April 2008 |
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August 2005 ArchiveAll the old garbage you can handle! |
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Not only is August here, but the daggone thing is half over. Crikey! But, with weddings, bachelor parties, encampments, lazy afternoons by the pool, hot nights on the town doing the salsa, etc., etc., there just haven't been enough hours in the day to service you little weasels. But, we did manage to pull ourselves away, sacrificing unimportant things (mostly company time, actually) to deliver more of that CadetStuff magic! ... First up, Dr. Drill 
The facts are that real life, most of the times, is not like the movies. The endings are not always happy and the good guys don't always win. While there are more modern tails of courage and leadership available, I cannot think of one more fascinating and full of danger then the not so modern true story of the expedition of Lewis and Clark.
Forget school, politics, the weather or even Vietnam. No, sometimes it was those little cultural differences that were the most interesting. While we had Santa Claus, the Swedes had Father Christmas. Swedish Rice Crispies went "Piff-Paff-Poof", none of this "Snap, Crackle, Pop" business. The disclosure that Yankee pigs went "oink", when everyone just knew that they were supposed to go "nurf-nurf" drew gales of laughter.
So, in a stroke of genius, you figure out that you need people to maintain a squadron. You run to your squadron commander with this unearthly insight of wisdom, and luckily for you, they see the wisdom that has been forming itself deep inside your thoughts and dreams. Even more luckily, you will be having a local air show in a couple of weeks that you just could get a booth for. Air show, air planes, Civil Air Patrol, what could work better?
More and more, I find myself going back to the core of the program and trying to set goals and write a schedule that will really help accomplish our goals. Far too often, I've come to find that cadets and seniors alike misinterpret the program. Some think that it's a program to "straighten" kids out. Others feel we should be paramilitary and get to wear berets or carry guns. Still others take this to the opposite extreme and treat the program like a social event where we can sit and build little airplanes out of popsicle sticks to take home to our parents.
Years ago, on the porch of the Frederick Composite Squadron's building, I once had a discussion with Maj. William F. Duke about what it takes to retain Cadets. Taking the number of Cadets in the wing vs. the following years retention of cadets, and factoring the awards they had listed on the Monthly Membership Listiing, he found that: Retention rates are bad (Most Cadets don't renew membership after 1 year)...
