2008 McGuire AFB Air Expo

Started by CASH172, May 13, 2008, 07:42:11 PM

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Pylon

I appreciate your time in coming to the board to bring us an outside perspective, DOD_Tcom.  As you have mentioned, we have no control over the search engines and the manner in which they index results.  I also find it unfortunate that this thread would turn up in the top results for a search about the airshow - even worse, the second result on a major search engine.

Certainly, Civil Air Patrol members are not a bunch of complainers and whiners across the board.  However, we do use this discussion community to discuss issues, share perspectives, talk about organizational problems and toss around ideas for solutions.  Think of the discussion community here as a professional resource to help many CAP members "get it done" in each of their respective neck of the woods.  Most CAP units find they have to re-invent the wheel on many things and be self-supporting - thus, this board was created in the hopes that collaborative efforts and the sharing of experiences could help CAP members in other areas use the right resources, apply new ideas and get intel on activities to make the best decisions for their units.

Many of the CAP members who were at the activity last year, myself and the cadets in my squadron included, had a horrible experience.  I don't need to detail that again, as I think this thread already sufficiently shares those frustrations.  I would hope that this thread served as more of a warning to other CAP members who were considering to volunteer so that they would know how to better prepare if they were to attend, or to help them make the decision whether or not to attend.

Though I applaud your contributions to your job above and beyond what is asked, as you mentioned in your last post, remember that in the end you still get a pay check for your job.  None of us in CAP are paid one cent for the years of service we put in.  We actually pay annual dues, buy our own uniforms and personal gear, pay for our own transportation most of the time and pay for our own incidentals.  We are in CAP, however, because we do feel a call to be of some service to our communities and the Air Force.   We want to be able to support where possible.

But in some circumstances, when you take a look at the whole situation, our members can often get taken advantage of.  This year's McGuire Air Expo, at face value, appears to be one such situation.  I understand that the Air Force has budget constraints for activities like these.  But providing free billeting, food and some small material support is not a lot of expense for the returned value of hundreds of trained, professional volunteers working for free.

I think you're merely reading the comments of some of us who were frustrated with this one particular activity, so please don't extrapolate that to CAP members who feel ill will against the AF, DOD, McGuire AFB or our own command structure.  We wouldn't be in CAP, pay annual dues and buy our own supplies if we didn't want to serve in some useful capacity and if we didn't feel an affinity for the parent services with which we are affiliated.

Again, thank you for taking your time to register here, bring us an outside perspective on our comments and of course - remind us that our comments are always in the view of the general public.
Michael F. Kieloch, Maj, CAP

CASH172

OK, back from the airshow.  I know all of you are so dying to know what happened.  ;)  The show itself in an overall view was a good success.  The smaller contingent we had was able to provide a good amount of support to the AF.  There were some minor problems, but nothing at all compared to the scale of last year. 

Unfortunately, I arrived late Friday night, but from what I was told:  Everything went smoothly, everyone was fed, entertainment was quite entertaining ::), everyone had a bunk, and there was no chaos.  One of the things I really liked was putting as many members of a home squadron into the same flight.  This let people have at least one or more people that they knew.  Also, flights had the same rooms generally, except for different genders.  The only small issue I found was how there was a small lack of the appropriate sizes of T-shirts.  Some of the cadets didn't quite get T-shirts that fit them exactly.  It wasn't too bad an issue, but without a BDU blouse, people tend to notice a little easier. 

Attendence was nothing close to last year's.  All CAP personnel and JROTC personnel combined probably didn't exceed more than 250 at one moment. 

Saturday morning went quite smoothly as well.  Flights assembled quite quickly and everyone knew who their immediate superior was, so there was no mass confusion.   One little thing I didn't quite like was the behavior of the AFJROTC unit that had joined with us.  Their general behavior and conduct made me proud to be a CAP cadet and proud that I was with, in comparison, seemed like a superior organization.  The JROTC cadets all received the same T-shirts, which had CAP on it.  Without blouses, there was no way for the general public to distinguish between JROTC cadets and our own. 

Good news was that there were no Orange hats.  Even PAWG had regular BDU caps.  Also, props to Midway 6, I finally saw the Aux On/Aux Off patch in person.

Our CAP static display area was the most farthest away attraction from the main entrance.  We had the luxury of having a C-182T G1000, C-172P, and GA-8 with ARCHER on board.  Most of our cadets were assigned Program Sales or "Civil Engineering." (I didn't make the name)  Cadets in the BDU without blouse uniform did Civil Engineering.  Some cadets were instructed to wear blues in order to sell Programs.  Unfortunately, bad weather was rolling into the KWRI area.  Airshow planners were afraid a T-storm with Tornado Watches was gonna move in.  The decision was made at around 11ish, to pull in any aircraft that might not survive the storm.  All small aircraft, including the T-birds, F-15s, F-16s, Geico Skytypers, all rotary wing aircraft, and etc had to be tugged away into a hanger.  Our own aircraft had to be taxied into the hanger. 

