How does your Wing determine NCSA/IACE approval, green light, and red light status? In-person review boards? Telephone interviews? Dart board?
I'm starting to think about next year's process, and I'm interested in what other Wings do.
In VAWG last year we ran in-person interviews in each Group that used a standard set of questions and scoresheets provided by Wing. We had no red lights, and we were able to green light all but one of the cadets the individual boards recommended for it.
NJWG does mandatory in-person review boards at Wing HQ.
We normally hold these in late January, or a couple weekends after the submission deadline (15 Jan). We have three groups, and reporting times at 0900, 1100, and 1300 for the groups corresponding to how long the drive is to HQ. After signing in on a spreadsheet, a timer starts for each cadet. The cadets then go into a testing room, where they take a closed book 50 question test on general CAP knowledge, aerospace, CP, etc, which then get scored. Then they wait for their review board, which also gets a numerical score. The review board consists of several questions ranging from aerospace, current events, cadet programs, chain of command, trivia, and an open-ended. We have a system of calculating the total scores, which then gets posted a few weeks later or whenever they're done being sorted. Top 10% of scored cadets get green lighted, other review board participants get approved by wing, and everyone else who didn't show up gets red light.
We also hold review boards for our powered and glider flight academy candidates, and for Cadet of the Year in the same event.
Each Wing operates differently in recommending cadets for Special Activities. Some as noted are done at the Wing Level (in Florida, it's a weekend long marathon), in others cadets are given appointments for their interviews. Every Wing is allowed to green light cadets for activities. I've attached a link that explains the slotting process at National. Make sure that you meet the qualifications for the activities you apply for-go to the NCSA page http://ncsas.com/ (http://ncsas.com/) for last years requirements.
http://ncsas.com/instructions/?understanding_the_slotting_process&show=entry&blogID=89. (http://ncsas.com/instructions/?understanding_the_slotting_process&show=entry&blogID=89.)
I'm not usually in favor of requiring in-face boards for cadets, if only because many times that just removes some who can't travel 4-6 hours, but for something like
IACE, I still see the need. International travel is not something to be taken lightly, especially for adolescents and when you're literally representing a country,
so these cadets should be vetted as thoroughly as possible, for everyone's well-being.
MSG Mac - this is the disadvantage to me not having a sig. :) I'm a Wing DCP, Lt Col, 20+ year member, etc. I'm responsible for my Wing's approval process. I was just trying to brainstorm ways to do it better. Sorry I didn't make that clearer.
Good explanation of the national process, though. ;D
Quote from: dwb on August 29, 2013, 12:56:51 AM
MSG Mac - this is the disadvantage to me not having a sig. :) I'm a Wing DCP, Lt Col, 20+ year member, etc. I'm responsible for my Wing's approval process. I was just trying to brainstorm ways to do it better. Sorry I didn't make that clearer.
Good explanation of the national process, though. ;D
Sorry. I thought you were a cadet.
In my opinion the Boards shouldn't impose undue hardships on cadets. In large (geographic)Wings, an applicant shouldn't have to travel more than a few hours to the interview, nor have to participate in a PFT test, except for PJOC, to be considered. It may be better to have Group Boards in larger Wings. I would also recommend that in the case of Flight activities, the cadets should have a CFI on the committee and be required to certify that they have the appropriate flight physical passed before the board. IACE candidates should also have a former IACE participant on their boards.
Quote from: MSG Mac on August 29, 2013, 01:49:15 AM
Sorry. I thought you were a cadet.
Thats OK, many of us still think of him that way, too. :P
Don't forget to interview IACE Escorts. Some wings will approve all senior applications without looking at what they applied for. It takes a person with a certain skill set to be an effective escort (not some adult who thinks that they are on a vacation).
I have chaired or served on wing IACE boards several times. When cadets ask me what it takes to get selected for IACE, I point to the most ooh-rah, squared corners, sir-sandwich cadet and say, "The opposite of that guy."
