Civil Air Patrol

I’m a big Scouting proponent but IMHO Scouting took their eye off the ball in 1973. Scouting was never going to be for everyone but they thought it should be.
 
Until the last 10 years or so scouting was the best leadership EC in my opinion. Then politics got involved with scouting and 5 years ago CAP became part of the total Air Force. Our squadron of 70 cadets has about 8 scouting defectors. CAP is becoming the #1 leadership EC or it maybe already. Just this year check out what the #1 Air Force general had the to say: If your goal is USAFA or flying in the other branches join CAP and make at least 2nd Lt or the Mitchell award.

https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4781238/air-force-chief-staff-future-civil-air-patrol
 
My DS initially joined CAP to bolster his SA application, however he quickly began to love it. He regrets that he never knew about CAP until his junior year of high school.
It may be due to our coastal location but it seems as though the USCGA Auxiliary does a better job marketing itself.

I really am impressed with CAP especially with their ability to incorporate adults and children into their program.
 
It may be due to our coastal location but it seems as though the USCGA Auxiliary does a better job marketing itself.
I'm not certain but I think the CG Auxiliary is less of a youth-oriented organization and more concerned with helping the CG accomplish their mission rather than offering cadet programs.
 
Until the last 10 years or so scouting was the best leadership EC in my opinion.

I come from a scouting family. I was a Star Scout and both of my brothers were Eagle Scouts. Back in our day in scouting, the late '60's and early '70's, there was a lot more parental and community support. All the fathers were WWII veterans and heroes and took an active part in supporting us. Our scoutmaster was a B-17 pilot with 30 combat missions, including 6 trips to Berlin. It was a glorious time in Scouting. One of my brothers, who is VERY successful helping to run a large business, credits scouting with teaching him the leadership skills that he has used in the business world. Sadly, scouting is not the same today. At least not in the area where I live. We tried it with my older DS. It was not what I hoped it would be or as I remembered it.

My younger son is just finishing up his freshman year in high school NJROTC. He is at a large pubic high school and his NJROTC unit just won the National Championship in Academic/Drill/Athletic competition. There are usually between 200-250 cadets in the program. The leadership opportunities are outstanding. Now, in all fairness, not all JROTC programs are the same, just as not all Scout Troops are the same. I know of some JROTC units in our area that do not even compete in Academic/Drill/Athletic competitions, which, in my opinion are one of the most valuable parts of JROTC. And, I suppose there may be some very small JROTC units at small schools where a cadet would not get as much leadership experience because there are not many cadets to lead or many leadership postitions. But our NJROTC unit is huge. We have three full-time faculty NROTC instructors, a Lt. Cmdr. who was an F-14 pilot/instructor and two retired Senior Chiefs. The Cadet Commander is responsible for at least 200 cadets and has a staff of a half dozen upper classmen, who are essentially department heads, that report to him to help run the organization. IMHO the NJROTC unit that my DS is part of provides FAR more valuable leadership than my brother got in Boy Scouts leading a troop of 30-40 kids. But I think it all depends on the individual program. I suppose the same is true of CAP units. There are undoubtedly some great ones and also some not so great ones.
 
Until the last 10 years or so scouting was the best leadership EC in my opinion.

I come from a scouting family. I was a Star Scout and both of my brothers were Eagle Scouts. Back in our day in scouting, the late '60's and early '70's, there was a lot more parental and community support. All the fathers were WWII veterans and heroes and took an active part in supporting us. Our scoutmaster was a B-17 pilot with 30 combat missions, including 6 trips to Berlin. It was a glorious time in Scouting. One of my brothers, who is VERY successful helping to run a large business, credits scouting with teaching him the leadership skills that he has used in the business world. Sadly, scouting is not the same today. At least not in the area where I live. We tried it with my older DS. It was not what I hoped it would be or as I remembered it.

