CAP and the Air Force currently offer a number of special activities that give CAP cadets the opportunity to learn a little about what the Air Force does and to experience some of it.
I was thinking about whether this could be expanded into some sort of summer internship program for older cadets that would basically put them to work full-time at Air Force or Air National Guard installations for a few months in the summertime. Real jobs, not orientation-type programs.
What sort of jobs? Well, that would probably vary quite a bit from base to base, but these are huge installations and there are probably plenty of relatively low-skilled jobs that need to be done.
I expect that realistically only cadets near the bases would be able to participate.
I really haven't fleshed this one out, but just thought I'd put it out there in case anyone might want to take it farther...
VSAF for Cadets? Oh boy, when does the uniform debate start?
I'm making popcorn. >:D
We took a long, hard look at this recently.
We actually had some "hard offers" for cadet interns from private companies and government agencies after some very succesful NCSAs like MKS and CLA. And we also thought it might be interesting to have some paid interns working in CP at NHQ over the summer months. The Spaatz Association was ready to raise money for stipends to support paid interns at NHQ.
But we could not think of any creative yet workable solutions to get around our exisitng CPP that requires senior member supervision for all cadet activities.
And for any intern situation - CAP, academic, or business world - there are significant issues with housing, transportation, and meals. Most internships do not pay enough (or last long enough) to rent an apartment near mass transit. We looked at IACE-style host families, but didn't think it was practical to ask a CAP family to host an out-of-area cadet for a period of months.
And if AF housing was the way to go, there are issues with simply putting one or more CAP cadets into the dorms or other base housing without effective senior supervision.
We considered simply acting as matching agency, simply putting cadets into contact with potential employers with internships, but at that point we had trouble identifying the value added to CP by acting as a mini-employment agency.
We even kicked around coordinating internships for college-aged former cadets who are current seniors. It had the advantage of allowing us to avoid the CPP showstoppers, but raised additional issues. What did that add to our core mission? Couldn't college-aged former cadets more effectively find internships through their approprate college offices?
We spent a lot of time and effort trying to see how to make this work, but ultimately decided to concentrate on improving local units with some new intiatives including on-line testing and Squadron in a Box.
Ned Lee
National Cadet Advisor
(Cool job, crummy job title)
I suppose that I was thinking of it as a program that only CAP cadets would be eligible for, but that they would actually work as individuals just as if the AF had hired them off the street. In other words, the jobs themselves would not be a CAP activity. This would get around all the cadet protection issues.
As to housing, etc., that is why I was thinking of it as something for local cadets that would be living with their parents.
Quote from: RiverAux on January 16, 2010, 03:08:11 PMWhat sort of jobs? Well, that would probably vary quite a bit from base to base, but these are huge installations and there are probably plenty of relatively low-skilled jobs that need to be done.
The main problem I see is a lack of low-skill full-time jobs that cadets would actually want to do.
And, truthfully, even the Air Force's "low skill" jobs often have a several-month tech school associated with them.
The Base Gym and Services Squadron will higher my Cadets in the summer time before other applicants. They still have to apply for the positions through usajobs.gov, but that is only a formality.
The recruiters on Base use my Cadets during holiday breaks to fill in for those on vacation. I get around CPP because the head of the recruiting office is a CAP Major.
The Command section will routinely ask for Cadets to help when they host special events on Base.
It is up to the local Squadron to make in roads and connections with the military. As Ned said, they kicked around ideas, to no avail. We stopped relying on NHQ to provide opportunities for my Cadets to work with the military side, many years ago.
Quote from: Ned on January 16, 2010, 04:18:35 PM
We took a long, hard look at this recently.
We actually had some "hard offers" for cadet interns from private companies and government agencies after some very succesful NCSAs like MKS and CLA.
I would like to add that I had an excellent time at the MKS Aviation Business Academy.
Quote from: Spike on January 17, 2010, 10:55:36 PM
The Base Gym and Services Squadron will higher my Cadets in the summer time before other applicants. They still have to apply for the positions through usajobs.gov, but that is only a formality.
I can't say that I care for that. It's not only illegal, but it's just plain wrong. There's folks out there who could use jobs at the GS-1 or 2 level. Whoever is doing that needs to take a look in the mirror. If those cadets are going to "compete" for a job, they need to do so honestly.
