Question regarding Civil Air Patrol for leadership consideration

J

JKHDelta

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My son has been working steadily to build his resume for his application and so far has Eagle Scout, Order of the Arrow, extensive volunteer hours and will be pushing to attend Boys State next year as well. He's also been varsity cross country and tennis the past two years and striving for cross country team captain this year. He's a rising junior in high school. An additional component he's been working on and achieved is Cadet 2nd Lt Flight Commander in our Civil Air Patrol Unit. He's been the lead cadet starting the unit and does much of the training for the other cadets. His leadership responsibilities include running and scoring PT sessions, leading leadership sessions, teaching aerospace science and history lessons through Civil Air Patrol and teaching drill and soon color guard.
Civil Air Patrol has been a bit of a "redheaded stepchild" in the past as far as how it's viewed it seems and was curious if anyone had any current experience with what the Academies thought about it and his current background with it. In short how much it can help in the application process regarding well rounded leadership.
 
CAP participation is held in high regard at the Air Force Academy. As your DS is a 2nd Lt. he has already achieved the Billy Mitchel Award. That is asked about specifically on the application. The next milestone he should focus on is the Amelia Earhart Award, also specific asked about. Sounds like he has a great application.
 
Mdm26 said:
CAP participation is held in high regard at the Air Force Academy. As your DS is a 2nd Lt. he has already achieved the Billy Mitchel Award. That is asked about specifically on the application. The next milestone he should focus on is the Amelia Earhart Award, also specific asked about. Sounds like he has a great application.
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Thank you. He'll be applying to all Academies with USNA as his first choice, AFA second, followed by USMA, Coast Guard and Merchant Marine. Ultimately working towards an aviation slot and heading to Annapolis next week so he can attend the cross country camp and spend more time on The Yard. We were up for the Mississippi game last year with our friends to visit their son, then a midshipman and now a newly minted graduate and our son is completely invested in the Academies. He's prepping himself mentally and counting down to the first preliminary paperwork starts after December of this year and has been working on our state reps election committees to keep in front of him in hopes of help in the nomination process.
We've run his track and if he keeps meeting his milestones he should be in position to hit his Spaatz test December 1st of his senior year. Hoping to be able to get that completed before the final selection process begins.
 
Any demonstration of leadership in an organized group/setting is important.

Sounds like your son is laser focused on what he wants and how to get there and is highly set up for success.

My recommendation though is don't forget to remind him to be a kid and enjoy this time as well. Everything does not have to be 100% toward one goal. I've seen too many kids expend all of their energy on one thought for years, only to get to the point later in life where they are burned out and lose the drive (one example being kids who started running at 5 and were mentally exhausted by high school, and ended up quitting the x-country or track teams in their Jr. or Sr. year).

I'm a perfect example of wanting to attend the Academy so bad that I pursued it even after joining the army as an enlisted! I got NAPS and my appointment, but by the time I walked onto the yard, I was mentally burned out and quit during the summer, before classes even started.
 
JKHDelta said:
Civil Air Patrol has been a bit of a "redheaded stepchild" in the past as far as how it's viewed it seems and was curious if anyone had any current experience with what the Academies thought about it and his current background with it.
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What is the basis for saying this ? I've never heard anything negative about Civil Air Patrol, and its listed on the Class Profile along with JROTC, Sea Cadets, etc. Granted, not a whole lot of people know and understand CAP --its not as common as say Boys Scouts or JROTC, but it is (or at least can be) a very good program. (My CAP involvement ...long , long , ago -- didn't hurt my getting accepted to USNA_).

Like any activity, its not participation --its what you do with it. Being able to explain the leadership opportunities you have had, as well as what you have learned, is important.
 
Old Navy BGO said:
What is the basis for saying this ? I've never heard anything negative about Civil Air Patrol, and its listed on the Class Profile along with JROTC, Sea Cadets, etc. Granted, not a whole lot of people know and understand CAP --its not as common as say Boys Scouts or JROTC, but it is (or at least can be) a very good program. (My CAP involvement ...long , long , ago -- didn't hurt my getting accepted to USNA_).

Like any activity, its not participation --its what you do with it. Being able to explain the leadership opportunities you have had, as well as what you have learned, is important.
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I should have stated that better. Not that it's negatively looked up, more than it's not well known in many cases and how it works. The lack of how common it is compared to the Scouts is more what I was getting at.

My involvement with the program has been much more than I had intended in the beginning being as I've become the squadron commander of a new unit in my area as well. I really do love the program and what it offers to the young people, especially when there are no other similar programs like JROTC and such available. Offers a lot to cadets and adults as well.
 
remember it's not about how well known it is in regular civilian circles (lots of people don't even know there is an Air Force Academy when you tell them that's where DS is going :)) it's how well known the opportunities are to the SA boards. CAP is very well known and highly regarded in the right places so congrats to your son on such a well rounded application already. I totally agree with IronmanDaremo though, still has to have some fun being a kid now as well as working toward the SA goal.
 
All3Services said:
remember it's not about how well known it is in regular civilian circles (lots of people don't even know there is an Air Force Academy when you tell them that's where DS is going :)) it's how well known the opportunities are to the SA boards. CAP is very well known and highly regarded in the right places so congrats to your son on such a well rounded application already. I totally agree with IronmanDaremo though, still has to have some fun being a kid now as well as working toward the SA goal.
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Thanks y'all. this is what I was hoping to see. And yes he's definitely having some time as a kid. Poor thing had a week trip to the Bahamas with the Scouts living on a sailboat two weeks ago. LOL
 
Also, I believe you can get a slightly higher stipend in ROTC on scholarship if Mitchell or higher.
 
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