Recently I was contacted by a shadowy figure and offered some "interesting" videos. Expecting the opportunity to watch ABSCAM-like surveillance footage of a senior officer receiving briefcase loads of cash from a major uniform item supplier, I jumped at the chance. Imagine my surprise, however, when 2 CDs showed up at the CadetStuff editorial offices, one containing this:

Intrigued, I started poking around to find out just where this little gem originated from. I'm a little young to have been a big fan of the TV show "Room 222" in its original run, but I knew the show from re-runs as a kid. On television from 1969 to 1974, it won an Emmy in its first season for Best New Series and went on to be one of the top rated shows of its time.

As it turns out, one of our longtime forum members and a good friend of CadetStuff, the Pacific Region Deputy Chief of Staff for Cadet Programs and now National Cadet Programs Advisor, Lt Col Ned Lee, was actually INVOLVED in the production of this spot!

This story goes way back to pre-historic times. 1973, to be exact. Over at the campus of the University of Southern California, the telephone in one C/1Lt Ned Lee's dorm room rang off the hook. It seems the "Room 222" wardrobe department was a little short on CAP cadet uniforms and they needed a couple of sets of khakis for a scene involving the "Room 222" kids as CAP cadets. Ned, then an 18-year old college freshman, was apparently the closest CAP cadet to the studio who might be able to part with some uniforms for awhile.

Ned jumped at the the chance to help out in this noble project. You see, it was 1973, and Ned was smitten, like many young men of that era, by the mere image of Room 222 star Karen Valentine. Ms. Valentine was a rising young star, certain a jewel in ABC's evening line up crown (for your frame of reference, Ms. Valentine would have been, say, like Lindsey Lohan or Courtney Cox are today).

With visions of Ms. Valentine possibly modeling in his khaki uniforms, Ned careened down the I-10 to the 20th Century Fox studios in Century City, eager to be of assistance. After delivering his uniforms to the wardrobe department, Ned was allowed to hang out and watch the action of the filming. Much to young Ned's eminent dismay, however, the sultry Ms. Valentine was nowhere to be found. Curses! Foiled again!

"It was fairly interesting to watch the cast interact with each other between takes," Ned recalls. "You have to remember, this was the 'Boston Public' of its time. I was very surprised that they got talked into doing a CAP promo. It was a full cast and crew enterprise, costing tens of thousands of dollars to somebody."

It turns out, the gentleman in the film running the Aerospace Workshop, Mr. "Pat" Cody, really was the Pacific Region Director of Aerospace Education (RDAE) and the force behind this project. He knew some folks at 20th Century Fox and in conjunction with the Air Force, managed to get this short promo produced.

According to Lt Col Lee, the worst part came near the end of the clip. Heshimu, the actor playing the character of Jason Allen, took nearly 2 dozen takes to deliver the line "Mr. Dixon, we'd like to start a Civil Air Patrol Cadet Squadron [here at Walt Whitman High] and we want to know if you would head it."

"At least, that's how the line was supposed to go," Ned said. "The actor who played Jason just couldn't get his tongue around the line and kept blowing the line. The finally used the best takes and edited a few together to get the final product."

At the same time, Ned's contribution to the project, CAP cadet uniforms, wound up on the cutting room floor.

"They never did use the scene of the 'teenaged' cast members (in reality, many of the 'teens' were in their 20s. -Editor) in CAP uniforms," he said. "Frankly, they looked ridiculous even by '70's standards. I remember the red-headed kid with the big hair, David Jolliffe, just looked...wierd as a C/A1C."

And over here in the CadetStuff HQ, we're having nightmares just picturing the guy with the huge 'fro trying to wear a flight cap... We knew the 1970s was bad for hair and headgear wear, but that would have taken the cake!

It is good, however, to see how things haven't changed much in Civil Air Patrol since 1973. Re-watch the end of that video as "Mr. Lansing" gets "voluntold" by Mr. Dixon to be the squadron commander for the newly forming CAP unit. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Fortunately for Bernie Koppell, the actor who played Mike Lansing, he went on to a long and storied career in a different sort of uniform, as the doctor on "The Love Boat!"

But there you have it, folks. Until "The Real First Sergeant" came along 28 years later, this was clearly the epitome of California Wing video goodness.... Aerospace images, a thundering soundtrack, cheesy acting and stilted dialog. They all combine with the magic of Hollywood to bring the message of the "U.S. Air Force Auxiliary Civil Air Patrol" to the airwaves in a most unexpected way.