I'm at the GS-14 level and am constantly looking for a new job closer to home. Every time I get turned away from a GS-13 job because I'm "not qualified" it's just a red flag that someone has "set aside" that job for a buddy. It's called corruption in government. I'm sorry that CAP is part of that.
Quote from: Gunner C on January 17, 2010, 11:50:22 PM
Quote from: Spike on January 17, 2010, 10:55:36 PM
The Base Gym and Services Squadron will higher my Cadets in the summer time before other applicants. They still have to apply for the positions through usajobs.gov, but that is only a formality.
I can't say that I care for that. It's not only illegal, but it's just plain wrong. There's folks out there who could use jobs at the GS-1 or 2 level. Whoever is doing that needs to take a look in the mirror. If those cadets are going to "compete" for a job, they need to do so honestly.
I'm at the GS-14 level and am constantly looking for a new job closer to home. Every time I get turned away from a GS-13 job because I'm "not qualified" it's just a red flag that someone has "set aside" that job for a buddy. It's called corruption in government. I'm sorry that CAP is part of that.
Welcome to the real world. That's how it works everywhere.
Quote from: Spike on January 17, 2010, 10:55:36 PM
The Base Gym and Services Squadron will higher my Cadets in the summer time before other applicants. They still have to apply for the positions through usajobs.gov, but that is only a formality.
The MWR folks on your base are just asking for a FWA complaint if they're really doing that.
Quote from: Spike on January 17, 2010, 10:55:36 PM
The Base Gym and Services Squadron will higher my Cadets in the summer time before other applicants. They still have to apply for the positions through usajobs.gov, but that is only a formality.
The recruiters on Base use my Cadets during holiday breaks to fill in for those on vacation. I get around CPP because the head of the recruiting office is a CAP Major.
The Command section will routinely ask for Cadets to help when they host special events on Base.
It is up to the local Squadron to make in roads and connections with the military. As Ned said, they kicked around ideas, to no avail. We stopped relying on NHQ to provide opportunities for my Cadets to work with the military side, many years ago.
Certainly, jobs exist, but the question is really whether they are jobs that cadets would want to intern for. (To be fair, there may be jobs I'm not aware of that match that.) An internship is for students to learn more about a field of their choosing - I would argue that they're not really learning that much about the military by working the front desk at the gym.
Well, let's take a closer look.
Working the counter - requires people skills, and attention to detail for appearance.
Checking equipment in and out - requires accountability
Running the cash register - requires accountability, integrity, and attention to detail
These are all things that are universally important throughout life. Seems like a good venue for learning them.
I think plenty of Cadets (and SMs) would jump at the opportunity to augment/intern with the AF in such a way. Countless times I've heard members say how they wish this was possible. The USCG allows Auxiliarists to augment and even the CIA has an intern program, why shouldn't the AF use this resource of eager Cadets?
Quote from: davidsinn on January 18, 2010, 02:21:49 AM
Quote from: Gunner C on January 17, 2010, 11:50:22 PM
Quote from: Spike on January 17, 2010, 10:55:36 PM
The Base Gym and Services Squadron will higher my Cadets in the summer time before other applicants. They still have to apply for the positions through usajobs.gov, but that is only a formality.
I can't say that I care for that. It's not only illegal, but it's just plain wrong. There's folks out there who could use jobs at the GS-1 or 2 level. Whoever is doing that needs to take a look in the mirror. If those cadets are going to "compete" for a job, they need to do so honestly.
I'm at the GS-14 level and am constantly looking for a new job closer to home. Every time I get turned away from a GS-13 job because I'm "not qualified" it's just a red flag that someone has "set aside" that job for a buddy. It's called corruption in government. I'm sorry that CAP is part of that.
Welcome to the real world. That's how it works everywhere.
No, for federal jobs, it's against the law. That was to replace the spoils system instituted by Andrew Jackson - where political/personal patronage was necessary to get a government job. That's why there are professional, permanent jobs in the federal system and another layer of political appointees. They are two separate systems.
An intern system is a third system. Nearly all federal agencies have these positions.