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New NCSAs or Old

Started by Cebman21, March 26, 2017, 04:11:53 PM

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Eclipse

I have been thinking that a "Life Skills Academy" is sorely needed for CAP cadets.  The BSA provides well-rounded
(i.e. all over the map) instruction and orientation in all sorts of life-relevent skills, but with CAP, if it's not in or around
a plane, paramilitary life, or involve sleeping on the ground, it doesn't happen.

Things like woodworking, welding, sewing, auto-repair - just steal from the merit badge list and find the fun / relevent ones.
One day per "basic skill" could be a good orientation.

When I've brought it up in the past, the idea was well-received, but the logistics of week-long activities, especially
something like this, are daunting.

"That Others May Zoom"

THRAWN

Quote from: Eclipse on April 04, 2017, 06:49:31 PM
I have been thinking that a "Life Skills Academy" is sorely needed for CAP cadets.  The BSA provides well-rounded
(i.e. all over the map) instruction and orientation in all sorts of life-relevent skills, but with CAP, if it's not in or around
a plane, paramilitary life, or involve sleeping on the ground, it doesn't happen.

Things like woodworking, welding, sewing, auto-repair - just steal from the merit badge list and find the fun / relevent ones.
One day per "basic skill" could be a good orientation.

When I've brought it up in the past, the idea was well-received, but the logistics of week-long activities, especially
something like this, are daunting.

Change the car's oil and tires, cook a balanced dinner, hem some pants and put on a zipper, household budgeting, minor home repair....sounds like middle school 30 years ago....but it is a good idea. My wife is a high school teacher and one of her biggest complaints is that by the time her students are graduation, they have no idea how to do anything but take tests.....This would be a good local experiment, workout the kinks and then (shudder) "get er done"...
Strup-"Belligerent....at times...."
AFRCC SMC 10-97
NSS ISC 05-00
USAF SOS 2000
USAF ACSC 2011
US NWC 2016
USMC CSCDEP 2023

Майор Хаткевич

Quote from: THRAWN on April 04, 2017, 07:20:36 PM
Quote from: Eclipse on April 04, 2017, 06:49:31 PM
I have been thinking that a "Life Skills Academy" is sorely needed for CAP cadets.  The BSA provides well-rounded
(i.e. all over the map) instruction and orientation in all sorts of life-relevent skills, but with CAP, if it's not in or around
a plane, paramilitary life, or involve sleeping on the ground, it doesn't happen.

Things like woodworking, welding, sewing, auto-repair - just steal from the merit badge list and find the fun / relevent ones.
One day per "basic skill" could be a good orientation.

When I've brought it up in the past, the idea was well-received, but the logistics of week-long activities, especially
something like this, are daunting.

Change the car's oil and tires, cook a balanced dinner, hem some pants and put on a zipper, household budgeting, minor home repair....sounds like middle school 30 years ago....but it is a good idea. My wife is a high school teacher and one of her biggest complaints is that by the time her students are graduation, they have no idea how to do anything but take tests.....This would be a good local experiment, workout the kinks and then (shudder) "get er done"...


Personal Finance/Planning Retirement was the best course I took in college...It was an elective...I was in a Finance track...

GaryVC

Quote from: THRAWN on April 04, 2017, 06:26:44 PM
There has been a noticeable decline in the number of military bands across the nation in recent years. Something like this might help to slow that down a bit.

As far as I know, this is all about the $$$.

THRAWN

Quote from: GaryVC on April 05, 2017, 05:44:02 PM
Quote from: THRAWN on April 04, 2017, 06:26:44 PM
There has been a noticeable decline in the number of military bands across the nation in recent years. Something like this might help to slow that down a bit.

As far as I know, this is all about the $$$.

It's a part of it. Since many schools have gutted their music programs, they have a lack of qualified applicants to take the place of people leaving the service. No applicants, bands shrink, Congress red lines the funding, and the beat goes on....
Strup-"Belligerent....at times...."
AFRCC SMC 10-97
NSS ISC 05-00
USAF SOS 2000
USAF ACSC 2011
US NWC 2016
USMC CSCDEP 2023

