The Uniform Team

[Ned]

A quick check here shows missing persons by county for 2008.

Ahh, no.

That is the number of missing children reported by county, not missing persons.  Obviously the number of missing persons will be much larger.

But even using the child numbers, it shows 274 "lost" children in 39 different counties out of the total of over 114,000 missing California children reported in 2008 alone.

What was your point?

[A.Member]

That is the number of missing children reported by county, not missing persons.  Obviously the number of missing persons will be much larger.

Ah, good catch.  Here are the adults as well.  Much larger number?  I don't know about that - tough to say.  The is only one additional catergory that I suspect could drive a significant number of missions is the "Dependant Adult" category, which is significant.  Regardless, certainly not all of those cases would result in SAR missions.  Not sure of an easy why to find that information (ie. percentage of missing persons reports resulting in a SAR mission).

What was your point?

Very simple...to start quantifying the discussion rather than continuing to throw out more speculation.

[JohnKachenmeister]

Question:

Since CA sheriffs have their own volunteer airplanes, their own volunteer SAR teams on the deck, and don't want CAP to participate unless they leave the uniform of the USAF at home and wear the state uniform, and even if CAP does ditch the uniform, they aren't needed anyway because the Sheriff teams can do it better...

Then why doen't CA Wing get out of the SAR business in CA?  We can use those planes here in FL where we have hurricanes, wildfires, tornadoes, and other disasters all the time and FL is grateful for CAP's ability to rapidly scout damaged areas at low cost.

Answer:

• Public Relations Nightmare:  "CAP Stops Helping People Due to Uniform Rules."
• CAP can contribute and provide valuable services.
• The orange shirt deal affects a small percentage of CA CAP members.  Aircrews, mission base staff, and maybe even UDF teams aren't affected.

Our uniform menagerie is a PITA, but at least the state mandate provides a reason (however unreasonable) for the CA orange shirt.  We might not like it, but that's more reason than we can claim for some of our other outfits.

Their PR problem, not ours:

"California, stubborn over control of uniforms, refuses volunteer help from AF and its Auxiliary."

Or:

"Air Force Auxiliary can help, but NOT in military uniforms, says CA officials."

[Spike]

Does anybody know what the Uniform Team is up to? It would help to have an idea of what's being considered, and what's been ruled out.

I heard they are waiting for this thread to get back on track.........

They may perhaps even drop in to inform us all of what is officially going on