April 2009 |
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Activities ArchiveAll the old garbage you can handle! |
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In an exclusive to CadetStuff.org, Scott Matthews, the California Wing filmmaker extraordinaire 
Thinking about attending PJOC? Before you send in that enrollment form, take a word of advice from the man who runs APJOC: twenty-one year veteran of CAP's PJOC program and USAF Pararescueman MSgt George Miller: "If a Cadet is attending PJOC they need to get into excellent physical condition. They should be able to pass 
Don't shave your beret inside the barracks. I know you're excited, and you want your beret to look normal ASAP, but think about it. Sure, you may get your beret de-fuzzified, but where do all those fuzzies go? Right into your bunk area for you to clean up. What's even worse you ask? Simply that you have just effectively ruined your razor. Make it easy on yourself, shave your berets outside, using the razors provided to you.
Once again, Capt Scott Matthews, California Wing's wünderkind filmmaker featured in our inaugural issue has done it yet again, producing yet another encampment video and even more questions: Does he have a life? Does he sleep? We think not.
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."
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!
"Music has charms to soothe the savage breast" wrote English playwright William Congreve (no, not the guy who invented the rockets). He probably wasn’t thinking about military music when he wrote that famous line. But Cadet Dan Nelson of Illinois Valley Composite Squadron in Illinois Wing definitely had military music in mind when he went for a spot at the National Military Music Academy (NMMA) National Cadet Special Activity.
"Upon arriving in Tererro, the cadets were dropped off about three miles below base camp to jog up. The elevation was 7000+ feet and a good amount of oxygen was noticeably missing from the air. In this photo, the cadets are about half way there and already tired..."
What is NGSAR? More to the point, what is the NGSAR Advanced Course? The National Emergency Services Academy director and found, Major John Desmarais, CAP explains: "The Advanced Course is where we train members in the skills required to be a ground team leader. Cadet and senior members come from across the country to train with us."
What is the Thousand Yard Stare? How do you get it? What sets the men who have it apart from those who have been spared? One look at them and you see they're different; it's in the eyes. The Thousand Yard Stare tells of someone who's been places and seen things: things he'd rather not have seen and places he shouldn't have been. We knew that as much horror as each of us had seen over the years, we had to be within a few dozen yards of a thousand. We were determined to make it over that barrier: the barrier that separates the men from the boys. Winter School at Hawk Mountain Ranger Training Facility seemed like just the ticket...
Capt Gibbons challenged us to build field-expedient shelters. That was just fine with Capt Stanford because he was planning on building a shelter the whole time and had only brought a tarp and poncho along. The exercise of building shelters meant that he'd have someone to share the work - and the misery - if things went wrong.
Hawk Mountain Ranger Staff training is a tradition that has been around for many years. Of course, as everything does, there have been changes; some for the worse and some for the better. In past years Hawk Mountain Staff Training was eight weekends of training, seven at Hawk Mountain (or some other outdoor field environment), and one at Fort Indiantown Gap (FIG).
National Honor Guard Academy is the newest National Cadet Special Activity, completing its first summer as a National activity in 2002. Prior to becoming a National Cadet Special, the Academy spent one year as a Maryland Wing activity, and one year as a Middle East Region activity. The mission of the Academy is to produce the finest honor guardsmen in Civil Air Patrol.
Before I begin telling about the actual Academy, I would like to say that I have never seen a glider up close before I attended NFA-G. I also had no logged time in a powered aircraft. By telling you this, I am trying to say that it is not imperative that you be some aviation fanatic in order to attend. Your attitude once you get there will determine your success in the program.
The nine o'clock formation went off right on schedule at ten o'clock. The training squadrons marched onto the snow-covered parade deck - one Cadet falling flat on his face rounding the corner in the parking lot. The colors were raised and the school commander, Major Hugo Ficca, welcomed the students and gave his opening remarks. Here, presented in its entirety, is the opening speech by Major Ficca: "I'm Major Hugo Ficca, commander. Welcome to Winter School East. Squadron commanders, take charge."