sploding

Honestly one thing CAP could benefit from is having more career centered training and possibly keeping NCSA,s but giving local commands more options to host trainings . I am and E-4 in Coast Guard JROTC (sea cadets ) and a Mitchell in CAP, the one thing I hate is that that whenever I bring these ideas up they get dimissed as navy bs when in reality they could be useful to CAP. I am completely fed up with participation in multiple programs being incintivised in by national with advanced promotions , training credit equivalences and even having some ribbons I earned Sea side transfer over with approval from wing and national for some of the listed things but being treated as less of a CAP member because your not 100%CAP 100%of the time by squadron and wing. we refuse to look at each other's best practices and implement a system that encourages sharing information and adapting policies to work for us from JROTC,BSA and explorer programs . With my rant on CAP's collective refusal to adapt and overcome over I would like to see something like this implemented into eservices https://magellan.seacadets.org/public/training.asp this website ia a list of all NSCC training opportunities that's while dwindled now was filled with 10+ trainings per category ranging from 2.5 weeks training with seal teams to a couple days learning to cook . The reason that they had close to 80+ NCSAs this summer was due to training being de centralized and every command who wished to being able to provide training on a field they specialized in (land warfare , aviation maintenance , special ops , etc) this also allows smaller commands to raise funds by hosting cadets for a training and I believe CAP could benefit a great deal from adopting some of these things .

Luis R. Ramos

Oh boy. You will not like my answer.

1. "They" reject you not because "they are Navy things" but because "they" see you as a critic and are tired of you criticizing the program "they" love. If you would stop pushing your agenda and stick to CAP agenda, "they" would like and accept you more.

2. Have you stopped to think that if "they" wanted to do Navy things they would not have joined CAP but Sea Cadets or Navy JROTC? "They" saw what CAP offers, and they liked it. Again, your coming after "they" joined "they" see you as a killjoy.

3. Also each organization has its own "organizational culture." This is based on what has been done in the past in that organization, but it is also a reflection of how laws and regulations affect that organization. CAP cannot accept everything all its members like because there is a Federal Law that established it, there are other Laws, state and Federal, affecting what the corporation can and cannot do. One such regulation affects what we call our parent organization. USAF. So they also have "their" hand in the "CAP pie."

4. Lastly, there cannot be a big deviation from unit to unit, Group to Group, Wing to Wing, and Region to Region. Otherwise we could not be known as CAP. As of now, when there is a specific curriculum if I can apply such a concept, it is still not interpreted exactly the same by all members. What would happen if the diversity you are asking is adopted?

5. I am sure other members could say all this in a different way. Other members may disagree. But that is OK. This is the result of being in a national organization.
Squadron Safety Officer
Squadron Communication Officer
Squadron Emergency Services Officer

PHall

For once Luis, I'm in total agreement with you. :o

And cadet, I have just one question for you. Why are you in CAP? It sounds like you're not having a good time. So why bother...

Eclipse

+1 - You're trying to compare very different organizations with very different cultures, goals, and mandates, and
squeeze them into the same box as if that's a good idea.

If you're frustrated with "participation in multiple programs", the only person who can fix that is you.

Clearly you are still gaining value from all of them, each has their own expectations and opportunities, if not, you should disengage.

In regards to decorations across organizations, can you wear CAP ribbons on your JROTC uniform?  How about
Boy Scout patches?

As to acceptance of ideas?  It's all in the presentation.

"That Others May Zoom"

Offutteer

Quote from: sploding on August 07, 2017, 10:29:02 AM
Honestly one thing CAP could benefit from is having more career centered training and possibly keeping NCSA,s but giving local commands more options to host trainings.

CAP's local squadrons are supposed to ensure that there is at least one activity each month.  Each squadron is only limited by their imagination and resources, and good imagination can overcome some resource limitations (of course, there are also special requirements for High Adventure Activities).  NHQ has given a wide latitude when it comes to wings and units hosting activities.  They've opened up their NCSAs.com web page to advertise activities not hosted by NHQ and also their application system. 

The activities I reviewed from the Sea Cadets page seem to be very limited in the number of cadets they accept, as compared to CAP.  So, it looks like there are a lot as compared to CAP, once you take the # of slots available, I think that CAP would come out ahead. 

TheSkyHornet

Quote from: sploding on August 07, 2017, 10:29:02 AM
I am and E-4 in Coast Guard JROTC (sea cadets )

Out of curiosity here, what does that mean: "Coast Guard JROTC (Sea Cadets)?" The Sea Cadets (USNSCC) and CGJROTC are completely unrelated, as is NJROTC.

jpenn517

I got this interesting idea following SUPTFC and I am not too sure just how realistic it is. I remembered how the USAF has individual type training and weapons training for aircraft. So while it would not be that big of an activity a follow up that shows type training in something like an F-15 or F-16 for those who go through either SUPTFC activity would be an interesting idea. Or as an alternative idea, an activity that allows for cadets to shadow pilots that are training at Red Flag or aggressor pilots which would be open to all cadets would be an unforgettable learning opportunity.
"I don't land I crash with style"