CAPblog

CAP Photo ID Card Mark II Coming Soon

Here's an example from the first batch of CAP Photo ID Cards:

I've been following an interesting thread about the new CAP Photo ID Card on CivilAirPortal...

... a little bit of news:

Word is that the next batch of these cards will fix some glaring problems:

• The MAJCOM badge in the center will be better rendered, loosing the jagged edges that make people wonder if the darn thing was forged. NHQ got a better image to the vendor.
• The MAJCOM badge will say "U.S. AIR FORCE AUXILIARY" in the scroll along the bottom. The Air Force pushed back and reminded NHQ that they approved a card that reads, "U.S. Air Force Auxiliary," like the sheild & scroll that we wear on our flightsuits, not one that reads just, "Civil Air Patrol," like the one above.
• The hologram will be improved, having CIVIL AIR PATROL printed repeatedly, and in a more subtle grey. (makes it harder to forge) An improvement over the current 100% black type.

I held off ordering a photo card primarily because the MAJCOM graphic didn't match what I wear on my zoombag. Leadership may get a kick out of testing the limits of the organization's autonomy from the USAF, but I for one don't buy it.

It may seem like a minor point, but I was voting with my wallet, holding off spending the $4 in my own silly little protest against the de-bluing of CAP.

As soon as I hear the Mark II is ready, I'll go ahead and order one.

oh... and another thing... one reason why we don't have a "CAC like" card is that so many federal agencies started making "CAC like" cards, that the White House put out a memo telling everyone to knock it off. This design is the compromise.

I've beat this horse before... The obvious solution to all of this is that the Air Force should to take over credentialing of CAP officers and issue us actual CAC cards via their established process.

Young People Couldn't Care Less About Aerospace

In a world of ipods, MTV, and terrorism, it may not come as too much of a surprise to discover that "young Americans as a group are generally disengaged from, and cynical about ... the US space program."

That  gloomy assessment was revealed in a study reported on last week at the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics Space 2006 meeting. The study was commissioned to gauge public reaction for "The Vision for Space Exploration" program announced by President Bush in January of 2004.

Dittmar Associates, the research firm, was commissioned to find attitudes of Americans regarding space exploration. Predictably, results varied widely depending on sex, ethnic group, and especially age. Young adults 18 to 25, were particularly not interested in space, ranking it almost last in priority among concerns of jobs, the war, and relationships. Less than one quarter surveyed had any interest in seeing humans return to the moon.

Overall endorsement of the space program in general was very strong, with 69% of all Americans voicing their support.

Interest and excitement about the Vision for Space Exploration program was strong for near-term aspects of the plan (65% of Americans responded positively) and for returning to the Moon.

This was not true for plans to send humans to Mars, which is seen as involving much more risk (only 18% of Americans responded positively).

However, among young adults, the level of  interest in space travel is pretty dismal. The one exception is the category of  “New Space”, ie. private spaceflight efforts such as the X-Prize sub-orbital flights of SpaceShip One, which is increasing relative to earlier surveys.

ANN: Survey: Young Adults Don't Need Their Space

:: This comes the same week when Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Moseley talked about how important it was for American Public to understand and support aerospace during a speech at the AFA conference.

I bet there are plenty of kids at this school who are hitting the books pretty hard, focused on going to space.

Army Major Starts With, Stays With CAP

Maj. Jayson Altieri credits the Civil Air Patrol with helping make him a successful Army officer. So, whenever he gets a chance, he tries to give back to the organization.

This summer, Altieri spoke to Civil Air Patrol cadets from Hampton Roads, Norfolk, Chesapeake and Roanoke, Va., about his experiences as a Black Hawk pilot and 18th Airborne Corps planner in Iraq.

Altieri returned from a 13-month deployment in January. He served the first part of his tour in Balad, Iraq, with the 1st Battalion, 159th Aviation Regiment, which is now part of the 82nd Airborne Division.

Altieri also served in Baghdad with the 18th Airborne Corps staff. He was an operations planner for Multi-National Corps-Iraq.

“The CAP helped me develop to become the officer I am,” Altieri said recently during a telephone interview.

“I think I sort of owe it to the program. A lot of good people I worked with as a cadet kind of showed me the way, so to speak.”

Fayetteville Online: Civil Air Patrol ties remain strong

:: I just love stories like this!

The Fubar

The FatMax Xtreme Fubar Functional Utility Bar is a 4-in-1 tool for prying, splitting, board bending and striking jobs. Built from a single piece of tempered, forged steel for increased durability and the prevention of chipping. The textured grip provides excellent comfort & control, even when wet.

Amazon.com: Stanley 55-099L FatMax Xtreme Fubar Functional Utility Bar

::When I saw it tonight on Rocketboom, I immediately knew that I wanted one for, "Team Equipment."