I had the opportunity to be an escort to Japan, a few years ago. I was a last minute pick because the original escort had to bail out (had a month notice, but I don't speak Japanese). Great experience, and I'd love to do it again. Fortunately, and unfortunately, the staff from the host country was largely the same from year to year. It was of benefit because they were intimately familiar with the program and what we did. The determent was that they remember. One of the gentlemen running it had been the leader since the country started participating in IACE back in the 70's.
One of the things that struck me were a few conversations I had with our translator. She kept telling me that the group of cadets that year were the best she had the opportunity to work with, especially when compared to the year before.
On the first night we arrived, the hosts ordered food for us at the hotel we were staying at. It was pizza - definitely not a local cuisine item, and definitely ordered to match our preferred tastes. When we asked if it was typical for this type of meal to be served there, we were told that the previous years cadets refused to eat local foods and kept requesting McDonalds, KFC, and Pizza. They assumed that we were going to do the same thing. Everyone in the group quickly let them know that we didn't fly across the pacific to eat pizza and that local cuisine was more than acceptable. The faces of our hosts lit up when they realized that we actually cared about learning about their culture. We sampled all sorts of stuff throughout the week, and even tried some stuff that I'd probably never eat again, but can say I tried.
The other thing that popped up was our opportunity to participate in a Shinto ceremony, as well as a Buddhist ceremony. They had arranged for us to be participants and guests of honor at each of the locations. Apparently, the year before, a cadet had flat out refused to do anything that day because they viewed even stepping onto the grounds of the shrine and temple to be renouncing their own faith. The hosts felt insulted, and the fact that I got to hear about it a year later showed me how much memory something like that creates.
We did some amazing things, including eating fresh produce from a farm run by special needs youth, laughing when tomato seeds dripped down our shirts. We hiked up mountains, went white water rafting, and were welcomed into the homes of people we had never met.
There were also times where we were thrown into the fire, so to speak. When we arrived, we took a bus from Tokyo to our welcome banquet. When we arrived, I was told that I was expected to give a speech - in Japanese - to those in attendance. I had 5 minutes that I was expected to fill. Remember, I don't speak Japanese. I worked with the translator to write my speech phonetically and delivered it to a round of applause. That was "test 1." Another "test" was being asked to sing our national anthems to a class of 1st graders at a small elementary school. They had worked all week to sing theirs to us, so we were obligated to return the favor. No notice, just belt it out.
Whatever the process that is developed for selecting cadets and escorts in your wing, remember that it is important that whomever is selected needs to have an open mind and can go with the flow. They need to be humble, and willing to participate in the culture that they're visiting. They need to be the type of person that doesn't hide in their room at the host family house and complain that there isn't A/C or internet. They also need to realize that the host country will go out of their way to make the participants comfortable, but a little discomfort is what the exchange is about - putting yourself into a culture and climate that you aren't used to, that you don't know everything that is going on, and broadening your horizons. It's not a trip to Sandals.
Having been an escort twice I tell the cadets that going on IACE is not a reward for their hard work. It is an assignment just like another in CAP. If they expect everything to be like it is at home they should have stayed at home. We will at least sample what is put in front of us and will not do anything to embarrass our country or CAP.
Several yrs ago I was the escort to Belgium. We had not been in country for more than 2 hours when I got to hear about the transgressions of a previous escort. He got falling down puking drunk on the first night. He followed this up with his red, white and blue toenails when they went rafting. He then ignored the IACE uniform regs by wearing unauthorized items such as CAP wings and such.
What this comes down to is go and have a good time while being an outstanding ambassador. Yet every yr some wing sends a yahoo that does nothing but whine and embarrass themselves and CAP and it isn't cadets sometimes the escorts are the worst offenders.
This is a preventable problem. It requires wings to know who they are sending and not avoid being the bad guy and pass the buck to someone else.