New CPFT Fitness Education Officer

[Walkman]

Does anyone know any details about this new position other than the short paragraph in the draft 52-18? My youngest son just joined as a cadet and my wife is interested in joining specifically to be the FEO. She's a certified fitness instructor who also helps others train for marathons. Anyone know if there will be a specialty track or if there will be some other training involved?

[Papabird]

Does anyone know any details about this new position other than the short paragraph in the draft 52-18? My youngest son just joined as a cadet and my wife is interested in joining specifically to be the FEO. She's a certified fitness instructor who also helps others train for marathons. Anyone know if there will be a specialty track or if there will be some other training involved?

Nothing yet, probably hung up with the new reg updates, IF it is on the horizon at all.

[dwb]

My impression is that fitness officers are encouraged to track in cadet programs, like activities officers and leadership officers are now.

Also like those positions, the requirements are pretty vague. I would expect a potential fitness officer to track the squadron's accomplishment of the fitness requirements. They would help the cadet staff plan and execute meaningful fitness activities, encourage/plan high-adventure and physically rigorous unit activities, and monitor cadet progress towards their CPFT goals.

This pamphlet gives an outline of what a robust fitness program looks like -- http://www.capmembers.com/media/cms/Fitness_Program_Elements_3F64B383D5923.pdf

[Ned]

My impression is that fitness officers are encouraged to track in cadet programs, like activities officers and leadership officers are now.

^^ This.  We are still beta testing the new CPFT in over 100 units to make sure we have all the bugs out.  We will have news and discussion in Nashville.  Hope to see you all there!


Ned Lee
National Cadet Program Manager

[Eclipse]

These kinds of pamphlets make one wonder if NHQ has calendars with months which contain 8 weekends and 67 days, or that they believe
that most CAP members, especially cadets and CP leaders, do nothing else but CAP CP activities.

If you charted all the expectations of "non-meeting activities" between AE, CP, and ES, you'd need to extend the Earth's orbit time around
the sun by about 6-8 months, not to mention change the tilt so that all parts of the country are in summer weather at all times.

During the summer 1/2 the cadets and staff are away at various activities or personal vacations, and during the school year they have school
activities, work, etc.

It's also very nice to suggest things like iFly, rock climbing, and Gold's Gym memberships.  Where should i send the invoices?
Fundraising?  Great.  When would we do that, exactly?

For a lot of members, the weeknight meetings and maybe one activity a month are all the kitchen pass they can get, and that's going to
be divided among their interest within CAP.  I might be able to get most to iFly, if the unit foots the bill, however that literally has NOTHING
to do with the CPFT, new or old - that's just the cadets being tossed around with a big fan. Rock climbing and gym memberships for
adolescents?  Yeah, OK.

The fix, as I keep saying, is more people, which appears to no longer even be on the radar, let alone a priority for NHQ, so the
bar keeps getting further and further out of reach, and those engaged feel a little more every month like their 120% effort
"isn't enough".

[Ned]

Bob, there is indeed a lot to running an engaging and effective cadet program.  It takes dedicated volunteers like yourself and thousands of others to make it work.  And it has, and always will, take time and treasure.

I hope I never forget to say "thank you" on behalf of our cadets.

These kinds of pamphlets make one wonder if NHQ has calendars with months which contain 8 weekends and 67 days, or that they believe
that most CAP members, especially cadets and CP leaders, do nothing else but CAP CP activities.

There is much truth there, and I suspect that is why most units don't try to "do it all," and cadet units -- in particular -- tend to focus on CP-centric activities.  But all units are certainly encouraged to engage in other activities.

For a lot of members, the weeknight meetings and maybe one activity a month are all the kitchen pass they can get, and that's going to
be divided among their interest within CAP.

And units can be highly successful at that activity rate.  Some do more; some do less.

I might be able to get most to iFly, if the unit foots the bill, however that literally has NOTHING
to do with the CPFT, new or old - that's just the cadets being tossed around with a big fan.

Remember, the whole point of the new fitness program is to emphasize that fitness is MORE than just the CPFT.  Which, sadly, is all that many units did for years.  And don't knock indoor skydiving until you try it.  I found it to be surprisingly physical.  Plus, of course, it is a classic crossover activity between fitness and AE.  Nothing quite prepares you for the study of aerodynamics like being suspended in an airstream.  Really brings home lessons about drag, boundary layers, control surfaces ,etc in a way that no text book can.