It just seems to me the most perfect hack-through-anything-built-to-fly-and-get-the-people-out tool a groundpounder could ask for.

We're currently working on our  Ground Team's vehicle / trailer  / response package.

We're gearing up.

I so gotta get us one of these.

ECWCS Coming Soon

The outer garments of this system feature a parka and trousers. The parka has two hand warming/cargo pockets, two side access breast pockets, two upper sleeve pockets, and a roll and stow hood that fits into the collar. It also features water shedding slide fasteners and zippered armpit vents. The trousers feature suspender attachments, belt loops, two side leg cargo pockets, and knee high zippers for easy donning and doffing while wearing boots. The material is a tri-laminate using a waterproof, vapor permeable membrane laminated between two nylon knits. Both garments come in woodland camouflage. These garments are windproof, waterproof and breathable.

:: With any luck, before the real cold sets in this year, CAP should finally be authorized to wear the "GORE-TEX" EXWCS jacket with the BDUs.

No promises, but the approval package is currently nudging it way through channels.

I learned this during my recent visit to Washington.

Making ECWCS legal to wear is a drum that I've been beating for quite a while. I expect that we'll even get to stick to a simple rank slide and shoulder tab to ID us and make the uniform distinctive. (Boy am I glad folks came to their senses on that one!)

Having suffering through a number of winters in the crappy old M-65 style jacket, I'm just thrilled to know we may finally be allowed to wear modern cold weather gear in the field.

Sure it's expensive, but if you regularly operate in cold weather climates, then it's worth every red cent.

CAUTION: Be careful to get the "2nd Generation" garments, which are much improved over the first gen stuff that you'll find at many surplus stores.

Boeing Snags Border Assignment

Boeing Co. will be awarded an $80 million government contract to provide new high-tech ways to catch illegal immigrants trying to cross U.S. land borders, officials said today.

The contract is the first part of a multibillion-dollar Homeland Security Department plan to help secure the Mexican and Canadian borders. The final bill's total is unknown, a department official said, because it hinges largely on whether Congress will approve spending about $1 billion to build a fence on the Mexican border. Until then, the contract will be given to Boeing in phases, the department official said.

The Boeing contract was expected to be announced Thursday, according to a congressional aide and an official of the agency who spoke on condition of anonymity because the department had not yet made its announcement.

Seattle Times: Boeing wins first $80 million piece of border contract

:: It sounds like the new plan relies more on a network of terrestrial tower mounted sensors vs. some crazy fleet of flying robots. The plan seems to call for limited use of UAVs, just small ones that would be truck launched on a as-needed-basis when chasing coyotes.

At first blush, this plan seems to avoid shutting down a huge swath of U.S. airspace, and still leaves an open door for an aerial platform capability like CAP to play a important role.

We'll see what happens.

(oh, and score one for the home team!)

So Now the Wing Plays Banker

Civil Air Patrol, Inc. has never received an “Unqualified” annual audit from its external audit firm.  A “Qualified” audit report shows weaknesses exist and our Corporation was noted for funds at the unit level that are not audited.  The Board of Governors recommended that Civil Air Patrol obtain an unqualified audit opinion as soon as possible.  The most cost effective way to obtain an unqualified opinion is to audit the unit funds at the wing level.

The Wing Banker Solution (WBS) accomplishes this task by accounting for the funds and activity of all wing units at the wing level.  The WBS was endorsed by the NEC in May, 2006 and subsequently by the Board of Governors in June.  Wings will be phased in over a three-year period starting in FY07.  Region Commanders will determine which Wings will be included in the first phase of this transition.  This process will provide greater accountability and reporting of CAP appropriated and corporate funds.

- Maj. Gen. A.J. Pineda, Commander, CAP

Download: Wing Banker Solution Memo

:: I'm not all that riled up about the Wing Banker Solution.

My wife is the one with a degree in finance... She can also dance well and sing too.

I accept my own limitations, and know that I'm pretty good at flying airplanes and doing, "marketing stuff." I look silly on a dance floor, and I can't carry a tune in a bucket. I uselly have as much luck with bookkeeping

Some folks I've talked to have expressed concerns that WBS will allow Wings to raid hard-won Squadron funds, stealing away money donate or brought in through fundraising.

I'm just not convinced the sky is falling.

My Squadron has more cash on hand than any other Squadron in our Wing. So I have some skin in this game... and I really don't care that, "Wing will now play banker."

The money was never mine to begin with. Wing could have come in and ordered me to surrender it at anytime... They could remove me from command, or even disbanded the unit anytime they wanted to. But they haven't. They have no reason to.

So I'm curious to see what sort of new PITA it will be to transact business under the new finance rules? If the Wing has it's poop in a gr0up on this, it shouldn't be a problem.

