Wanted to check

[usafcap1]

Would you say that we were active duty in CAP?. . . Because there is this guy in my unit who keeps saying we are active duty. So I just wanted to check.


Thank you

[abdsp51]

No we are not in AD in any aspect if he keeps saying so then ask him for his DOD CAC.

[FW]

We are not Active Duty "Military" if that is what you're implying.  However, you are in an "Active" membership status as opposed to Patron/Reserve membership status.  So, if you wish to stretch things, I guess  you can say we are "Active Duty CAP"... 

[Private Investigator]

+1 what the Colonel said.

[Flying Pig]

 CAP does not use the term anywhere.  Its something the member decided to do on their own and someday its going to end up embarrassing him and those members around him.  Its an uneducated, ignorant response.  Really nothing more.

[ol'fido]

A couple of years back there was a guy on FB that posted that he was "active duty" with CAP and regularly "deployed" to different spots around the world. His profile picture showed him wearing ACU-type navy blue uniform top(although he had the name and organization tapes on the wrong side. He got called out pretty quickly and disappeared just as quickly.

[docbiochem33]

We are in no sense of the word active duty.  I we were, we would be paid for our service and would be doing more than a few hours a week.

[Devil Doc]

We are more like reserves if anything, lol.

[PHall]

We are more like reserves if anything, lol.

No, we aren't even like the Reserves. The Reserves get paid and accrue Retirement points. CAP doesn't...

[Devil Doc]

Yes I know this. But CAP: is more like reserves than AD. In comparison.

[Walkman]

Yes I know this. But CAP: is more like reserves than AD. In comparison.

I've been using the analogy that we're more like volunteer firefighters for our parent service. That seems to click well with people.

[Angus]

With level involvement of most members I like the idea of "active volunteer".   But i would agree 100% we're not active duty.

[Texas Raiders]

Yes I know this. But CAP: is more like reserves than AD. In comparison.

I've been using the analogy that we're more like volunteer firefighters for our parent service. That seems to click well with people.

BINGO!

[Devil Doc]

Yes, that fits it Better. "Volunteer Air Force"

[RogueLeader]

Yes, that fits it Better. "Volunteer Air Force"

No.  the Air Force is already "Volunteer."

Volunteer Civilian Service for the Air Force is more appropriate. 

[Flying Pig]

You know....  Ive really never had any problems describing what CAP is to someone in just a few simple sentences. If they ask, they want to know. Just dont wear it out.  If they probe more, give them the answers.  Have the social awareness to know when someone is just being polite versus when someone really wants the full debrief and a membership packet!

[Devil Doc]

You would be suprised how many people who do not know what CAP is. It is hard to explain some times.

[Pylon]

I usually describe it as "a national, volunteer non-profit organization with some ties to the Air Force."

[The CyBorg is destroyed]

I sometimes say that we are kind of a "volunteer reserve" or "supplement" to the Air Force for its noncombatant activities.

Or jokingly, with tongue firmly in cheek, "like the Air Force Reserve but not getting paid for it."

When we are actively doing something, like an AFAM, training exercise, etc., then we are "active" in the sense that we SELF-activate as volunteers.

However, to say that we are like active-duty military or Guard/Reservists activated for FAD...apples and oranges.

The CGAUX has something closer to that than we do.  They can be activated into the Temporary Reserve by the COMDT USCG and placed under the UCMJ, but I don't think that's happened since the Second World War.  Of course, the CGAUX has a much more direct, and much more cordial, relationship with their parent service than we do.

[Pylon]

Since so much of what we do is "AUX OFF" why are all these descriptions so heavy on the emphasis of the Air Force and military terminology?  I'd venture to say that if you're trying to reduce confusion with the general population that many, many more people are familiar with the non-profit organization model and community volunteerism than they are with half of the military terms thrown around in the various descriptions above.   

Is it because people think the emphasis on "WE ARE sorta like THE AIR FORCE!! *whisper*...Auxiliary...sometimes*" somehow legitimizes us or makes CAP seem somehow more important?  Is that why we do it?