Married Cadets

[capme]

Hey, what's the big deal with cadets being married?  Why does CAPR 35-3 list marriage as a cause for termination of cadet membership?

[MIKE]

Because if you are 18+ and married, you have to become an SM.

[NCRblues]

because they said so....

[capme]

I know "because THEY said so", but what is the reasoning behind the rule?

[BillB]

The rule against married cadets is at least 60 yars old. It was made during a time when a 20 year old was still considered a minor. But many 18-21 year olds were getting married and the inability of turning Senior member at 18 meant that the 20 year old that got married would have to be terminated. Over the years no effort was made to change the regulation even when the age of majority dropped to 18.

[PA Guy]

Because a cadet that age who marries has made a decision to move on with their life.  They should be focusing their energies on building and being able to support their marriage not worrying about who is going to teach a D&C class or if they are going to pass their next achievement.  My cadet career came to a screaming halt due to marriage.  It's a good rule.

Also, the potential for CPPT issues are many. 

[Eclipse]

Because a cadet that age who marries has made a decision to move on with their life.  They should be focusing their energies on building and being able to support their marriage not worrying about who is going to teach a D&C class or if they are going to pass their next achievement.  My cadet career came to a screaming halt due to marriage.  It's a good rule.

Also, the potential for CPPT issues are many.

Agree on all, and further to this, the majority of cadets getting married are likely due to making poor life choices and an unplanned pregnancy, which is no example to be setting or allowing in CAP, which by nature is supposed to be helping
cadets avoid these mistakes.

[RiverAux]

So the dumb 19 year old that gets pregnant or got someone else pregnant and makes the decision to get married should become a senior member and thereby no longer be a role model for cadets?  Not sure I get that logic. 

Also, the potential for CPPT issues are many. 

What are those?  How is the married 19 year old cadet more a "threat" than a single 19 year old cadet?  How are they less of a threat if they are senior members?  If anything, an unmarried 19 year old cadet is much more likely to potentially start a relationship with an underage cadet than a married 19-year old. 

[capme]

I agree.  I do not get the 'logic' here.

[RiverAux]

To be fair, theres no real logic in regards to any of CAP's regulations regarding when over-18 years can be cadets and when they must be seniors. 

[MIKE]

Unless you subscribe to the train of thought that adult decisions/actions have adult consequences.

[capme]

So we are to subscribe to the train of thought that an 18-20 year old person is only an adult once they are married?  That doesn't make sense either.

Seems like thin reasoning.

[JeffDG]

Somewhat unrelated, but when I was 17, I applied for the Royal Military College in Canada...essentially the equivalent of West Point for Canada.

You were required to be unmarried, and promise to remain unmarried throughout your tenure at RMC.  Violation would lead to your immediate termination and forfeiture of your commission.

Do the military academies here have similar rules for cadets?

[DakRadz]

Somewhat unrelated, but when I was 17, I applied for the Royal Military College in Canada...essentially the equivalent of West Point for Canada.

You were required to be unmarried, and promise to remain unmarried throughout your tenure at RMC.  Violation would lead to your immediate termination and forfeiture of your commission.

Do the military academies here have similar rules for cadets?

Yes sir, absolutely. I believe prior enlisted are given slightly more relaxed standards in this regard.
You can also not have been or be pregnant, nor father a child. Once again, I believe slightly different for prior enlisted.
I've been applying for 3 service academies and it is even ROTC scholarships, so I have to read this often.
Back to my lane.

[JeffDG]

Good luck!

[RiverAux]

A service academy that has extremely stingent rules regarding off-campus contact for significant periods of time may have legitimate reasons to worry that a married cadet might be pretty seriously distressed by the situation and not perform as well as they might otherwise.  But, then again that might be said for anyone thats married in the military.  In either case, a service academy cadet program is not really comparable to CAP's cadet program. 

I'm not really sure why I've been arguing the "pro-cadet" side on this and related issues since in general I believe the cadet program probably should end at 18 or high school graduation anyway which would make all these other issues moot.

[RADIOMAN015]

To be fair, theres no real logic in regards to any of CAP's regulations regarding when over-18 years can be cadets and when they must be seniors.

Realistically, the program needs to be reevaluated and ANY cadet who has not achieved senior NCO status by 18 years old, should not be able to stay as a cadet until 21 years old.   Also if they graduate from high school and don't enroll in any sort of higher education, also boot them out of cadet status. 

As far as married cadets -- don't think that happens very often -- the majority of these unplanned issues such as pregnancy, usually result in the taxpayer paying for everything.   Some like "the life" of free medical care, free housing, free food, and just never get out of that mode -- more "unplanned kids", poor parenting, eventually leading to kids joining gangs, resulting in more crime etc & the cycle goes, over & over, & over again.....

RM

[DakRadz]

To be fair, theres no real logic in regards to any of CAP's regulations regarding when over-18 years can be cadets and when they must be seniors.

Realistically, the program needs to be reevaluated and ANY cadet who has not achieved senior NCO status by 18 years old, should not be able to stay as a cadet until 21 years old.   Also if they graduate from high school and don't enroll in any sort of higher education, also boot them out of cadet status. 

RM

Hmm... I wouldn't be even be a Cadet SNCO yet if not for my JROTC. A C/TSgt, I think, due to a few setbacks that I managed to overcome. Of course, I still have a small window between now and my birthday, but others may not.

So say a cadet enlists in the Reserves, works another job diligently, is an outstanding cadet leader (say Mitchell or higher, still active in unit), and is either saving up for life, or studying up for college- boot them out? For example, doing Reserve enlisted time to better their chances for a Service Academy?
Ouch. I've thought about going this route before.



Now, if I ended up getting married- I hope people are aiming to hit me with the door on our way out.

[Flying Pig]

That would be great.  A female C/MSgt and her husband, C/LTC Smith attend encampment, or any other CAP activity together and  they want to sleep together, as they should if they are married.   To many issues CAP isnt equipped to deal with even for dealing with two cadets who may be completely squared away.  Regardless of how rare it may be.

Keep it the way it is. 

[RiverAux]

Do we regulate how married seniors sleep at CAP activities?  I seem to recall situations where married members were split up - men in one quarters, female in another, regardless of marriage status and it wasn't a big deal.  That being the case, I think 2 married cadets could deal with it as well. 

If the event's rules call for gender segration for everyone (which most do), then it isn't a factor.  And if it is some sort of road trip where CAP members are in motel rooms, who does it hurt if the married cadets share a room just like married seniors?  Those same 2 people could do the same exact thing as senior members, so whats the big deal?