But we clearly understand that some activities may be too expensive or geographically unavailable for some units.  That's why we merely suggest items that may be of interest.  Units are free to do things like volleyball, Ultimate, orienteering, or other low-cost, low-maintenance activities.  The point is developing a lifelong habit of fitness.

The fix, as I keep saying, is more people [ . . .]

I don't think anyone would disagree with you on that. 

Again,  thanks for all the work you do on behalf of our cadets.

[Eclipse]

There is much truth there, and I suspect that is why most units don't try to "do it all," and cadet units -- in particular -- tend to focus on CP-centric activities.  But all units are certainly encouraged to engage in other activities.

The problem is that the published metrics of "success", the things that the actuaries and bean counters point to, pretty
much require "doing it all", and don't reward those who are "doing all they can".

So a smaller unit gets all the cadets who can go to an encampment, has them progressing in reasonable time, flies
as many o-rides as it can schedule and the cadets will show up for (weather is apparently outside CAP's control,
but doesn't change the fact that people took time from their lives and stood in an FBO waiting, not to mention broken
or unavailable planes because your wing is from an area that hosts a bunch of NCSAs).

You hit 5 of the six AEX activities so no credit there, and the WB's will all hit after the FY ends.

There's nothing regarding ES, nor NCSAs, so that effort is a "waste" at least as far as numbers are concerned.

So you ran in place as hard as you could all year, but no QCUA for you, which feels like failure even though
you did all you could.

Meanwhile units w/ "35 members" (1/2 of which haven't shown up for 18 months or are in college never to return)
get points for "35" and for WB's, even though those happened 3 years ago.

iFly and rock climbing are "fun", but they aren't going to help anyone make their mile time,  The Gold's Gym thing is just silly
for adolescents, that's not a practical reality from any angle.  Sure PT is supposed to be "more" then testing, that doesn't change the calendar.

An iFly day means no rocketry this month, or O-rides, or AEX, or ES, or whatever it stepped on.  You spin in a circle with a
trainer controlling your height and spin.  It's fun, and useless from CAP perspective.

[NIN]

The fix, as I keep saying, is more people, which appears to no longer even be on the radar, let alone a priority for NHQ, so the
bar keeps getting further and further out of reach, and those engaged feel a little more every month like their 120% effort
"isn't enough".

The larger issue is that too many units are still going the opposite direction in recruiting and retention, and when queried on their activities, can't seem to elucidate what it is they're actually doing.

"Are you recruiting?" "Yes."
"What kind of things are you doing?" "You know, we tell the cadets to bring someone in."
"And?" "What do you mean 'and'? What else is there?"

These are the kinds of conversations I have.

"We had an open house, nobody came.  Open Houses don't work."
"How did you advertise your open house?"
"We put it on our website and told our cadets to bring a friend.  We had three people."
"Did you put anything in the paper?  Facebook?  Do up flyers for your event?"
"Well, no, not really."
"How far in advance did you plan this?"
"About a week.."

Rinse and repeat.  I showed a unit in my wing how to plan these things in advance and they're already on the rebound from a >70% loss of cadets in 18 months.

But far too many units are just doing *nothing*, or worse, refuse to put their best foot forward, and no amount of national emphasis or some kind of advertising is really going to help that until they fix the structural issue where the rubber is hitting the road.

[Eclipse]

Where is the NHQ emphasis and support for recruiting? (take a breath NIN, we know you're trying).

Where are the media buys?

Online ad placements?

Where is the leveraging of "TF"?
(still waiting for that flood of NCOs and other military that were supposed to
be knocking the doors down after TF, granted it's been all we can handle, with the flood of ARC people who came from that MOU).

Where is Wing or Region support for the above and more?

It's clear units are not capable of this on their own, and until NHQ steps up and make CAP
"not the best kept secret of the Air Force" that will never change.

[Майор Хаткевич]

Funny story.

Had a cool thing happen. Decided to promote some facebook posts. We were able to reach around 6K people for about $25, with more than 200 engaging our page. I'm not sure if it will pay off in "numbers" but the opportunity was perfect to try some FB "awareness" playing, and some presidential bills won't kill me for trying.

[Eclipse]

FB "awareness" is the reason politicians are terrified of online voting - it takes zero effort or attention to engage,
and the engagement is shallow to the point of being background noise.  People click because they like to click
and don't want to make other FB users sad.

Ever been "endorsed" by someone you never actually worked directly with for a skill you don't actually have but
tangentially matches something in your resume?  Click, Click, Click.

That awareness should be coming from the top-down through national media spending in old school media (and not NASCARs).