What am I saying?

I have to be just be realistic here... My Wing has never had it's financial house in order, for as long as I've been an officer. It's been a complete train wreck. To this day... Wing finance is a mess.

One of my guys just got his reimbursement check from our last ICE BOWL FTX this week. Which was held in JANUARY!!! That is a total of 8 months to get his gas money back!

So forgive me if I have some reservations about a higher echelon of the organization, which has consistently proven itself ineffective at managing fiances, to suddenly display an aptitude for finance where there has never been one before. I doubt that my Wing will magically grow a good finance capability out of thin air based on the appearance of said memo.

I expect there to be hiccups... that's OK. Maybe in a year we'll all look around and wonder how we ever got along before this.

What is the upside to all of this?

What are the advantages of CAP obtaining a "Unqualified Audit," for all our finances?

What is in it for me?

I've heard nebulous claims of, "it will be easier to receive grants," but that just sounds like wishful thinking to me. (Sort of like hoping that repainted aircraft changes anything.)

Somebody must have done an analysis of what the ROI on this change in policy will be... and I mean a costs vs. reward, no kidding dollar and cents projection of what this gets us...

• Will our operational budgets go up?
• Will we get more gear?
• Will our people have to go out of pocket less to do the missions assigned to us?

If so... great.

Explain it to the field. Say we expect X and possibly Y to happen after we do this. This is is good because of Z. Putting a benchmark out there would mean that results would be measurable, which would mean people would be accountable for success. I don't see that very often.

I still don't think WBS is a bad idea. But it is one more thing that I'm being asked to do, and like most initiatives from upper echelons... I'm skeptical that it's going to make any difference at all.

Maybe someone smarter than me will explain it.

CAP Honored For Hurricane Relief Contributions

In September 2005, when Hurricanes Katrina and Rita ravaged the Gulf Coast, the volunteers of Civil Air Patrol sprang into action. CAP's goal was to save lives and provide disaster relief assistance wherever possible.

First, the CAP National Headquarters established a round-the-clock command post to coordinate flight crews and search teams with federal, state, and local requests for aerial reconnaissance and rescue. In Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Texas, 1,734 CAP members turned out to prep and deploy aircraft, communications equipment, and supplies. Volunteers from as far away as Pennsylvania and Wisconsin came to support emergency management agencies and military elements responding to the crisis.

CAP volunteers used their intensive training to quickly provide digital photos of the damage. This imagery revealed the storms' impact and aided in the safe recovery of victims. In some cases, those surveying the damage were seeing the catastrophe's effect on their own homes. On the ground, CAP volunteer ground teams went door-to-door through demolished neighborhoods to find trapped victims.

When all was said and done, CAP volunteers had surveyed 4,266 homes and made 8,524 contacts with people affected by the hurricanes. They flew over 1,848 hours and contributed 35,495 man hours of assistance to the effort.

American Society of Association Executives and the Center for Association Leadership: The Association Community Reflects

:: Beyond the usual press release from NHQ, the Air Force has seen fit to feature the news Air Force Link of the award over at and the Air Force Times.

News of the award has been picked up by lots  MSM outlets as well.

Air Force Augmentation Survey

There is this great discussion thread over at Civil Air Portal about CAP Augmentation of the Air Force...

It really got me thinking...

So say the Air Force started offering CAP Officers the chance to go TDY on Air Force bases, to lend a hand in the day to day work of  the Air Force?

Create Free Polls

If you answered Yes, please continue with the poll after the jump...

A CAP Oath of Office

One topic that came in conversation while I was in Washington was the Oath of Office.

I asked the question, "Cadets, have an oath. There is an Oath of Application. Why is it that we don't ask CAP Officers to take an oath when they are appointed?"

The answer was, "Sometimes we do."

My head cocked to one side faster than the roll rate of an F-22.

"Really?"
"Really."

It turns out that CAP Officers get sworn in all the time. But I've just never seen it. (I guess only the top brass ever think to ask about it.) Gosh I hope I'm not violating OPSEC or something by actually telling people about this! (I kid! I kid!)

There's actually precedent for this!

We all strive for professionalism and excellence. This would be a good way to get folks focused on the real responsibility we take on when we don the uniform. We're now being told to think of ourselves not as just Members, but as Officers. So we should be taking an Oath when we're promoted.

Here's what I think it should read.

I, (Full Name) having been appointed a (Rank) in the Civil Air Patrol, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which I am about to enter, SO HELP ME GOD.

I suggest when we promote anyone to 2nd Lieutenant or above, that we stand them up in front of a flag, and we have the appointee raise their right hand and take the Oath.

The Oath of Application on the back of the CAPF-12 just doesn't cut it.

I am a member of AOPA. I'm an officer in the CAP.