Length of time for SM Application Approval

[kd8gua]

So I started back on the road with CAP in November, when I got my application and fingerprint card and all those good things. Because of a slight oversight by the Squadron CC, namely forgetting to sign the appropriate line on my application, NHQ sent my entire packet (application, check, and fingerprint card) back to the squadron on Dec. 18th. This was roughly a month and some days after turning in my paperwork. They CC told me he signed the application, and put the entire packet back together and overnighted it to NHQ the next day.

I contacted Julie Griggs at NHQ yesterday in reference to my paperwork, and now being almost a month since my paperwork was overnighted back to NHQ, she told me there is no proof my paperwork ever came back. She explained that it was sent back to my squadron in December, but has not since returned. I then contacted my Squadron CC who assured me he overnighted the paperwork.

What can I do at this point to get the ball rolling on this? I think it's ridiculous that I have been going to meetings for three months now and have nothing to do because I can't work on Level I, nor can I do anything on the cadet side (no CPPT), and I can't do anything with my desired PD track (Communications) because it's all FOUO (not able to sign OPSEC).

Right now I don't even feel like showing up at meetings until my membership is approved, sicne I really can't do anything.

I guess my question is: Now that everything is supposedly correct and possibly at NHQ, what or how can I expedite this process? WIWAC I remember it took about a month and I suddely had a giant box show up with my free cadet uniform and all the books. This is just like pulling teeth right now. Is there anything I could even do without being a member? I can't go to any sort of training, or meetings in regards to anything with CAP, since you must be a member.

[EMT-83]

New member applications have been taking about 10 days.

If yours was sent "overnight" there should be some type of tracking available.

[Eclipse]

I contacted Julie Griggs at NHQ yesterday in reference to my paperwork, and now being almost a month since my paperwork was overnighted back to NHQ,

Its been 16 business days.   Have you actually confirmed with the carrier that it got there?  Sending anything around Christmas can be a problem.

You can wail and gnash teeth, or just send in a new app and move on.

You can absolutely participate with cadets (just not unsupervised), complete Level 1 (just won't be recorded until you're in the system), and most of what you need to get started with CAP comms is posted publicly.  Yes, FOUO can be a PITA, but its not a show-stopper.

Let's not blame NHQ or CAP in general for a mistake your unit CC made in not signing the forms properly - you sent them back over the holidays, which is a black hole for any government organization and most businesses.

It usually takes a couple weeks for a senior membership, and some of that depends on the FBI, which is also a government agency, and also has only been back from Christmas for about a week.

[DBlair]

While CAP Senior Member applications feel like they take forever at times, look at the bright side... with the USCG Aux, my application took about 6 months (which seems to be around the norm) just for the basic application to be processed and to get a member number. So, when we consider that CAP applications take a couple/few weeks, its not all that bad. lol

[Cecil DP]

Was the check cashed??? If so refer NAtional to that fact and the date it was cleared. Than resend the pacage with a photocopy of the check

[kd8gua]

Was the check cashed??? If so refer NAtional to that fact and the date it was cleared. Than resend the pacage with a photocopy of the check

No, NHQ never cashed my check, which means they caught the lack of signature before cashing.

The CC never told me if he got a tracking number or not for the overnight shipping of my application.

Would you guys suggest waiting until Feb 1st or thereabouts and then seeking this out more? I knew something was fishy with my app the first time when a new cadet's membership was posted to Capwatch roughly two and a half weeks after being mailed in... In the same envelope that my application got sent in. So they arrived at the same time.

[Eclipse]

Get the tracker from the CC - you can't send anything overnight w/o a tracker.  Once you know where the package is, you can go from there.

Waiting until the first mean you'll be another month behind if it turns out its stuck behind someone's desk.

Your unit CC or Personnel Officer should be tracking this down for you in detail.

[kd8gua]

Your unit CC or Personnel Officer should be tracking this down for you in detail.

"Should" is what would be nice to occur. However, seems like right now one hand doesn't know what the other is doing... DCC for Seniors asks me if I hear anything, as he doesn't hear anything. Personnel Officer is constantly checking Capwatch for updates, and CC should know what's going on, but seems to be leaving many people out of the loop.

