Should every cadet that joins be routed to an ENCAMPMENT?

[NIN]

Not even going to go there. I can't vouch for the actual number of 13/14 year old C/LTCs but I have had experience with a 14 yr old C/COL that would turn anyone's hair gray. Her and her mother both.

The number of 14 year old C/Cols in CAP has been so low as to really be a complete anomaly.

Sorry you had to deal with that, but its the exception by a wide margin, not the rule.

[BFreemanMA]

@Garibaldi, there is such a thing as Great Start Weekend. When I was in SLS with CTWG, they coupled the SLS with their cadet's GSW. It was a neat program to look in upon from time to time. The cadets slept in the barracks a few rooms away from the SM, but I overheard a lot of excited chatter. The Helpdesk article that relates the regs and all that can be found here: http://capnhq.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1210/~/cap-pamphlet-52-9%3A-cadet-great-start%3A-orientation-%26-training-for-civil-air.

Granted, logistics would still be an issue, but it's an excellent idea that appeared to work well when I observed it.

[redstar1110]

If it is a Cadet who had been in the program for a long time but has not been to an encampment they should go to ALS (airman leadership school) to ask themselves can they take on the challenge for a week. But if they do not go to ALS let them go to a different state encampment other than Texas because my basic encampment was awesome but for a cadet that is unsure to go, let them go to a different state because Texas encampment is rough and strait to the point, there is no time to do nothing and that goes for staff as well, you are always doing something. To your question if a cadet should go to encampment as soon as possible, no send them to ALS first then encampment, if they choose to go.   

[lordmonar]

What is ALS?

I know what it is....but that brings up another aspect of this discussion.

The differences between on wing's encampment and the next is sometimes night and day.

TX has a rough and tough encampment where ALS is important to be successful....but NV's encampment is not so tough and CAWG's is something else agian.

I look at 52-16 requirments for encampment and then look at what actaually happens at encampment and people saying "this is really rough" and 12 yearlds don't fair weill........I wonder if our "concept" of what an encampment should be.....and what the regs say it must be........and what is really good for the program are not quite in alignment.

If we make them rough and tough like TX wing where ALS is highly suggested.......should not all 50+ encampments be more or less the same?  I know there will be some differences due to available facliites and such but the core standards.....the hospitol corners, dorm insptections, importance of honor flight, the memorisation work.......i.e. the core what is being taught....and the reason for teaching them should all be the same.

[Eclipse]

Encampments should not be "rough and tough", nor significantly different between wings.

Hopefully the new curriculum will go a long way towards fixing that.

[ol'fido]

If it is a Cadet who had been in the program for a long time but has not been to an encampment they should go to ALS (airman leadership school) to ask themselves can they take on the challenge for a week. But if they do not go to ALS let them go to a different state encampment other than Texas because my basic encampment was awesome but for a cadet that is unsure to go, let them go to a different state because Texas encampment is rough and strait to the point, there is no time to do nothing and that goes for staff as well, you are always doing something. To your question if a cadet should go to encampment as soon as possible, no send them to ALS first then encampment, if they choose to go.

When we say that 11 or 12 year olds may not be ready for encampment, we are talking about things like sleeping in a room with other people, being away from parents and siblings and with mostly strangers you are relying on to feed you and care for you, not being able to do those things or have those comfort items that the cadet may be used to having around, etc. These things are hard enough for these youngest cadets and then we add the inspections, time crunches, radically altered schedules, and structured environment. The activity doesn't need to be "rough and tough" (which it shouldn't) to be overly stressful for them. There will always be the 11 or 12 year old cadets who can handle these things easily, but as a general rule they are more likely to have "homesickness" problems than older cadets who have started the "sleep over" and PE shower period of their development.

[Майор Хаткевич]

PE shower? What's that?

[PHall]

TX has a rough and tough encampment where ALS is important to be successful....but NV's encampment is not so tough and CAWG's is something else agian.

And you know this how? Since you have never been to a CAWG or even a CAWG/NVWG Joint Encampment.

[ol'fido]

PE shower? What's that?

Ah, sheltered youth.

[Майор Хаткевич]

PE shower? What's that?

Ah, sheltered youth.

We have them. They dont get used for PE.

[Slim]

TX has a rough and tough encampment where ALS is important to be successful....but NV's encampment is not so tough and CAWG's is something else agian.

And you know this how? Since you have never been to a CAWG or even a CAWG/NVWG Joint Encampment.

Easy, Phil.  I don't think Pat's passing any judgement on the quality of CAWG encampment when compared to anyone else's, just that it's different.  I've never been to an encampment outside of MIWG/GLR either, but after ten years of listening to you guys talk about your encampment, or NYWG talk about theirs, or INWG, or anyone else's, I know that there's differences.

While the curriculum and course of instruction may be the same for everyone, no two encampments will look and feel the same.  The end result is going to be the same, but how we get there is probably different.

I've attended and staffed encampments on an ANG CRTC, an Army Guard training site, and two different AD AF bases (one being one of the biggest bases in the country, and the other an about to be closed B-52 base).  At each of those facilities, our core curriculum was always the same, but the advantages and disadvantages of the various facilities (lodging, meals, extracurriculars, etc) made each activity fairly unique.  For that matter, there has been so much modernization at the CRTC in Alpena in terms of lodging, facilities, operations spaces, and classrooms that encampments now aren't quite the same as they once were, and we're always finding something new or different to adapt to.

I'm sure you'll agree that an encampment at Pendleton is different than one at SLO, or one at Vandy, or Beale, or anywhere else you guys have been out there.  Not better or worse, but different.

[lordmonar]

TX has a rough and tough encampment where ALS is important to be successful....but NV's encampment is not so tough and CAWG's is something else agian.

And you know this how? Since you have never been to a CAWG or even a CAWG/NVWG Joint Encampment.

No you are right......but I have had to correct the instruction my cadets have received from both the CAWG and the Join CAWG/NVWG and the NVWG encampments........

Like Slim said.....I was not passing judgement only saying that not all encampments are the same.

[PHall]

TX has a rough and tough encampment where ALS is important to be successful....but NV's encampment is not so tough and CAWG's is something else agian.

And you know this how? Since you have never been to a CAWG or even a CAWG/NVWG Joint Encampment.

No you are right......but I have had to correct the instruction my cadets have received from both the CAWG and the Join CAWG/NVWG and the NVWG encampments........

Like Slim said.....I was not passing judgement only saying that not all encampments are the same.

So what instruction do you have to correct???  Drill is taught directly from AFI 36-2203 and the 39-1 is the 39-1. So enlighten me here.
Can't fix problems if we don't know about them.