Stop using USAFA to mean U.S. Air Force Auxiliary. Just cut it out already.

[DoubleSecret]

I facepalmed again seeing this sort of thing in a CAP officer's email:
   John Doe, 1st Lt CAP-USAFA (rest deleted)
   Jane Doe, Maj, CAP-USAF AUX (rest deleted)

I see a CAP squadron has actually grabbed a domain name with CAP-USAFA in it.

Can we crush this co-opting of USAFA wherever we see it, please?  There's already a USAFA, the U.S. Air Force Academy. 

Perhaps folks' intentions are completely benign, but we shouldn't be using USAFA for U.S. Air Force Auxiliary.  We especially shouldn't be using USAFA or USAF AUX or similar abbreviations to blur (purposefully or through honest error) the distinctions between CAP and our USAF counterparts.  It opens us up to the "wannabe" charge.

Civil Air Patrol already has a nice 3-letter abbreviation.  Why not stick with that?

[Flying Pig]

Never thought of that.... not a bad suggestion.  USAF Aux isn't bad because CAP is actually the USAF Auxiliary.  Says it on the name tag.  But I agree USAFA could be misunderstood

[Eclipse]

The proper way is to write it out completely, when necessary or appropriate, and in your title line "USAF Aux" (etc), is not appropriate.

FIRST MI LAST, Maj, CAP
Unit, Wing
Civil Air Patrol, USAF Auxiliary

Sadly CAPR 10-1 is another publication read by few and adhered to by even fewer.

The other thing that I know to be true is the incorrect use of the hyphenation "CAP-USAF" in whatever form
catches the attention of the CAP-USAF folks all the time.  As with much CAP-USAF people see,
they say nothing and just make a mental note.

For members it would be "CAP / USAF" (at best) but still should not be used that way.

[JoeTomasone]

The proper way is to write it out completely, when necessary or appropriate, and in your title line "USAF Aux" (etc), is not appropriate.

FIRST MI LAST, Maj, CAP
Unit, Wing
Civil Air Patrol, USAF Auxiliary

Sadly CAPR 10-1 is another publication read by few and adhered to by even fewer.

Actually, "USAFA" and "USAF Aux" are not permitted at all:

c. Signature Block. The signature block begins at the center of the page on the fifth line after the preceding text. The writer's signature is placed in the space immediately above the signature block.

(1) Two-Line. This is the preferred signature block. It consists of the writer's name in all capital letters followed by a comma, the writer's grade in normal upper and lower case followed by a comma, and the capital letters CAP on the first line (other organizational designations, such as AF Aux or USAFA, are not authorized). The second line states the writer's duty title in normal upper and lower case. See examples below:

JONATHAN Q. OFFICER, Colonel, CAP
Commander

JASON P. KIDD, C/TSgt, CAP
Cadet Logistics Officer

(2) Three Line. A three-line signature block may be used when the name and grade or the duty title are too long for a two-line format. See examples below:

JONATHAN Q. OFFICER, Colonel, CAP
Assistant Wing Deputy Director for
Operational Resource Management


ARTHUR J. FELDEMEN, JR
Brigadier General, CAP
National Vice Commander

[Private Investigator]

I got an email on this the other day. I am not sure if it was from National, Region or our Wing King   

[The CyBorg is destroyed]

It's similar in the Coast Guard Auxiliary.

USCGA - U.S. Coast Guard Academy.

USCGAUX - U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary.

[DoubleSecret]

I got an email on this the other day. I am not sure if it was from National, Region or our Wing King   

I'm just shocked that something on my personal radar made the concerns list of a higher HQ type. 

[JoeTomasone]

I got an email on this the other day. I am not sure if it was from National, Region or our Wing King   

I'm just shocked that something on my personal radar made the concerns list of a higher HQ type. 

Our previous Wing Commander sent out a memo reminding everyone of the proper way to sign correspondence a year or so ago.

[Private Investigator]

I got an email on this the other day. I am not sure if it was from National, Region or our Wing King   

I'm just shocked that something on my personal radar made the concerns list of a higher HQ type. 

I think it is a good sign and CAP likely needs you to be a Squadron Commander, not kidding, really CAP needs more people who act locally and think on a National level. JMHO   

[coudano]

CAP-USAF AUX

CAP-USAF also means something else.


The "CAP-USAF" Auxiliary...   haha.
I wanna join that club!

[BuckeyeDEJ]

The "CAP-USAF" Auxiliary...   haha.
I wanna join that club!

Sounds like the officers' wives club at Maxwell.

We're Civil Air Patrol. We just happen to be the U.S. Air Force's uniformed, volunteer civilian auxiliary, but it's not our name. Anyone who tries to inflate or conflate the organization's status is doing so to be something he/she isn't.

So if you see someone saying they're in the "USAFA," they're at the Air Force Academy. If you see someone in the "USAFAUX" or "USAF Aux," or some contortion of our organization's name that isn't "Civil Air Patrol," they're posing. if you see someone in what they call "CAP," they're being truthful. And that's a start.

[PHall]

Let's keep it simple. Follow the reg, period, end of story.

[dwb]

While we're at it, can we stop pretending every CAP email is FOUO?