"Forward, HARCH!" Lawson shouted and we all started marching. Not for or five steps later I slipped on a small patch of ice and fell flat on my back on top of a rock. Not the best of ways to begin an acitivity, and certainly not one of my favorites. A couple cadets behind me quickly helped me up and we kept marching, though my back was certianly complaining about it.
OK-OK, listen-up (they always said that) he continued, Now bend over again, pull the leg straps tight against your thighs, and stand up when youre finished. This was obviously his favorite part because if your leg straps were hooked up wrong, then stood up too quickly the straps bit into your groin with predictable consequences. A few surprised screams told the Old Sarge that this was, indeed, a bunch of brand-new cherries ripe for the picking -- this was going to be fun!!
The planes swung around for another pass, this time opening up with their 20mm Vulcan cannons. These werent fake guns, either. They screamed overhead into the valley and the guns hosed a line of tracers that ate up a big white target sheet. They also dropped a small cloud of empty 20mm brass that tinkled across the ground like metal hailstones. They banked into the sun and then zoomed back toward the base.
Greetings to all, It's been 36 hours since the decision was made to cancel all the PJOCs for 2003. Why the activities were cancelled is no longer the important issue but what we are going to do next is; and that is to press on. This cancellation has only increased the determination of the PJOC staff to use the additional time we now have to prepare a quality series of activities that will meet the current CAP standards while remaining the program that we Pararescuemen expect it to be for 2004 and beyond.
I have long been a proponent of removing officers from the drill teams in the
National Drill Team Competition. Briefly, it is my firm belief that Cadet
officers should organize, train and lead instead of actually performing in events
such as drill.
So, someone from your squadron is going to Hawk and is quacking about getting his "R-3" or "R-2" and working his way up to Advanced. What the heck does all that mean? What is an "Advanced" Ranger capable of? Are we talking one step down from an Air Force Pararescueman or are we talking two steps above a Cub Master? Well, with 
So, there I was doing my bit driving Cadets from the airport to a fun-filled week at Hawk Mountain when who should I run into but APJOC alumnus Captain Bob Morgan. Bob's plans for APJOC were cancelled when the activity fell through and he decided to go slumming for a week at Hawk. Hooah! So, just for fun I thought I'd remind everyone of Bob's excellent camera work and past CadetStuff contributions and - at the same time - give everyone who was accepted to APJOC a look at what they're missing. Check out Bob's 
In our three-week trip to Sweden there were nine trips by air and eleven by bus. We visited eight historical attractions, eight major Swedish companies, and another eight sightseeing excursions of various kinds. We stayed at seven RSAF bases, two private homes and were guests at fourteen formal banquets and receptions. Moreover, we had a chance to see another, very special, country and live a hectic daily schedule with guys from four other countries and from across the US.
So, you all know what National Blue Beret (NBB from here on out) is, right? Major airshow, propellers everywhere, row after row of Port-O-Johns... No, really, it's a great activity! Where else do you get to legally stand on an active taxi-way and sip lemonade as you munch a ham sandwich and marshal a never-ending stream of aircraft? I’d say no where...
Well, the local delicacy there, served at breakfast, lunch, and dinner, is raw pickled herring. It was easily the foulest, fishy-est thing I have ever smelled, much less eaten. I choked down a small piece of it, and smiled but passed on a second helping. Some tea, a rykrisp-like bread, and some great cheese helped to settle things down.
It was, to that point, the best banquet we’d had. A band played while we met RSAF Flight Cadets, who had a remarkable capacity for aquavit, and were as cocky as fighter jocks in any country. The tables were set with crystal and linen and jacketed waiters moved about, pouring wine and bringing drinks. The meal was smorgasbord-style, but when I looked over at the buffet table my mouth went dry. “Oh no,” I thought, looking at a huge platter with the biggest fish I’d ever seen. Heck, this was Moby Dick’s little brother and was probably raw and pickled, to boot. “No wonder they served so many drinks.”