My younger son is just finishing up his freshman year in high school NJROTC. He is at a large pubic high school and his NJROTC unit just won the National Championship in Academic/Drill/Athletic competition. There are usually between 200-250 cadets in the program. The leadership opportunities are outstanding. Now, in all fairness, not all JROTC programs are the same, just as not all Scout Troops are the same. I know of some JROTC units in our area that do not even compete in Academic/Drill/Athletic competitions, which, in my opinion are one of the most valuable parts of JROTC. And, I suppose there may be some very small JROTC units at small schools where a cadet would not get as much leadership experience because there are not many cadets to lead or many leadership postitions. But our NJROTC unit is huge. We have three full-time faculty NROTC instructors, a Lt. Cmdr. who was an F-14 pilot/instructor and two retired Senior Chiefs. The Cadet Commander is responsible for at least 200 cadets and has a staff of a half dozen upper classmen, who are essentially department heads, that report to him to help run the organization. IMHO the NJROTC unit that my DS is part of provides FAR more valuable leadership than my brother got in Boy Scouts leading a troop of 30-40 kids. But I think it all depends on the individual program. I suppose the same is true of CAP units. There are undoubtedly some great ones and also some not so great ones.

Yes it depends on the squadron in CAP for sure just like your 200 cadet unit in NJROTC. That is big! When scouting took a hit other leadership units gained. You can join CAP in 6th grade vs 9th grade for JROTC. That was one reason we didn't look at JROTC because JROTC was not even an option yet. CAP becoming part of the total Air Force was beyond huge for us 4-5 years ago-so many more doors have opened up for flying and other trips. My daughter just spent 3 days at the Pentagon with CAP. Thanks for sharing man! And yes it just breaks my heart about what has happened to scouting!
 
Until the last 10 years or so scouting was the best leadership EC in my opinion.

I come from a scouting family. I was a Star Scout and both of my brothers were Eagle Scouts. Back in our day in scouting, the late '60's and early '70's, there was a lot more parental and community support. All the fathers were WWII veterans and heroes and took an active part in supporting us. Our scoutmaster was a B-17 pilot with 30 combat missions, including 6 trips to Berlin. It was a glorious time in Scouting. One of my brothers, who is VERY successful helping to run a large business, credits scouting with teaching him the leadership skills that he has used in the business world. Sadly, scouting is not the same today. At least not in the area where I live. We tried it with my older DS. It was not what I hoped it would be or as I remembered it.

My younger son is just finishing up his freshman year in high school NJROTC. He is at a large pubic high school and his NJROTC unit just won the National Championship in Academic/Drill/Athletic competition. There are usually between 200-250 cadets in the program. The leadership opportunities are outstanding. Now, in all fairness, not all JROTC programs are the same, just as not all Scout Troops are the same. I know of some JROTC units in our area that do not even compete in Academic/Drill/Athletic competitions, which, in my opinion are one of the most valuable parts of JROTC. And, I suppose there may be some very small JROTC units at small schools where a cadet would not get as much leadership experience because there are not many cadets to lead or many leadership postitions. But our NJROTC unit is huge. We have three full-time faculty NROTC instructors, a Lt. Cmdr. who was an F-14 pilot/instructor and two retired Senior Chiefs. The Cadet Commander is responsible for at least 200 cadets and has a staff of a half dozen upper classmen, who are essentially department heads, that report to him to help run the organization. IMHO the NJROTC unit that my DS is part of provides FAR more valuable leadership than my brother got in Boy Scouts leading a troop of 30-40 kids. But I think it all depends on the individual program. I suppose the same is true of CAP units. There are undoubtedly some great ones and also some not so great ones.

Yes it depends on the squadron in CAP for sure just like your 200 cadet unit in NJROTC. That is big! When scouting took a hit other leadership units gained. You can join CAP in 6th grade vs 9th grade for JROTC. That was one reason we didn't look at JROTC because JROTC was not even an option yet. CAP becoming part of the total Air Force was beyond huge for us 4-5 years ago-so many more doors have opened up for flying and other trips. My daughter just spent 3 days at the Pentagon with CAP. Thanks for sharing man! And yes it just breaks my heart about what has happened to scouting!

Great to hear about your DD's experience with CAP!! Thanks for sharing
 
I was in both Boy Scouts (Eagle Scout) and Civil Air Patrol 30+ years ago, and I am active now with my local Scout Council Board. First, as others have said, you get what you put into each of the programs, and a lot of the experience depends upon the adult leadership and unit. Personally, I think Boy Scouts was better as a youth development program, and CAP gave me a little military exposure prior to attending USNA. I had some great experiences and leadership opportunities in both.

