New Level One Student Guide Released

[Eclipse]

http://www.capmembers.com/media/cms/P050_004V2_16623E3F8D845.pdf

Contains incorrect diagrams copied directly from new 39-1, and has not been updated to reflect changes in latest 35-5.

[tonyairplane]

Thank you for posting this.  Please do tell us what the errors are, so that we can mark up our copies.

[Eclipse]

Page 68 has the incorrect diagrams from 39-1 that still show the bright on dark-blue insignia from a draft that was
never proposed or adopted.

Page 72-73:
"For those CAP members who were enlisted in the military and are or were noncommissioned
officers, they may transfer their grade to CAP and wear the stripes of an enlisted member. It
should be noted however that these members may not be promoted within the enlisted ranks,
and are restricted from command assignments. The grade structure is shown below:"

Which is actually weird, because it contains the verbiage about being restricetd from command assignments,
but not the updated promotion language from 35-5.

It also shows the USAF versions of the grade insignia instead of the new CAP versions.

[AlphaSigOU]

Some more bugaboos found in the student guide:


Senior members pursuing officer grade wear the blank shoulder marks. Those pursuing NCO grade do not wear shoulder marks.


My personal opinion (and not one of political correctness), avoid using the term 'Nazi' as synonymous for 'German'. 'Nazi' is a political party and ideology; not all Germans serving in their armed forces were members of the Nationalsozialistiche Deutscher Arbeiterspartei (NSDAP, the preferred acronym used by them; while the contraction 'Nazi' was popular, it was discouraged in Germany). We don't call Japanese 'Japs' these days.

[Eclipse]

NHQ really needs to re-institute the comment period.

[Panache]

My personal opinion (and not one of political correctness), avoid using the term 'Nazi' as synonymous for 'German'. 'Nazi' is a political party and ideology; not all Germans serving in their armed forces were members of the Nationalsozialistiche Deutscher Arbeiterspartei (NSDAP, the preferred acronym used by them; while the contraction 'Nazi' was popular, it was discouraged in Germany). We don't call Japanese 'Japs' these days.

Um.  What?  Where did that come from?

[AlphaSigOU]

My personal opinion (and not one of political correctness), avoid using the term 'Nazi' as synonymous for 'German'. 'Nazi' is a political party and ideology; not all Germans serving in their armed forces were members of the Nationalsozialistiche Deutscher Arbeiterspartei (NSDAP, the preferred acronym used by them; while the contraction 'Nazi' was popular, it was discouraged in Germany). We don't call Japanese 'Japs' these days.

Um.  What?  Where did that come from?

Here's a good explanation: Online Etymology Dictionary

And another page: Goodbye to the 'Nazis'

[The CyBorg is destroyed]

My personal opinion (and not one of political correctness), avoid using the term 'Nazi' as synonymous for 'German'. 'Nazi' is a political party and ideology; not all Germans serving in their armed forces were members of the Nationalsozialistiche Deutscher Arbeiterspartei (NSDAP, the preferred acronym used by them; while the contraction 'Nazi' was popular, it was discouraged in Germany). We don't call Japanese 'Japs' these days.

Um.  What?  Where did that come from?

Page 5.

And, I agree.

Using "Nazi" as a synonym for "German," even "World War II German" is inaccurate and misleading, especially since members of the officer corps of the Wehrmacht (Heer,
Kriegsmarine, and Luftwaffe) were not permitted to belong to any political party - including the NSDAP.  Of course, this does not apply to the Schutzstaffel, who were originally intended as bodyguards for Adolf Hitler but ballooned into police, concentration camp guards/administrators, Gestapo, and the Waffen-SS, effectively, but not officially, a fourth branch of the Wehrmacht.

The subs our "[darn]ed little yellow airplanes" chased were operated by the Kriegsmarine.  Therefore, to call them "Nazi" is not accurate.

[Luis R. Ramos]

Unfortunately very few here will like to learn. I have met the same problem when talking about that issue, when I said in a different forum and possibly this same forum a long time ago. When I stated that members of the army (Heer) were not involved politically nor were they members of the Nazi party, I am told they fought for the Party aims.

We will never see the term eradicated in reference to members of the Luftwaffe, Heer, or Kriegsmarine in our lives...

[The CyBorg is destroyed]

I would suggest educating such by encouraging them to read the biography of Oberst Erich Hartmann, the world's highest-scoring fighter ace, called The Blond Knight of Germany, by Colonel Ray Toliver, USAF (ret) and Trevor J. Constable.

I would direct them to the part about where Hartmann, when told he cannot receive his Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds from the Führer without taking his pistol off.  He told Adolf Hitler's SS guards that if the Führer didn't trust his officers enough for them to bear arms in his presence, the Führer could keep his medals.

Hartmann was allowed in with his pistol.  Not the actions of a committed Nazi...plus, the guy went through hell on earth for 12 years in Soviet prison camps.

He was finally freed and became a founder of the new Bundesrepublik Deutschland Bundesluftwaffe, and trained at Luke AFB on the T-6, T-33 and eventually F-86.  He also trained with Squadron Leader Douglas "Duke" Warren, DFC, RCAF on the improved Canadair version of the F-86.