The entire staff of CadetStuff.org would like to wish Kirt "UK" Bowden and Sandy "SOS" Bowden luck, health and happiness on the occasion of their wedding. It's a little known fact that they met because of CadetStuff many years ago while our Mangilng Editor Darin Ninness was dating Sandy and our Features Editor Shawn Stanford was dating Kirt. One tragic double-date later ("When Harry Met Sally", anyone?) and it was all over but the crying. Okay, seriously: from what we've seen - and based on what our private investigator was able to uncover - they're made for each other and will have many happy years. Congrats, guys!
The military training model has been remarkably consistent across both time and culture. An observer watching our imaginary Roman Centurion training a cohort, the Marquis de Lafayette or Baron Von Stueben training Gen. Washingtons troops, or a modern Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force NCO exercising her troops would instantly recognize and understand that military training was occurring.
Before turning in for the night, I walked onto the porch and leaned on the railing. The stars were out, lights danced on the water and laughter floated up from a nearby cottage. Right then, I was ready to defect to Sweden!!
It's not your average field trip to Washington! As last year's inaugural class will testify, the Civil Air Patrol's Civic Leadership Academy is a fabulous opportunity for cadets to learn about government, the media, and public service careers.
Dressed in coat and tie, that evening's dinner turned into a pleasant surprise. At the F7 airbase our bus wound up a long, curving driveway to a stately mansion. This was where the Officers hung out... "Hey, this place looks like a country club," I thought. It was the beginning of one of the most elegant parts of the trip.
There are quite a few "Surviving..." articles here on CadetStuff.org. You'll find them on Hawk, Blue Beret, etc. However, I noticed that there are no articles that help you survive the first step: Basic Encampment. So I took it upon myself to write that article.
Hello, I'm Cadet Senior Chief Petty Officer Joseph M. Land, Jr. I'm the Senior Cadet Advisor to the National Commandant and this will be my seventh Annual Training. I thought I'd write a few pointers for those of you new to ACA Annual Training. I've broken them down into a couple of categories to help you out. These are things that are tried and tested, so trust me they work.
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.
I gave Captain Nilsson the key to the City of New Orleans and the official proclamation naming him an Honorary Citizen that I'd carried throughout the trip. For a bunch of guys who'd weathered no telling how many speeches, receptions and banquets, we just didn't have a lot to say... "I must go now before I weep," Captain Nilsson, our senior RSAF escort told us.
Dulles turned out to be quite a novelty. The main building featured a massive upswept roof of pre-stressed concrete that looked like something from the cover of a science fiction magazine. It was quite modern, even by current standards. Another difference is that the planes didn't "dock" at the terminal. Instead, you were brought out to your plane by special busses that would "dock" with the plane; a unique concept that probably saved a lot of taxiing around by the planes.
During this time of my life, I was really a big military dork. Anything remotely related to the military was totally cool in my book.
Waking up is, by far, the best part of encampment. You're woken up at 5:15, which is actually about 15 minutes later than I get up on a typical school day. You know how sometimes your alarm doesn't go off or isn't loud enough? Not an issue at Mass Wing encampment! Airhorns in a bare, cement block hallway. After two days of this, I tried my good buddy Silva's suggestion: Tell yourself to wake up at 5 before going to bed. That way, according to his logic, you wake up five minutes before they pull the airhorn and can get ready to move. Total bull, right? This worked out for me very well, actually. Yeah.
Summer is almost here! So I thought I would post some timely information about sleep deprivation. My new favorite book, Superfoods Healthstyle by Steven Pratt and Kathy Matthews, has a section on sleep (pages 237-251). I wanted to sum up some of the information and how I thought it applied to cadet performance at encampments.
Joe Curry, one of the Program Manager for Cadet Programs at Civil Air Patrol National Headquarters has put out a reminder that the application deadline for Civic Leadership Academy is just around the corner on 1 OCT 2007.
If you're like me, you may have been asking yourself: "Self, what would happen if twelve cadets interested in military aviation got together in a networked combat flight sim lab with instructors, learned air combat tactics, and then competed in a tournament?"