He claims to have overnighted it back in December, and so I highly doubt, unless it went by way of Carrier Pigeon, that Montgomery, AL is a month away by air...

[davedove]

As far as the wait time, I can tell you that a senior member at our squadron mailed his paperwork in the Middle of December and just hit the roster a couple of days ago.  They've been running slow anyway, then add in the delay caused back lack of personnel around the holidays and I'm not surprised it's taking a while.

[Spaceman3750]

I applied at the end of August and didn't hit the rosters until mid-November. They took a long time to send back my paperwork saying that there was a newer form, and then when I sent it back in I hit within 1-2 weeks.

[davedove]

Yeah, if something is wrong with the application (wrong form, missing data, etc.) it usually comes back about a month after it was sent.

[vmstan]

I just turned in my paperwork last Tuesday, was told to expect up to 4 weeks to get everything done.

If it were me, I'd be asking for a tracking number for the mailing ASAP, mostly because a packet of information with my name, DOB, SSN, finger prints, address, and a check with routing/acct number, etc is floating around in the world without anyone knowing where it is.

Then I'd worry about getting my membership stuff squared away.

[SarDragon]

Well, in spite of all the bad things people say about USPS, they do a really good job of NOT losing things.

I've been sending in member applications for about ten years now, and they have yet to lose one. NHQ is similarly competent. The longest turn around time I've seen is five weeks, and that included a resubmission of fingerprints because the first set was rejected. Most of the time I see something back in two to three weeks.

[kd8gua]

So far, still not a member. It's funny since my membership application is dated roughly the first week or so of November 09. The latest updates, courtesy of the CC, were that the application was mailed back to him on 18 Dec 09 because of the missing signature. No big deal, it happens every once in a while. He mailed it in at the beginning of this month, right after the holidays, along with a new cadet's application. Fortunately, the CC says my date of membership will still be November 09 even if my application doesn't get approved until February 10. That will be nice since that will already be 3 months TIG as SMWOG, and a very long wait to even start Level 1.

[Cecil DP]

We've had some applications returned to us for correction. Including several that haven't belonged to our squadron (Wing or Region). Be good to check with National after 3 weeks to find out what's wrong, especially if it hasn't been returned to your CC.

[davedove]

So far, still not a member. It's funny since my membership application is dated roughly the first week or so of November 09. The latest updates, courtesy of the CC, were that the application was mailed back to him on 18 Dec 09 because of the missing signature. No big deal, it happens every once in a while. He mailed it in at the beginning of this month, right after the holidays, along with a new cadet's application.

You can't really blame the initial time on National.  That was a unit problem.  national sent back the incomplete form for action (whether they do that quickly enough is another issue).  Application time is determined by when national receives a COMPLETE application.  In your case that is still a while if you CC did indeed mail it right after the holidays, but applications are taking about a month right now.

Fortunately, the CC says my date of membership will still be November 09 even if my application doesn't get approved until February 10. That will be nice since that will already be 3 months TIG as SMWOG, and a very long wait to even start Level 1.

I don't know if that's the case.  For all the applications we have sent, the members start date seems to be the date they are processed into the national database.  I could be wrong, but that seems to be the case.

[SarDragon]

^ +1 on that. I've never seen a back dated application. It's a bit distressing sometimes, but delays are more frequently the fault of the local process, than that of NHQ.

[LtCol057]

Glad I was reading this thread, I completey forgot to renew my membership last night. 

[kd8gua]

^ +1 on that. I've never seen a back dated application. It's a bit distressing sometimes, but delays are more frequently the fault of the local process, than that of NHQ.

So for all intents and purposes, I will have been attending meetings for at least 9 months now before I can promote to 2Lt and start the work on Level 2?

[EMT-83]

No, you can start to work on Level 2 at any time; you don't need to be a second lieutenant to do that. As soon as you get your CAPID, sign up for OBS. Start looking for an SLS to get into, pick a specialty track and get familiar with the requirements.

You'll probably be ahead of most new members, even with the delay in getting your membership.

[davedove]

Right, as soon as you are in the system, go ahead and get the training.  There are no grade restrictions on any of the training except for NSC.

I had my Level III done by the time I was a 1st Lt and have almost finished my Level IV as a Capt (only need RSC which I'll get this summer).

