April 2008 |
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August 2001 ArchiveAll the old garbage you can handle! |
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At Nick's hangar the next Friday evening, the regular meeting night, both seniors and cadets gathered eagerly. There was no hiding their enthusiasm, for adults and students alike showed in their faces that they were eager to get on with the job that lay ahead.
And we've got more than our usual boatload of Stuff!! First up is the final piece of Matt Heusser's article on promotion boards. We're saved!
Hey, cool! That Features Editor guy has the first fruit of the NCSA Project: C/LtCol Dan Upshaw of Georgia Wing reports on his trip to Cadet Officer's School.
Excellent! Cadet Matthew Stanford has completed the cycle and the Goddard review quiz is now ready!
Watch out! CadetStuff staffer C/Maj Mike Crockett has returned from National Blue Beret with a Top 100 list worthy of David Letterman! ... And, resurrected from the lamented CAP Officer is Maj Curt LaFond's leadership study based on the classic movie "Twelve O'Clock High": Smoking with Ernie.
Catch up with Capt Scott Matthews as he tries to set the Guinness Record for spending the most nights in an airport.
Believe it or not: some new images in Cadet Life!
Follow the adventures of Tom Carroll and his erstwhile companions as they battle the evil town developer for the future home of their CAP squadron in Chapter 9 of Squadron Alert! (tune in next week to find out if they succeed or fail!)
Summer's almost over, folks. And, considering the dearth of active staff - what, with everyone taking off for this and that - we can hardly wait for Fall when everyone will get the heck back off vacation!
Captain Scott Matthews is California Wing's answer to Kevin Smith. His seminal works, the 1999 California Wing Encampment video and his more recent encampment commercials have been featured here on CadetStuff previously. This year, Scott has been tapped by National Headquarters to travel to each National Cadet Special Activity this summer and document the events for future advertising and promotional use. CadetStuff equipped Scott with a CadetStuff t-shirt (literally the 2nd t-shirt off the presses!) and asked him to send us updates as he journeys across the country. Each week, his travelogue will be serialized here in as many parts as is required.
CadetStuff: kicked out of all the best places! Not this year,baby; CadetStuff is in Cincinnati! Our own C/Maj Mike Crockett - at great personal expense and danger - is attending the Civil Air Patrol National Boards. Join us every day of the conference for updates!
Dan went to COS without any expectations, other than to have a good time. He spoke with as many prior COS attendees as he could, which only made him look forward to attending even more. And the typical day at COS? Read on... "We got up around five-thirty or six in the morning. Breakfast was usually at six-thirty, but you could go earlier if you wanted. I finally figured this out later on in the week and was able to avoid the lines."
It happens every week! The Testing Officer or Deputy Commander for Cadets or Cadet Commander says, "Who's ready to test?" and every single Cadet raises their paw whether they've cracked the book in the last six minutes or in the last six months. Well, CadetStuff says, "No more!" Work your little brains and little fingers over these review tests - with questions based directly on the chapters in the manuals - and when you've passed these, you are ready to test. And, if you're reviewing for Mitchell or Spaatz, take'em all! How else are you going to know, eh?
What will follow is specific, objective criteria to determine if a Cadet is learning what they need to in order to advance in responsibility. While it might not be found in any CAP Manual, the author has found that the majority of Squadrons of Merit/Distinction tend to use a similar system, and that’s good enough for him.
Part of leadership is questioning the "hows" and "whys" of the things we do. In every thing I write concerning leadership, I always make an effort to clearly explain WHY something should be done a certain way as well as explaining how it should be done. Understanding what's behind a decision is a key part of being a leader. Leaders should NEVER do something simply because "we've always done it that way", they must have a definite goal in mind and be sure that what they do helps reach that goal. And be prepared to make a strong case justifying your decisions.