March 07 National Board Meeting Live Web Stream

[ZigZag911]

Can't wait to find out when the "phase out date" is for the old Civil Air Patrol tapes.  I shall be wearing mine until the very last day.

That's just a flat out stupid change.  Grrrrr.

They talked about it for a while.  I THINK they said 2008, but I could be wrong.  Originally they were talking about just making the new ones the only ones that could be purchased and let uniform attrition solve the problem, but then someone brought up that some people may not get new uniforms for 15 years. 

I think they settled on 3 years, which would be 2010.

[SarDragon]

Cadet CAC members that become seniors get to keep wearing the CAC ribbon when they turn senior.  Effective retroactively.  Senior advisors won't get a CAC ribbon.  

What a shame. I have no proof that I was ever on CAC. But I was. I really was. 40 years ago!

[Pylon]

Cadet CAC members that become seniors get to keep wearing the CAC ribbon when they turn senior.  Effective retroactively.  Senior advisors won't get a CAC ribbon.  

What a shame. I have no proof that I was ever on CAC. But I was. I really was. 40 years ago!

Doesn't mean a CAPF 2A can't be signed by your commander, awarding you the CAC ribbon for past service.  It's retroactive, after all. 

[DNall]

Can't wait to find out when the "phase out date" is for the old Civil Air Patrol tapes.  I shall be wearing mine until the very last day.

That's just a flat out stupid change.  Grrrrr.

They talked about it for a while.  I THINK they said 2008, but I could be wrong.  Originally they were talking about just making the new ones the only ones that could be purchased and let uniform attrition solve the problem, but then someone brought up that some people may not get new uniforms for 15 years. 

I think they settled on 3 years, which would be 2010.

What do you wanna bet BDUs dry up & we're switching to ABUs within a year of that date with new tapes.

[RiverAux]

Somebody asked about ABUs, but the person who answered wasn't close enough to the mike for me to understand what their reply was.

[MIKE]

It was the CAP-USAF/CC.  He was taking about the mandatory wear date for the USAF, but I couldn't hear if he gave a date for CAP.

[JCJ]

ABU (per CAP/USAF CC)- Not yet decided by USAF if CAP will wear them or not.  Transition will be over next few years, with first priorities to overseas USAF personnel.  It won't be a practical question for us for a while.

[Mustang]

ABU (per CAP/USAF CC)- Not yet decided by USAF if CAP will wear them or not.  Transition will be over next few years, with first priorities to overseas USAF personnel.  It won't be a practical question for us for a while.

My prediction is CAP won't see them for at least 5 years, if ever. I'd be less surprised to see us go to an all-Blue BDU organization.

[DNall]

ABU (per CAP/USAF CC)- Not yet decided by USAF if CAP will wear them or not.  Transition will be over next few years, with first priorities to overseas USAF personnel.  It won't be a practical question for us for a while.

My prediction is CAP won't see them for at least 5 years, if ever. I'd be less surprised to see us go to an all-Blue BDU organization.

Though it has not & will not soon be formally stated, it is an absolute certainty that CAP will where the same uniforms as the AF, strictly because surplus availability keeps costs down & making CAP accessible to people of all backgrounds is a major priority. The date on the other hand is very much up in the air. When the AF is fully transitioned including the guard & reserve, and when enough surplus has built up, then CAP will get an initial wear date.

I would predict though that when we move to that uniform the tapes will change. Personally I think white on OD tapes would look the most professional (ABU tapes are tigerstripe), but dark blue is an option as well, either way I think we'll move to ditch the glow in the dark girl scoutness we've made BDUs into. Just guessing though, it may actually be the same as moving from ODs to BDUS, in which we had to beg so hard to get teh uniform we didn't want to press our luck with the tapes.

[NIN]

They talked about it for a while.  I THINK they said 2008, but I could be wrong.  Originally they were talking about just making the new ones the only ones that could be purchased and let uniform attrition solve the problem, but then someone brought up that some people may not get new uniforms for 15 years. 

15 years... Hmmmm, unfortunately my BDUs don't wear that well, but you can bet that if that was the rule I'd buy every last CIVIL AIR PATROL nametape I could get my hands on and keep wearing them ad infinitum.

Lets hope our friends at the Five-Sided Puzzle Palace save us from ourselves.

[A.Member]

He didn't really provide a rational justification.  He said something about there being a CAP in Brazil using our seal, and then said having "US" in our name would distringuish us as the United State's CAP. 

Please tell me you are joking!  We need the U.S. added because we are so frequently deploying outside the country?  Pathetic.

[RiverAux]

It wasn't a real coherent argument so I may have misintrepreted his intent, but from everything I've seen it is clear to me that MG Pineda wants to make us the US Civil Air Patrol.

Frankly, if they want to officially change the name, I can live with it.  I think its a bit silly and throws out 65 years of history, but I could deal with it.

