+ waitlisted), about 50 cadet staff (With about 30 waitlisted too), and plenty of seniors to go around as needed. While the sizes of them were fairly the same, each encampment was unique due to the mood of the cadet staff. While each year there is a bunch of new staff, there is also quite a few staff that come back again and again, and because of this, I would rate NY staff as extremely experienced due to the fact that the encampment has been about 90% cadet run for the past 12 years or so now. The fourth encampment I've done was CT's 2009 encampment. Now that was very different then NY's. While CT had about 100 inflights, there was a lot less staff, both cadet and senior. Actually about 30-40% of the cadet staff was from NY!

Anyways from my experience, its the staff that sets the tone for encampment, not the number of inflights. If the staff does what its suppose to and then some, the encampment is going to run great and be memorable in a good way, but if the staff doesn't, then the inflights aren't going to get 'that' experience at their encampment.

[Earhart1971]

Due to USAF downsizing, there isn't an Air Force Base in Florida that can handle a 300 cadet week long encampment. The barracks facilities are fully utilized by AD personnel.

In the Florida Wing of OLD, 1974 we had an Encampment at Eglin AFB, several hundred Cadets. The problem now is the Air Force does not have barracks, they have apartments for the enlisted ranks.

Type B weekend Encampments we could turn out 500 to 700 Cadets. That was the 70s, Florida Wing had 4000 Cadets. Today we have 1300 maybe.

We are up to $175 for Winter Encampment, and that is the early registration discount, goes up from there.