Civil Air Patrol Arizona

NewYorkophile said:
@av8tr1 Sig!

I'm torn about CAP. In Colorado, it'd be a good mission and there are always hikers getting lost that need finding.

But the uniforms, the rules, the "pretending to be Air Force" thing...really grinds me the wrong way. I think CAP needs some freshening up with young, mission-oriented blood.
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Heh, I was a member in Colorado. Not one single local law enforcement unit wanted anything to do with CAP. Not one single SAR group would give them the time of day because CAP has limitations on the terrian they can work. So no mountain work for CAP ground teams.

How stupid is that in Colorado.

Everyone else in Colorado follows the Nasar certification but CAP refuses to follow it because their "the Air Force" and can do it however they want.
 
The saluting thing is funny. That's why their epaulettes were changed from blue to maroon. Some CAP "general" got bent because an E3 at Maxwell didn't salute.

Not the Air Force. Isn't it a corporation, now?

Take the funding and put it in the NGB budget for more flight hours.
 
deadstick said:
The saluting thing is funny. That's why their epaulettes were changed from blue to maroon. Some CAP "general" got bent because an E3 at Maxwell didn't salute.

Not the Air Force. Isn't it a corporation, now?

Take the funding and put it in the NGB budget for more flight hours.
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Were these the CAP Generals in Question?

nk-generals1.jpeg
 
Cóndor said:
I joined a squadron here in Florida a couple of years ago . . . nice people all around but some of their systems leave much to be desired . . . I still cannot be get checked off on the initial Level 1 Foundation course (which you need to complete first before you can move on to your desired track) because it´s a computer based system that both the squadron commander and training officer hardly understand. I think the mission of CAP is loable but they sure as hell make it hard for volunteers who may want to spend their time not dealing with some of the bureaucratic govmt crap that I've seen already.
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Where in Florida? I have been kicking around the idea of joining. I want to do some volunteering, I like that it could be aviation based and helping/mentoring/teaching kids. It's either this or the animal shelter. I'm not sure what could be worse, being in a wannabe air force organization or witnessing the horrors involved with the way people treat their pets.
 
guywhoflies said:
Where in Florida? I have been kicking around the idea of joining. I want to do some volunteering, I like that it could be aviation based and helping/mentoring/teaching kids. It's either this or the animal shelter. I'm not sure what could be worse, being in a wannabe air force organization or witnessing the horrors involved with the way people treat their pets.
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Young Eagles seems like a better way to be an aviation volunteer.

Actually Angel Flights and Pilots and Paws both seem like good bastions of volunteerism in aviation, but they both require money to do right.
 
My experience in CAP was discouraging. A squadron commander was a psychotic narcissist (armchair diagnosis, you understand) so I transferred to wing. Some members insisted on wearing the blue coveralls (Smurf Suits), were 100 pounds overweight, demonstrated poor flying skills (extended full flaps in a 172 at Va during a checkride - bent the wing and the A/C had to be rebuilt) and even worse judgment (taxiing with a towbar attached which was struck by the prop, and he tried to cover up the incident by keeping the A/C in service and ordering another towbar from Cessna - engine teardown).

I think most of the SAR work will be performed by fixed-wing UAVs in the very near future.
 
NewYorkophile said:
@av8tr1 Sig!

I'm torn about CAP. In Colorado, it'd be a good mission and there are always hikers getting lost that need finding.

But the uniforms, the rules, the "pretending to be Air Force" thing...really grinds me the wrong way. I think CAP needs some freshening up with young, mission-oriented blood.
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That all varies squadron to squadron. I was in a couple of squadrons for a combined total of around 8 years. The first was pretty serious and did all the military/uniform crap. The second was far more lax. We had them...and we wore them occasionally. In my time there I don't think I ever saw a single salute outside of cadets drilling.

Also I am pretty sure there have been some uniform changes and additions. It's actually possible to fly a 172 in the organization with out wearing nomex or camo now.
 
tomokc said:
My experience in CAP was discouraging. A squadron commander was a psychotic narcissist (armchair diagnosis, you understand) so I transferred to wing. Some members insisted on wearing the blue coveralls (Smurf Suits), were 100 pounds overweight, demonstrated poor flying skills (extended full flaps in a 172 at Va during a checkride - bent the wing and the A/C had to be rebuilt) and even worse judgment (taxiing with a towbar attached which was struck by the prop, and he tried to cover up the incident by keeping the A/C in service and ordering another towbar from Cessna - engine teardown).

I think most of the SAR work will be performed by fixed-wing UAVs in the very near future.
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Just thought about CAP operating drones... it was a scary thought.
 
CAP served it's purpose years ago. It's run its course, and its time has gone. Having worked with more than a few guys, I considered it for a minute. But it was a short minute.
 
I tried it when I was a kid.

I was smart enough to realize my time was far better spent in the Boy Scouts than it was in CAP. Yeah it helped me out in that I knew how to March when I joined the service, but it's not the secret path to the Air Force Academy or any other such stupidity they sell it as.


I'd recommend if your looking to volunteer you try the scout route. You don't even have to have kids in the program or have been one they have training programs. Realły if you can pitch a tent and make a fire you'll learn everything else you need. The one thing that typically turns people off to the scouts is their religious affinity but that really varies from troop to troop and in a suburb of say 10k people your gonna have at least 2 or 3 troops to choose from. I was never religious as a kid or as a asst scout master once I turned 18, and nobody bothered about it.

Plus the people screaming about how the scouts were anti-gay... They reversed that decision.
 
guywhoflies said:
Where in Florida? I have been kicking around the idea of joining. I want to do some volunteering, I like that it could be aviation based and helping/mentoring/teaching kids. It's either this or the animal shelter. I'm not sure what could be worse, being in a wannabe air force organization or witnessing the horrors involved with the way people treat their pets.
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Merritt Island (FL-122). Do you have a VA (as in Veterans Administration) clinic/hospital near you? If so, then I think that would make much better use of your volunteer spirit!
 
I've been a member since 2006 and spent the entire time within the New Mexico wing. I've met several members from the AZ Wing and they seem to be level headed folk. I think they were from around the PHX area, but it's been a while and my recollection may be fuzzy.

Name me an organization that doesn't have d-bags. It doesn't exist. Anytime someone asks me about joining CAP I always recommend visiting as many squadrons as possible. Some squadrons are a hot mess, others have things running right.
 
bc2209 said:
I'm interested in exploring CAP.

Do we have any members that belong in Phoenix or Arizona?
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What's CAP stand for again?

Crappy Airplane Pilots?
Can't Ascertain Position?
Crotchety Annoying Pilots?
Curmudgeonly Aging Pilots?
Contributions Accepting Pilots?
Cessna Assisting Pilots?
Child Aviation Peepers?
Combat Aviation Pretenders?

I just can never remember...
 
My experience is pretty much limited to dealing with them as an AFROTC cadet, and with the glider program cadets. I've done form 5 rides in their airplanes as well.

Generally, too much red tape to do anything useful, and I am a busy person.

It would probably be a much better program if the Air Force had their own folks running things, as a non-auxilliary organization. And that is saying a lot given how the Air Force generally operates itself...
 
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