I think my favourite trait about him was how he was (unjustly) denied generalship because he spoke his mind and refused to play politics.  Something we in CAP could learn from, I think.

[Shuman 14]

I would suggest educating such by encouraging them to read the biography of Oberst Erich Hartmann, the world's highest-scoring fighter ace, called The Blond Knight of Germany, by Colonel Ray Toliver, USAF (ret) and Trevor J. Constable.

I would direct them to the part about where Hartmann, when told he cannot receive his Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds from the Führer without taking his pistol off.  He told Adolf Hitler's SS guards that if the Führer didn't trust his officers enough for them to bear arms in his presence, the Führer could keep his medals.

Hartmann was allowed in with his pistol.  Not the actions of a committed Nazi...plus, the guy went through hell on earth for 12 years in Soviet prison camps.

He was finally freed and became a founder of the new Bundesrepublik Deutschland Bundesluftwaffe, and trained at Luke AFB on the T-6, T-33 and eventually F-86.  He also trained with Squadron Leader Douglas "Duke" Warren, DFC, RCAF on the improved Canadair version of the F-86.

I think my favourite trait about him was how he was (unjustly) denied generalship because he spoke his mind and refused to play politics.  Something we in CAP could learn from, I think.

Seems he liked Khaki too. 

[Eclipse]

...denied generalship because he spoke his mind and refused to play politics.  Something we in CAP could learn from, I think.

Actually, this is one area CAP excels.

[SamFranklin]

"Nazis. I hate those guys."  -- Indiana Jones

Is there a difference between Gestapo (SS) and Wehrmacht (unified military) and Sturmabteilung (SA), among other state-sponsored organizations in Germany? Sure, but totalitarian regimes exert total control over the polis; the Nazis weren't an ordinary party in a liberal democracy. Ian Kershaw (1998) writes of political and military leaders "working towards the fuhrer" in the absence of orders. The fuhrer was himself larger than the state.

I think commentators above are incorrectly carving the Nazi totalitarian state into independent actors, incorrectly setting apart normal governmental institutions from the party apparatus. Were we talking about distinctions between the FBI and local police in the US federal system, that distinction would be appropriate. But because we're talking about a totalitarian regime, it's not.

True, membership in the party was limited to a few thousand people, but characteristic of totalitarian regimes, party membership is a propaganda tool and unifying force among the elite. Having a party and a general public creates the hierarchical structure in both government and civil life needed for a small band of thugs to obtain total control. Send the state into war further solidifies their control.

Whether the skipper was a party member is inconsequential. The sub would not have been in those waters were it not for the party. In fact, the whole military swore an oath to the fuhrer as an individual, not to the old republic. Yup, we sank Nazi subs.


Now back to Level One.


-s.f.
occasional lurker

[The CyBorg is destroyed]

...denied generalship because he spoke his mind and refused to play politics.  Something we in CAP could learn from, I think.

Actually, this is one area CAP excels.

In playing politics?

[Panache]

I'm more worried about the Commie-Nazis.

[vento]

I would suggest educating such by encouraging them to read the biography of Oberst Erich Hartmann, the world's highest-scoring fighter ace, called The Blond Knight of Germany, by Colonel Ray Toliver, USAF (ret) and Trevor J. Constable.

I would direct them to the part about where Hartmann, when told he cannot receive his Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds from the Führer without taking his pistol off.  He told Adolf Hitler's SS guards that if the Führer didn't trust his officers enough for them to bear arms in his presence, the Führer could keep his medals.

Hartmann was allowed in with his pistol.  Not the actions of a committed Nazi...plus, the guy went through hell on earth for 12 years in Soviet prison camps.

He was finally freed and became a founder of the new Bundesrepublik Deutschland Bundesluftwaffe, and trained at Luke AFB on the T-6, T-33 and eventually F-86.  He also trained with Squadron Leader Douglas "Duke" Warren, DFC, RCAF on the improved Canadair version of the F-86.

I think my favourite trait about him was how he was (unjustly) denied generalship because he spoke his mind and refused to play politics.  Something we in CAP could learn from, I think.

Another good read is "A Higher Call" by Adam Makos. Not all that served were Nazis.

[Eclipse]

Could we call a moratorium on adding Luftwaffe uniforms to every thread?

I appreciate Godwin's law as much as the next guy, and there's a rare time and place
when it might be appropriate, but it's getting to be literally every conversation.

Cyborg - maybe put the Band of Brothers tin up on the shelf and crack open "The Pacific" for a while?

[JeffDG]

I'm more worried about the Commie-Nazis.

Look at them politically, they weren't very different.

[Panache]

Cyborg - maybe put the Band of Brothers tin up on the shelf and crack open "The Pacific" for a while?

I would like to propose a change to 39-1.  There's even a white-shirt version for the Corporate set!

[Garibaldi]

Ach du meine Güte, nichts klappt mehr, überhaupt gar nichts mehr, so 'ne Sch___!