Flight Officers vs. Senior Members

[JC004]

I once got totally REAMED by a SMWOG when I was a TFO.  He was a good distance from me and I was busy doing something important on a mission.  He kept saying "CADET!" and I didn't think to look at him, let alone acknowledge him in any way because I was not a cadet and I was BUSY. 

Been through almost the same instance before, on more than one occasion.

I had many various strange encounters as a flight officer...

certainly was an awkward time, but wouldn't trade it for anything

Another awkward thing was having friends who were older than I but were cadets, so the rules and all applied. 

Once participated with some fellow senior members in smoking some cigars while the cadets were off at their social thing.  Got reamed by a Lt Col for underage smoking.  He knew that I was over 18, but under 21 - he thought the smoking age was 21.  Everyone else laughed at him.  We weren't doing ANYTHING wrong - I wasn't breaking any laws, there weren't cadets anywhere to be found, and we were just minding our own business - only to be bothered by this guy who comes along.  It seemed that being a FO was being a magnet for crap.

[MSG Mac]

CAPF 2a to NHQ w/ c.c. to the Wing/Group Prof Dev, Pers, & Admin.  (Squadron CC is promoting authority for 2d Lt & 1st Lt) Just put the explanation in the box:  SFO Junior Donuteater has x Mos y Years TIG as SFO and has completed ABC Technician rating (or has credit for it iaw CAPR ...) and is therefore recommended for promotion to the grade of 1st Lt iaw CAPR XXX.

CAPF 2, not 2a. If going for 2d or 1st LT, direct to National with remarks stating that the individual has met the  time and training requirements for the requested grade.
SFO to CPT have to go through Group (if you have them, if not Wing). remember that the you still have to meet all the training requirements for the requested grade including the Davis Award for Captain

[The CyBorg is destroyed]

It seemed that being a FO was being a magnet for crap.

Or at least misunderstanding about your status.  As confessed, I was guilty of it myself.

That is how Chuck Yeager did it. He had enlisted prior to Pearl Harbor for one year and later went through flight school to be a pilot. He wasn't commissioned until later in the war.

Gene Autry, too.  He flew C-47's over "The Hump" in CBI.

FO's were to be treated as "Third Lieutenants" per USAAF regs and were saluted by enlisted personnel.

This confused British and Commonwealth personnel no end...their Warrant Officers are not saluted.

[Al Sayre]

I am a new Senior Member and I have heard conflicting reports about this: Do flight officers outrank senior members? I was at an FTX and encountered a flight officer for the first time, and didn't know how to address him.
Thanks!

Please, for the love of cookies, do not address them as cadets    I have had many officers address me as a cadet and then look at me in a weird way when I try to explain that I am not a cadet.

It isn't something you will need to worry about often because you will likely rarely see one.  WIWAFO, I was a spectacle because many people had never seen one.  It was sort of like...people would say "what...are you?" "so that's a senior member?" or display me like "look.  This is a Flight Officer.  Have you ever seen one of these?"

People who had been in for decades told me that they had never seen one in real life.  I overheard a conversation behind me between a National person and a PAWG person.  The National person asked "what's wrong with his epaulets?" "whose?" "the guy with the lines" "nothing. He is a flight officer." "so he is like a senior member?" "yes, he is a senior member but that means it isn't yet 21"

I get the same looks/comments in my area of the US!  I like being unique

CAPF 2a to NHQ w/ c.c. to the Wing/Group Prof Dev, Pers, & Admin.  (Squadron CC is promoting authority for 2d Lt & 1st Lt) Just put the explanation in the box:  SFO Junior Donuteater has x Mos y Years TIG as SFO and has completed ABC Technician rating (or has credit for it iaw CAPR ...) and is therefore recommended for promotion to the grade of 1st Lt iaw CAPR XXX.

I am turning 21 in July and have heard that I have to send a CAPF 2a  to NHQ but have not heard that I have CC Wing/Group Prof Dev, Pers & Admin.   So, can this be sent via email then or by snail mail ?

The Flight Officer grades are a very, very rough analogy to Warrant Officers (which I wish CAP would bring back), but I can count on the fingers of one hand how many I've seen in 18 years of CAP, and I've never seen one higher than a TFO.

I am an SFO 

When I said c.c. I meant Carbon Copy/Courtesy Copy, not that you need their approvals.
Forms listed with an asterisk (*) may be transmitted without a person's actual signature via e-mail only. This includes CAPF2 (not 2a as I stated earlier)

[EMT-83]

Don't waste your Group/Wing PD guy's time with Form 2s. He deals with professional development issues, not promotions.