Civil Air Patrol???

N

nycronnie23

Well-Known Member
Hey! I just passed my checkride for Private Pilot....and I'm thinking about joining the U.S. Civil Air Patrol and I'm wondering what are some of the benefits...especially if I'm considering of joining the Air Force after I graduate college?

thanks
 
nycronnie23 said:
Hey! I just passed my checkride for Private Pilot....and I'm thinking about joining the U.S. Civil Air Patrol and I'm wondering what are some of the benefits...especially if I'm considering of joining the Air Force after I graduate college?

thanks
Click to expand...
This kind of thread very rapidly turns into four pages of people who make fun of CAP and people defending. I belonged to both groups at one point so I'll try to give you my objective take.

How about I start off with a one sentence description? CAP is a great group, but unfortunately is full of CAP members.

The good. They serve a valuable purpose that you can be a part of. You do have access to fairly inexpensive airplanes. It's neat being an adult supervising the administration of a program that aims to better youth. It gives you a taste of what the military is like (granted a small taste). And really it can be a lot of fun. They also allow for a higher grade when enlisted in the Air Force if you progress to a certain point in the cadet structure, but that doesn't sound like it would apply to your situation.

The bad. As mentioned above, the people. Some of the biggest tools I have ever met i met through CAP. There tends to be a lot of adults and cadets who tend to take their CAP rank WAY to seriously. A lot of people think of it as a good way to build cheap time, but honestly the process for renting their aircraft is so tedious to the point of not being worth building ANY time. To me it also felt very improper wearing a military uniform.

That's all I can think of off the top of my head. Others, I am sure, will have many more pros and cons. To sum it up, the people are what really turned me off the organization. Miliage obviously varies between squadrons. Go to a few meetings and see what you think. If you don't like it, bail. If you love it go get some reflective aviator sunglasses and jump right in. Never really know till you try.
 
I think Poser summed it up well.

You're probably too old for most of the cadet programs, but for someone younger wanting to go into the AF, the AF gives some enlisted rank credit for your CAP training. I believe you finish boot camp as an E-3 if you go through CAP.
 
poser765 said:
This kind of thread very rapidly turns into four pages of people who make fun of CAP and people defending. I belonged to both groups at one point so I'll try to give you my objective take.

How about I start off with a one sentence description? CAP is a great group, but unfortunately is full of CAP members.

The good. They serve a valuable purpose that you can be a part of. You do have access to fairly inexpensive airplanes. It's neat being an adult supervising the administration of a program that aims to better youth. It gives you a taste of what the military is like (granted a small taste). And really it can be a lot of fun. They also allow for a higher grade when enlisted in the Air Force if you progress to a certain point in the cadet structure, but that doesn't sound like it would apply to your situation.

The bad. As mentioned above, the people. Some of the biggest tools I have ever met i met through CAP. There tends to be a lot of adults and cadets who tend to take their CAP rank WAY to seriously. A lot of people think of it as a good way to build cheap time, but honestly the process for renting their aircraft is so tedious to the point of not being worth building ANY time. To me it also felt very improper wearing a military uniform.

That's all I can think of off the top of my head. Others, I am sure, will have many more pros and cons. To sum it up, the people are what really turned me off the organization. Miliage obviously varies between squadrons. Go to a few meetings and see what you think. If you don't like it, bail. If you love it go get some reflective aviator sunglasses and jump right in. Never really know till you try.
Click to expand...

I was thinking about CAP but I refuse to put up with morons who pull rank on me when they have never been overseas. As a vet I wont tolerate the nonsense. Just because someone has spent a few years in the Civil Air Patrol before me, while I was in Iraq, gives him no right to talk down on me.
 
erictgill said:
As a vet I wont tolerate the nonsense. Just because someone has spent a few years in the Civil Air Patrol before me, while I was in Iraq, gives him no right to talk down on me.
Click to expand...

To be fair, seniority is seniority and rank is rank - there's no special exclusion for individuals who have deployed. Being a combat vet doesn't give a magical ability to have special benefits in a non-military organization (ergo, the CAP). Doesn't even give you that ability in the military, either.

So, in reality, they 'do' actually have that right.

Now, if you're willing to voluntarily tolerate that to be part of the organization is a different question entirely.
 
I will give the one piece of advice that I myself followed when it came to CAP. Go to a few meetings at your local squadron. Are there tools and complete morons in CAP? Absolutely same as pretty must every other organization on the planet. Are those tools in every squadron? Absolutely not. So the only way to know for sure whether or not you will be involved with tools or really great people is to go to a few meetings at your local squadron and see for yourself.

I did and I was pleasantly surprised. All the bad stuff you read about CAP and CAP members on these forums? I didn't see any of it. My experience was almost entirely positive and the people I worked with were almost all 100% top shelf individuals. And I never would have met any of them if I had listened to all the static you'll get when you ask about CAP on these forums.
 
The couple meetings I went to seemed okay. Met some people that were very weird, but also met some people that had some pretty decent insight on things. Might be worth a shot, atleast.
 
Joe Gremlin said:
I will give the one piece of advice that I myself followed when it came to CAP. Go to a few meetings at your local squadron. Are there tools and complete morons in CAP? Absolutely same as pretty must every other organization on the planet. Are those tools in every squadron? Absolutely not. So the only way to know for sure whether or not you will be involved with tools or really great people is to go to a few meetings at your local squadron and see for yourself.

I did and I was pleasantly surprised. All the bad stuff you read about CAP and CAP members on these forums? I didn't see any of it. My experience was almost entirely positive and the people I worked with were almost all 100% top shelf individuals. And I never would have met any of them if I had listened to all the static you'll get when you ask about CAP on these forums.
Click to expand...
i think this post sums up the last point of my post that I may have been kind of vague about. You will find some of the best people you have ever known and have a great time. You will also run the risk of meeting the worst that cap has to offer.

I'm not a member anymore, so obviously I ran into the latter, but they may not be the case for you. I still strongly encourage you to go try a meeting or two.
 
And lastly, do a search on "CAP" or "Civil Air Patrol" here. You'll find all the info you want, and more, here on that topic.
 
thanks for the insight everyone, im leaning towards going to a few meetings see how it is and then judging on whether to stay or not
 
nycronnie23 said:
thanks for the insight everyone, im leaning towards going to a few meetings see how it is and then judging on whether to stay or not
Click to expand...


That would be good choice. There is no obligation from attending a few meetings, so you can determine whether or not you like it, don't, etc.
 
I joined the Coast Guard Auxiliary a little while ago. It's great because you can get involved in the boating and/or aviation side of it. The flotilla doesn't collectively own aircraft like in the CAP. Instead, members who aircraft owners contribute their aircraft to help out the CG (but people are usually open to taking you along). You can be an observer, co-pilot, first pilot, or aircraft commander (each having a set of experience requirements). The people are great too. There are no kids or teens in my flotilla. Although most people are usually 40+, there are a couple of us in the 20s. The ranks aren't like in the CAP, so everyone is pretty equal.
 
BCTAv8r said:
I joined the Coast Guard Auxiliary a little while ago. It's great because you can get involved in the boating and/or aviation side of it. The flotilla doesn't collectively own aircraft like in the CAP. Instead, members who aircraft owners contribute their aircraft to help out the CG (but people are usually open to taking you along). You can be an observer, co-pilot, first pilot, or aircraft commander (each having a set of experience requirements). The people are great too. There are no kids or teens in my flotilla. Although most people are usually 40+, there are a couple of us in the 20s. The ranks aren't like in the CAP, so everyone is pretty equal.
Click to expand...


Boating you say? To bad I am inland :(
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top