Major Air shows all over the country with a professional-looking presence, not 2 old guys with lawn chairs and some brochures.

For every couple of people who do those things that can speak about CAP in a way that doesn't scare potential members
there's 10 who just "go every year" and do more harm then good.

One voice, one message. 

The BSA's execution is just as inconsistent and local as CAP, but there's little question about what the BSA or GSA, etc.,
is about.

[NIN]

It's also very nice to suggest things like iFly, rock climbing, and Gold's Gym memberships.  Where should i send the invoices?
Fundraising?  Great.  When would we do that, exactly?

BTW, with a relatively modest yearly fundraising program, plus a $500 grant from my HSO's employer, we put together the first iFly (Skyventure) squadron trip in the country in 2007.



It think the way we broke it down was it cost everybody about $10 each for the experience.  Not 100% fundraising, not 100% grant money, but pure old fashioned asking for a good deal (helps when you know the people who own the tunnel), doing a little bit of legwork, and making it happen. 

(I seem to remember the break down was $900 for 90 minutes of tunnel time [3 x 30 minute turns], and the squadron covered the gas, pizza and any shortfall.  36 participants x $10 = $360.  $900 - $500 - $360 = $40.   The squadron picked up the $40 shortfall in tunnel time, plus about $60 in gas, and $60 for pizza, so maybe $160?  The second time around, we built it into the budget and didn't get a grant, but I think it was $15 each instead of $10.)

In other words: its easy to accomplish.

Its aerospace. Unless all you do is fizzy rockets and foamies.

[dwb]

FB "awareness" is the reason politicians are terrified of online voting - it takes zero effort or attention to engage,
and the engagement is shallow to the point of being background noise.  People click because they like to click
and don't want to make other FB users sad.

Have you actually tried using Facebook to promote an event? Or are you just going off of your opinion of the way Facebook was 10 years ago when you first decided it was good for nuthin'?

"Old school media" isn't going to reach our audience. They're not watching prime time TV or reading the newspaper. Even their parents aren't watching prime time TV anymore. You go where the eyeballs are, not where they were 20 years ago.

[Eclipse]

FB "awareness" is the reason politicians are terrified of online voting - it takes zero effort or attention to engage,
and the engagement is shallow to the point of being background noise.  People click because they like to click
and don't want to make other FB users sad.

Have you actually tried using Facebook to promote an event? Or are you just going off of your opinion of the way Facebook was 10 years ago when you first decided it was good for nuthin'?

I know exactly what FB is good for - clicks.  I work in the engagement sector.  There is a huge difference between "click" and "engagement".

"Old school media" isn't going to reach our audience. They're not watching prime time TV or reading the newspaper. Even their parents aren't watching prime time TV anymore. You go where the eyeballs are, not where they were 20 years ago.

I'd probably have to agree with this on the macro level, so then you're putting the ads on Youtube around GoTs clips and as sponsored content in other "free" streaming media.
Use some of that endowment money to buy commercials in front of movies, on DVDs, billboards - actually partner with the military, especially the USAF from the top down
so they are inviting CAP to share booths already at festivals and venues instead of the local unit having to hunt them down and beg for space, etc.

If FB and Twitter ads are part of that strategy, fine, but it take NHQ-level money and coordination to do it on a scale worth doing, otherwise
you have no message, no "brand", and CAP continues to look like "something the kids do at the park", which is part of the problem.

We also need "adults", and I can assure you many, many adults don't participate in that social nonsense on any level of engagement.
They have actual live "IRL" and don't care about your mailman's cousin's dachshund's prostate surgery.

[Spaceman3750]

... and don't reward those who are "doing all they can". ...

"Effort" does not equal "results" - Eclipse

Not disagreeing with you, but you have a point with your sig, don't water it down with contradiction.

You spin in a circle with a trainer controlling your height and spin.  It's fun, and useless from CAP perspective.

I feel like we lose focus on the purpose of CP sometimes. The Cadet Program is not an end in itself. It is a means to an end - that end being well-rounded and productive young people. And part of becoming well-rounded is having fun sometimes - especially as a teenager! Do we sometimes do things that don't accomplish a checkbox, but give teenagers the opportunity to get out of their box or do something cool? Sure. But are they useless, even from a CAP perspective? Not at all.

[Eclipse]

... and don't reward those who are "doing all they can". ...

"Effort" does not equal "results" - Eclipse

Not disagreeing with you, but you have a point with your sig, don't water it down with contradiction.

True enough.