CAP Cadet Program versus BSA

Started by OldGuy, December 20, 2019, 02:54:23 PM

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JohhnyD

#20
Quote from: 754837 on December 22, 2019, 09:17:42 PM
This will be one of those "back in the good old days" "when I was a cadet" post.  I acknowledge that my memory might be somewhat distorted & I know I tend to remember the good and fun over the bad.

So with that... I started as a cadet in 1974 and the thing that made us different than Boy Scouts was we had a "real" mission - that being Emergency Services/Search & Rescue.   My pals and I were all ground team qualified and flight line qualified.  We had the opportunity to go on several actual SAR missions.  Our training was designed around the idea that we would be utilized for the real deal.  We studied the book The Hero Next Door like it was sacred text.   In our young teenage minds, this made us stand out from Boy Scouts because we were of the opinion, rightly or wrongly, that our mission was much more important than that of the scouts.  In fact, calling a CAP cadet a "boy scout" was a significant insult.

Obviously this was long before the Cadet Protection Program, we were not "students", didn't play with model rockets but we participated in high risk activities like rappelling with limited senior member supervision.  We had opportunities to fly (get this... my small little squadron had two surplus USAF airplanes, a T-34 and a Cessna L19 Birddog!)    Yes, we were hazed some and we also hazed some (push ups, shouting and occasionally talking trash about someone's mother).  I am not saying any of this was wise or smart but that is the way it was.  In a small city of 25,000 we had about a dozen hardcore cadets that stayed with the program most to the Mitchell & a few to Earhart.   Post Vietnam, the military was unfairly unpopular.   CAP cadets as well as JROTC cadets, even though we not in the military, were harassed by other students but yet we still had a viable cadet program.

Things have changed due to poor judgement, accidents, occasional crimes, etc.  but for me and my buddies, it was great!  Some 45 years later, 7 of us are as close as brothers due to being CAP cadets & one of us even married a former cadet's sister (that would be me!).     
My CAPSN was 742NNN, I joined in 1973 and had the exact same experiences. I was also BSA and JROTC so I can comment on them as comparatives - and CAP wins in a grand slam.  What was true then and now is a failure to communicate the value of the program in any meaningful, public and mass-market fashion.

754837

You broke the code of my "secret identity"  I was not in BSA but was in Navy JROTC.

JohhnyD

Quote from: 754837 on December 22, 2019, 10:03:54 PM
You broke the code of my "secret identity"  I was not in BSA but was in Navy JROTC.
:)


PHall


SarDragon

Dave Bowles
Maj, CAP
AT1, USN Retired
50 Year Member
Mitchell Award (unnumbered)
C/WO, CAP, Ret

PHall


SarDragon

 :clap: Indeed! Guilty as charged!  :clap:
Dave Bowles
Maj, CAP
AT1, USN Retired
50 Year Member
Mitchell Award (unnumbered)
C/WO, CAP, Ret

754837

Thanks - you guys are making me feel young!!!!

bd5av8r

A problem I've heard stated about CAP versus BSA is the "military" appearance of CAP. I've heard parents that had no issue with the military aspect, and Ive seen and heard administrators/parents/teachers that wanted NOTING to do with CAP and some of these have even asked me (no yelled at me) for "recruiting 12 year olds into the "army." :D and they were serious.

Then there is this: BSA has at least 1 troop in "anytown USA" CAP doesn't have that "luxury."

I hadn't even heard of CAP until 2002, Long after I was "cadet age" I did BSA to Eagle.
Greetings from SC!

Capt Thompson

My brother is heavily involved as a Troop leader for BSA, started in first grade and went through Eagle. I started in first grade and only stuck it out a year or two, but did Army JROTC for 3 years and CAP for 5 as a Cadet. BSA now starts at age 5 (Kindergarten) with Lions, so by the time kids get to be old enough for CAP they have been a part of BSA for 7 years. If they are the type of high speed members who will possibly push for Spaatz one day, they will more than likely stay in the program they have already dedicated years to and push for Eagle instead. BSA is much more laid back and doesn't have the military discipline, drill, pt, written tests and powerpoint presentations.

We will always be a niche organization, and a very small demographic will want to join CAP. As others have said, retention is where we need to focus our energy. Bring Cadets in with a reasonable expectation of what their first year will look like as a CAP Cadet, and then follow through to ensure it looks as close as possible to what is being promised. If you promise plenty of ES activities during recruiting, but your Squadron doesn't do ES activities, have a plan in place to get the Cadets to some training. If you promise lots of flight time but don't have access to a plane, partner with another Squadron or Group before the recruiting even to make sure there is a plan in place to make it happen. When you promise a high speed, low drag Cadet Program and then give them a year of drill and PT, there shouldn't be a surprise when they don't stay past the first year.

In my experience, BSA does a fair job of delivering on promises, and even small Troops have a decent amount of activities and opportunities, so we need to be doing the same.