I don't know much about CAP now...its virtually invisible in my community although I know a unit exists. Contrary to popular narrative, Scouting is still going strong, and earning Eagle Scout still carries alot of weight. There has been a lot of negative publicity, both with the gay issue and now allowing females, and I think a lot of that is due to mismanagement or poor communication from the National Office. First, I don't think anyone at the operational level gives a damn about the gay issue --it simply shouldn't be an issue when dealing with young kids. Second, while I was not happy how National BSA rolled out the whole female issue, I believe there is a place for young girls in the program. Scouting is the number one youth development program in the country, and perhaps the world (incidentally, girls have been in Scouts worldwide for years). This isn't about competing with or stealing from the Girl Scouts -- the truth is that Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts really only reach 5-10% of eligible youth (depending on where you are), and thee are many, many kids , both male and female, that can benefit from the program.
 
Yes it depends on the squadron in CAP for sure just like your 200 cadet unit in NJROTC. That is big! When scouting took a hit other leadership units gained. You can join CAP in 6th grade vs 9th grade for JROTC. That was one reason we didn't look at JROTC because JROTC was not even an option yet. CAP becoming part of the total Air Force was beyond huge for us 4-5 years ago-so many more doors have opened up for flying and other trips. My daughter just spent 3 days at the Pentagon with CAP. Thanks for sharing man! And yes it just breaks my heart about what has happened to scouting!

What was the Pentagon trip like? My DD is excited about the travel possibilities with CAP, especially the idea of a trip to DC.
 
Until the last 10 years or so scouting was the best leadership EC in my opinion. Then politics got involved with scouting and 5 years ago CAP became part of the total Air Force. Our squadron of 70 cadets has about 8 scouting defectors. CAP is becoming the #1 leadership EC or it maybe already. Just this year check out what the #1 Air Force general had the to say: If your goal is USAFA or flying in the other branches join CAP and make at least 2nd Lt or the Mitchell award.

https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4781238/air-force-chief-staff-future-civil-air-patrol

Wow...70 cadets? I think the squadron we found has about 15. We stumbled upon it really, but now DD is excited to learn more about it. Her high school doesn’t have ROTC and she has zero interest in joining scouts. I’m hoping CAP (and the one squadron we found that works with our schedule) is a good fit!
 
The BSA Explorer program is another option.

It must be effective because I joined the "Fire Explorers" in 8th grade and I am still a career firefighter 33 years later!
 
From what I've seen of CAP units that come to our Boy Scout camp - the Cadets do a lot of cool stuff but don't get to actually lead as much as scouts in a good Boy lead scout troop - I'm sure mileage varies there
 
I was in both Boy Scouts (Eagle Scout) and Civil Air Patrol 30+ years ago, and I am active now with my local Scout Council Board. First, as others have said, you get what you put into each of the programs, and a lot of the experience depends upon the adult leadership and unit. Personally, I think Boy Scouts was better as a youth development program, and CAP gave me a little military exposure prior to attending USNA. I had some great experiences and leadership opportunities in both.

I don't know much about CAP now...its virtually invisible in my community although I know a unit exists. Contrary to popular narrative, Scouting is still going strong, and earning Eagle Scout still carries alot of weight. There has been a lot of negative publicity, both with the gay issue and now allowing females, and I think a lot of that is due to mismanagement or poor communication from the National Office. First, I don't think anyone at the operational level gives a damn about the gay issue --it simply shouldn't be an issue when dealing with young kids. Second, while I was not happy how National BSA rolled out the whole female issue, I believe there is a place for young girls in the program. Scouting is the number one youth development program in the country, and perhaps the world (incidentally, girls have been in Scouts worldwide for years). This isn't about competing with or stealing from the Girl Scouts -- the truth is that Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts really only reach 5-10% of eligible youth (depending on where you are), and thee are many, many kids , both male and female, that can benefit from the program.
The issue wasn’t so much about letting homosexuals into the program, it was the fact that the Boy Scouts went out of their way and changed their policy regarding homosexuality to appease the left wing media that was hell bent on bringing BSA to its knees. The same thing happened with the female thing. The PC-mafia did everything in their power to pressure them into changing their policies, and the “leadership” of the BSA caved in.
 
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