Civil Air Patrol

I am considering joining Civil Air Patrol soon - anyone who can share their experiences with it are highly appreciated! Also, how time-consuming is it? Are there a lot of extra events to go to other than the weekly meetings? Thank you very much for your responses.

I was a member for about 5 years before the academy. The leadership experiences I had in CAP are still some of the best I've had.

It's as time consuming as you want it to be, to be honest. I was about as active as you can be-had the opportunity to go all over the country to activities and even spent a few weeks in Australia. Wouldn't trade those experiences for anything.

Feel free to PM me if you want to talk about it more. As long as you're in the program because you genuinely want to be, you'll do well.

My DS was in CAP for 5 years and seemed to really enjoy himself. They had weekly meetings that lasted 3 hours. There were other opportunities but it was really up to the Cadet. He paced himself to meet his goal by the middle of his senior year. One key we learned that is important to the USAFA is to reach the Billy Mitchell Award level. Another is to show leadership where offered and CAP has plenty of those opportunities. There are also good classes and elementary marching and formation education. Our DS went to a CAP Powered Flight Academy last summer where he flew continuously for a week and did his first solo. He also was on the CAP Cyber Patriot team for two years. I hope you enjoy CAP.

CAP was the best thing I ever did. I didn't even really know about USAFA until I joined. The leadership and flight opportunities are incredible. I was also on the CyberPatriot team for my squadron. I am currently the cadet commander, and earning my Mitchell was absolutely influential in receiving two MOC nominations.

Leadership opportunities are incredible in CAP! Encampment staff is a unique opportunity to directly lead in a military environment. I've had the opportunity to be totally responsible for 30 basic cadets and 5 staff members for a week - including training, wellbeing, and accountability. Once you get to the Mitchell award, there are opportunities for scholarships and other activities like Cadet Officer School - held at Maxwell AFB and patterned off USAF Squadron Officer School.

One thing with CAP, if you're joining, make a decision quickly so if you want to get into Summer Encampment you can do that this year. Paperwork and such takes some time to go through.

Encampment is required for the Mitchell

Thank you to everyone for your responses. Only problem right now seems to be the fact that the squadron nearest me is half an hour away and has meetings weekly from 6:30-9:30. 5-7 is usually when I have my swim practices, and homework can be a hassle some nights. It definitely sounds like an excellent program that offers great opportunities though...

FutureCadet12 said:

Thank you to everyone for your responses. Only problem right now seems to be the fact that the squadron nearest me is half an hour away and has meetings weekly from 6:30-9:30. 5-7 is usually when I have my swim practices, and homework can be a hassle some nights. It definitely sounds like an excellent program that offers great opportunities though...

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I did swimming last fall, and just left a little early on Squadron mtg nights. Talk to your coach. He might have some options for you. As far as homework, sometimes you have to skip squadron, other times maybe you can get hw early from teachers. The adults in your life want to see you succeed. It is just up to you to let them know how they can help (most of the time. Except for the rare occasions of "those people" )