Our CAP team was able to pull back to our rallying point with ease and some flights were asked to help the AF move civilians out of the airshow area and into their vehicles.  All airshow staff was confined into one of the C-17 hangers.  We were stuck inside while the storm passed for roughly 3 hours.  Inside, we WERE fed, and everyone got a meal.  When food ran out for some seniors, the situation was worked on and the meals came very shortly afterwards.  After about 3 hours inside, the airshow planners decided to cancel the rest of the activities for the day.  CAP personnel were moved back to the barracks on Ft. Dix. 

We had a little bit extra time to relax.  Everyone went to the DFAC to eat.  Cadets and seniors had leisure time.  Most cadets either hung out, played football, cards, etc.  Seniors did whatever seniors do when they're bored...  The rest of the night without major incident.  The Safety Team appointed this year did an excellent job of watching over and doing just one job, making sure safety was everywhere.  Also, cadets were given emergency notification data sheets to fill out and to carry with them at all times.  Cadets were also given quick reference guides with information such as contact info, lost procedures, medical issues, communication plans, and a map. 

Saturday morning went without major incident either.  The weather was beautiful, and a huge crowd was expected.  One thing that happened overnight was that the GA-8 was needed in PAWG somewhere to conduct a SAR mission.  So the aircraft left in the early morning with a crew.  The same general plan occurred.  Cadets in blues selling programs and cadets in BDUs without blouses doing "Civil Engineering." 

One thing that pop up was the word that someone in the AF wasn't authorizing cadets that were off-duty to wear uniforms in order to walk around and enjoy the show.  Later in the day, the base commander or some higher ranking officer tried assuring the project officer this order wasn't made by any of them.  I still don't know exactly what happened with that one. 

There were some minor medical issues, but nothing unexpected from a fairly sized airshow supporting event.  It was also nothing even close to last year.  The smaller staff did make rotations a little bit more tougher, but the bigger the staff, the more chaos that would just follow.  A line has to be cut somewhere in that method. 

The airshow itself went without major incident.  The exodus of CAP personnel from the ramp proved to be quite difficult.  We tried moving back to Ft. Dix almost immediately at the same time the general public was leaving.  Traffic in many places proved to be quite difficult.  We had to coordinate some vehicles to go with AF SF escorts to get through the road barriers set up to control traffic.  Also, the AF CoC seemed to be a little harder to work with.  Orders from one team would contradict orders from another, but that's on the AF side and not ours.  Other than the exodus away from the ramp, nothing else seemed to be in even small chaos. 

I have to give credit to the DFAC staff for willing to stay late in order to feed our members.  Although we did pay, I still find it great they were willing to do such a thing. 

Overall, I believe the airshow was a success.  No chaos ensued.  I wasn't able to get a bigger overall picture of the event because I was mostly confined to displaying the C-182T G-1000.  So it does mean I didn't get a bigger picture, which would've meant a better understanding of the shortfalls and successes.  The $60 did seem a little bit excessive, but sometimes it's just what has to happen.  Hopefully, next year a better deal can be worked out. 


Pylon

For whom were you selling programs?  Did the CAP units involved profit any by contributing members to sell the programs?


I guess I still don't understand why hundreds CAP members would pay $60 to empty trash (I assume that's what largely your "CE" teams did) and sell programs at an airshow where admission is free.  I would think $60 is steep to house and feed me on a military installation for a weekend of training, where I'd be receiving valuable education and materials.  I'd think $60 would be steep to house and feed me on a military installation for a weekend to watch an airshow and learn AE-type stuff.   Perhaps you can help me: from your perspective, why did you pay $60 to go work? 
Michael F. Kieloch, Maj, CAP

CASH172

Quote from: Pylon on June 02, 2008, 03:48:56 AM
For whom were you selling programs?  Did the CAP units involved profit any by contributing members to sell the programs?.....Perhaps you can help me: from your perspective, why did you pay $60 to go work? 

The programs were being sold to the general public.  As far as I know, no profit sharing arrangements have been made.  Why did I pay $60?  From what happened last year, I wasn't going to just sit at home and say it's not my problem.  I felt I needed to be there to just be another reliable person to spot the problems and do whatever I can. 

afgeo4

Sounds like many great lessons were learned about organizing a large, multi-unit activity. I'm VERY happy to hear that. Now if they can find a way to cut costs in half, I'll join them next year.

As far as $60... I'd rather pay $75 to work at an encampment for 10 days.
GEORGE LURYE