However, I just can't stand the way they are doing this through the backdoor without following our own regulations and the Constitution of the organization.  If they would stand up and be men about their intentions, I could respect that. 

[A.Member]

AF relationship... I don't think CAP acts in an effort to effect the relationship. What they do is not think things thru & make irresponsible moves that don't make sense & have side effects which they either didn't anticipate or were conscieted enough not to care able. There's valid things we should do that are desigend to standardize our system, to bring things into line with our parent, & to create a professional appearance to the public, but most of the things we actually do are just immature acting out on the part of people that should be above that...

US CAP tapes:
And by the way if they HAD to change it, could they have at least made it US CAP, rather than that whole long mess. 53k members X 1.5 tapes per member X $2.50 = $200,000 cost to membership. Freaking idiots.

I couldn't agree more.  Leadership issues within the organization have never been more apparent then this last year or so.  The very basic concpet that the organization is nothing without a strong tie to the USAF is seemingly lost upon them.  It's what brings in and retains members.   It's that association that gives any shot us real missions.  It gives us some legitmacy.  We will never attract those with true leadership skills to the organization so long as we have amateurs driving the boat.  I truly don't understand why there is such little decent among the Wing Commanders, although I'll certainly voice my displeasure to mine.  The absurdity demonstrated over the past couple days emphasizes why an immediate change in leadership is needed.

[LtCol White]

ABU (per CAP/USAF CC)- Not yet decided by USAF if CAP will wear them or not.  Transition will be over next few years, with first priorities to overseas USAF personnel.  It won't be a practical question for us for a while.

My prediction is CAP won't see them for at least 5 years, if ever. I'd be less surprised to see us go to an all-Blue BDU organization.

Though it has not & will not soon be formally stated, it is an absolute certainty that CAP will where the same uniforms as the AF, strictly because surplus availability keeps costs down & making CAP accessible to people of all backgrounds is a major priority. The date on the other hand is very much up in the air. When the AF is fully transitioned including the guard & reserve, and when enough surplus has built up, then CAP will get an initial wear date.

I would predict though that when we move to that uniform the tapes will change. Personally I think white on OD tapes would look the most professional (ABU tapes are tigerstripe), but dark blue is an option as well, either way I think we'll move to ditch the glow in the dark girl scoutness we've made BDUs into. Just guessing though, it may actually be the same as moving from ODs to BDUS, in which we had to beg so hard to get teh uniform we didn't want to press our luck with the tapes.

Perhaps when the time comes to have this discussion seriously with USAF, the leadership will be different and approach it in a manner more amenable to USAF.

[RiverAux]

I don't think this was mentioned, but the Uniform Committee had received a proposal to allow all CAP members to wear orange t-shirts with BDUs.  I think with the Majcom patch on the front and something else on the back.  They recommended against it and it didn't go anywhere. 

[DNall]

ABU (per CAP/USAF CC)- Not yet decided by USAF if CAP will wear them or not.  Transition will be over next few years, with first priorities to overseas USAF personnel.  It won't be a practical question for us for a while.

My prediction is CAP won't see them for at least 5 years, if ever. I'd be less surprised to see us go to an all-Blue BDU organization.

Though it has not & will not soon be formally stated, it is an absolute certainty that CAP will where the same uniforms as the AF, strictly because surplus availability keeps costs down & making CAP accessible to people of all backgrounds is a major priority. The date on the other hand is very much up in the air. When the AF is fully transitioned including the guard & reserve, and when enough surplus has built up, then CAP will get an initial wear date.

I would predict though that when we move to that uniform the tapes will change. Personally I think white on OD tapes would look the most professional (ABU tapes are tigerstripe), but dark blue is an option as well, either way I think we'll move to ditch the glow in the dark girl scoutness we've made BDUs into. Just guessing though, it may actually be the same as moving from ODs to BDUS, in which we had to beg so hard to get teh uniform we didn't want to press our luck with the tapes.

Perhaps when the time comes to have this discussion seriously with USAF, the leadership will be different and approach it in a manner more amenable to USAF.

I'm starting to think again that Congress should step in to put CAP into reorganization recievership under AF for a period of 3-5 years & let a decent organization come out the back side of that, rather than continuing to witness behavior that came out the backside of something else.

[baronet68]

...I'd be less surprised to see us go to an all-Blue BDU organization.

Hooray!!

[A.Member]

I'm starting to think again that Congress should step in to put CAP into reorganization recievership under AF for a period of 3-5 years & let a decent organization come out the back side of that, rather than continuing to witness behavior that came out the backside of something else.

I'd back that...but I don't see that happening.

[DNall]

Oh it may happen, it's just very dangerous to ask.

[A.Member]

Oh it may happen, it's just very dangerous to ask.

Given the direction I've seen of late, it couldn't be worse.  The thing is, I'm not o sure CAP-USAF is in "our" camp either.