[kd8gua]

There always seems to be some new hiccup in my membership process. Today at the meeting, my CC let me know that my application was returned for a second time. This time it in fact did not make it to NHQ, but was bouncing around the USPS, who eventually returned it because of insufficient postage. So here's another month wasted... haha.

[SilverEagle2]

There are no grade restrictions on any of the training except for NSC

Not true. Some AF AU4/6 courses are grade restricted.

Link

[SarDragon]

There's a great way to avoid the insufficient postage hurdle - mail it at the post office. This seems to be inconvenient, but in addition to having the correct postag, you can get a receipt for reimbursement, or claiming on your taxes.

[davedove]

There are no grade restrictions on any of the training except for NSC

Not true. Some AF AU4/6 courses are grade restricted.

Link

I was talking only about the main CAP PD courses.  You are correct that some of the alternate classes do have requirements.

[LtCol057]

kd8gua, you might want to mail it to NHQ yourself.  Personally, I'd mail it Priority with a Delivery Confirmation. It will cost a little more, but at least that way you have a way of tracking it and you can go online and find out exactly when it arrives at NHQ.  Or for even a little more, you can send it Signature Confirmation, that way someone has to sign for it.   Only problem is IIRC while the renovations are ongoing at NHQ, some mail might be delayed.  I belief FedEx takes it direct to the person it's addressed to.  Not sure.  I know it's getting frustrating.  I renewed my membership 3 days ago and it's still not showing, but it's already been charged to my bankcard.

[kd8gua]

Unfortunately, the CC already re-mailed the two applications the following day they were returned. The cadet whose application was returned was also questioning the CC about this because she is ready to test for Curry and can't do anything yet... I hope this smooths out sooner or later.

[LtCol057]

Sounds like the CC is not letting the Personnel Officer do his/her job.  Before I became the CC, I was the Personnel Officer for 15+ years.  The CC (and we had several) never got involved in the mailing of applications.  I did it all. 

[Cecil DP]

I would think that if they already had the fingerprints and check, it could be faxed

[kd8gua]

The problem with that was when NHQ sent my application back the first time, they sent the whole package back (check, prints and application). The CC sent in my package with a new cadet's package at the end of December. They bounced around the USPS for a while because of insufficient postage, and came back to the CC, who then re-sent the applications (mine for a 3rd time, the new cadet's for a second) last week.

[Johnny Yuma]

I've seen turnaround as short as less than a week to show up on CAPWATCH, but that person was a former member and an LEO who sent copies of his credentials with the app. I suppose that shortened the background check considerably.

[kd8gua]

Finally, only about 3 months after turning in my paperwork, I logged into eServices, and instead of the usual "Member is not eligible for online renewal" message, it took me right in to the message saying I needed to complete OPSEC. Once I can log in to those sites, I will be back in business!  :clap:

[vmstan]

I just got my CAP ID yesterday as well, some one at Maxwell must have decided to work through lunch.

[kd8gua]

Did some digging on my eServices, and even with my break in service, they have my join date as being April of 2002. I wonder if that's proof enough for wear of the Red Service ribbon.

[SarDragon]

My first joined date is 17 Feb 1964. My latest join date is April 1987. Now that I look at eServices, there's no longer a distinction. Interesting.

Every time I'm eligible, for the next award of the Red Service, I have to submit copies of all the things that I have documenting my periods of service. I do not have my original CAPF 45, so I have to use old membership cards, certificates, etc. I get my 35 in two years.

[manfredvonrichthofen]

What about a person with a DD214? How long is it usually to get a reply back from NHQ?

[cap235629]

Why did you send a DD214 to national?  It serves no purpose for them, it only should be in your file at the squadron to document your awards/decorations and any schools you are claiming as equivalent to PD.  National will more than likely just file it in the circular file.

In my experience it usually takes 3-4 weeks to get a response from National on a new member packet.

[manfredvonrichthofen]

The Sq. Comm. Told me his had been kicked back for not having his DD214. Plus even if he didn't say so, I think I still would have because everyone and their dog seems to want the DD214 when you apply for anything, I'm waiting for Kroger to tell me they need one for my little perks card.