Capt Matt Thompson
Deputy Commander for Cadets, Historian, Public Affairs Officer

Mitchell - 31 OCT 98 (#44670) Earhart - 1 OCT 00 (#11401)

TheSkyHornet

^ Recruit the program you offer, not the program you want.

Capt Thompson

Or another way to look at it, is build the program you want to recruit for....the program recruits will actually want to join!
Capt Matt Thompson
Deputy Commander for Cadets, Historian, Public Affairs Officer

Mitchell - 31 OCT 98 (#44670) Earhart - 1 OCT 00 (#11401)

Jester

Interesting that this popped back up today since their bankruptcy filing is in the news.

BSA Bankruptcy

NIN

Quote from: Jester on February 18, 2020, 04:56:27 PMInteresting that this popped back up today since their bankruptcy filing is in the news.

BSA Bankruptcy

Read that this morning. Bad juju for Scouting.

Maybe there's a good reason for CAP not to be 2M scouts and 20,000 units.

Darin Ninness, Col, CAP
I have no responsibilities whatsoever
I like to have Difficult Adult Conversations™
The contents of this post are Copyright © 2007-2024 by NIN. All rights are reserved. Specific permission is given to quote this post here on CAP-Talk only.

Jester

Quote from: NIN on February 18, 2020, 06:09:26 PM
Quote from: Jester on February 18, 2020, 04:56:27 PMInteresting that this popped back up today since their bankruptcy filing is in the news.

BSA Bankruptcy

Read that this morning. Bad juju for Scouting.

Maybe there's a good reason for CAP not to be 2M scouts and 20,000 units.



So does their size make adequate protection measures harder to enforce?  I don't know much of anything about the organization with the exception of being a cub scout 25+ years ago.

I'm not sure what their CPP "equivalent" is, what the adult entrance requirements are, etc since my kids aren't old enough to do Scouting yet.

FW

Quote from: NIN on February 18, 2020, 06:09:26 PMRead that this morning. Bad juju for Scouting.

Maybe there's a good reason for CAP not to be 2M scouts and 20,000 units.


We had some major issues back in the 90's culminating in a very good CPPT process.  All in all, I think we will never have the problems found in BSA.

Eclipse

Not that they need an apologist, but some issues around this might need to be brought
forward. As I've mentioned before, I was a Scout, as are my two sons, one who is an Eagle, and
the other who got his last Eagle sign-off completed literally yesterday.

The bankruptcy filing is strategic, intended to slow down a number of lawsuits that
allege abuse.  Published reports indicate the BSA is sitting on about $1.5B in assets
against about $500M in liabilities. It will also allow them to continue operations,
and potentially sets time limits on additional claimants.

Those same reports indicate that the Area Councils, which operate as separate business entities,
own another $3.3B in assets, so to my aged thread on comparing the organizations, as
well as comments in this thread, there simply is no comparison, from the perspective of
scale.  CAP operating budget is a rounding error compared to the BSA.

This came to a head in recent years because a number of states have changed their
statutes of limitations, allowing cases from 30 some years ago to be filed today.

These are from the same ERA as when CAP, and a number of other youth organizations, made significant
changes to their policies and training requirements for adult leaders.

Indications are that while this isn't' going to help recruiting, local Troop operations will
be largely unaffected.

As with any time you have kids who were part of benevolent organizations who had kids who
were neglected, abused, or worse, not only is it terrible for them to have been wronged by
the very people who they reached to for help, but it's also sad for the millions of
adults over the years who have done nothing but serve honorably who get besmirched by
the actions of a very small number of people.

"That Others May Zoom"

Eclipse

Quote from: Jester on February 18, 2020, 07:05:28 PMI'm not sure what their CPP "equivalent" is, what the adult entrance requirements are, etc since my kids aren't old enough to do Scouting yet.

All "BSA Registered Leaders" must complete Youth Protection Training, and re-take it
every two years. https://www.scouting.org/training/adult/

In theory, any adult who would be chaperoning or otherwise supervising Scouts,
especially on overnights, is required to complete this.  It's akin to CAP's CPP -
an online set of presentations with some after-testing (as I recall).

"That Others May Zoom"

baronet68

Quote from: FW on February 18, 2020, 07:08:29 PM
Quote from: NIN on February 18, 2020, 06:09:26 PMRead that this morning. Bad juju for Scouting.

Maybe there's a good reason for CAP not to be 2M scouts and 20,000 units.


We had some major issues back in the 90's culminating in a very good CPPT process.  All in all, I think we will never have the problems found in BSA.

When the cadet protection program first came to CAP, the training materials we used were those produced by the BSA. We've obviously gone on and built our own program from there but there's at least some shared lineage.
Michael Moore, Lt Col, CAP
National Recruiting & Retention Manager

GaryVC

Quote from: 754837 on December 22, 2019, 09:17:42 PM. . . didn't play with model rockets . . .

The CAP model rocket program was introduced in the 1960s.