One of the classes I teach fairly often is on uniforms.  I bring in one each of all the various ones I have in the closet, because it is much easier to learn by seeing, and of course my uniforms are perfect.  One of the last things I do is exhibit a showcase of the grades and ribbons I wore as a cadet back in the 1970's.  This always gets a mixed reaction.  Some really like the old sew on stripes and plastic coated ribbons with pictures on them.  Many like some but not all, this (and a request by CadetStuff to do it) got me thinking that a brief review of the grade structure from the good old days might be in order.

The cadet grade structure, going back to the 1960's (The Leadership Laboratory Manual CAPM50-3 2nd Edition 1967) was introduced to cadet's using this single volume book for all the phases. In the 2nd edition, chapter four -- The CAP Uniform gave a brief outline and referred to CAPM39-1 for further details. 

As you can see the males wore a khaki uniform and the females wore a light blue cotton cord summer dress, with sleeves that are a bit different from what we see today. (I always thought both uniforms looked pretty sharp.)

The winter uniform was very similar to the style we still wear today.  In all cases, grade was a patch that was sewn on the sleeve, until you became a cadet officer.  Then you wore the same shoulder boards on both summer and winter uniforms.  Instead of one name tag, there was a black name tag with your last name and the CAP crest and a "breast plate" which either said Cadet, Civil Air Patrol or for seniors Civil Air Patrol, Auxiliary United States Air Force. The pictures above shows were we wore them. Flight caps also had a patch that was sewn on.

So, I know you are all wondering what did the cadet sew on grades look like and what were their names.  The table below shows what the looked like, this is taken from

The Leadership Laboratory Manual CAPM50-3 3rd Edition 1975.  By now we are all wearing light blue shirts with the dark blue pants, no epaulet on the shirts yet.  We also have a few different names for the different grades.

*in the 1980's the title Warrant Officer was changed to Flight Officer.

The cadet officer grades have remained the same (at least so far) so there is not need to list them.

There have been many discussions about badges and "doodads" that show what position or specialty ratings cadets hold.  This is not a new discussion or issue.  Back then we had cadet Leadership Shoulder Insignia to show the world the position you held. A close up of the cadet breast plate and model Rocketry badge are included, no extra charge. 

ADVANCEMENT

For each promotion prior to taking the Mitchell, you completed a chapter in your Leadership Lab, one of the Aerospace books, attended Moral Leadership, ran a mile in a certain amount of time (tougher with each contract), passed a cadet evaluation using CAPF 50 (still in use today),  and were recommended by the Squadron Commander.

There were 15 contracts and then the Spaatz test.  The first milestone test was the Mitchell test.  It was a comprehensive 100 question test on all the books in the Aerospace program.  Yes, that's right we didn't have one book with six chapters. we had six separate books and each of them had a work book too.  The test was closed book and you needed 80% to pass. 

Now you may be doing some quick math here, fifteen contracts but only thirteen grades, what are the other two for?  Promotions for C/Lt Col and C/1st Lt required that you complete two contracts.  There was also a change in study materials, you were finished with aerospace, but you started doing Staff Duty Analysis tests.  The SDA's tested you on the manuals and regulations applicable to the achievement you were working on.  You also continued studying your leadership.

The Earhart was the next milestone and it was another 100 question closed book test on every leadership chapter you had studied up until then.  A score of 80% got you your promotion to Captain and some slick looking wall paper. 

Remember when we talked about needing to do two contracts for promotion to C/Lt Col? Well, it was even more interesting because your commander had the option to promote you early, that is after passing fourteen.  It was up to the unit commander's discretion and it varied from unit to unit.  I, of course got the early promotion.  (I was even more modest back then).  There was no Eaker Award for C/Lt Col.  If you finished Phase IV of the cadet program you pinned a device to your Earhart Ribbon which told the world you passed both 14 and 15.

Once completed, you looked forward to the Spaatz test.  Just as it is today it included a section on Leadership, Aerospace, Moral Leadership, and Physical Fitness.  The leadership and aerospace were multiple choice 100 question tests.  The moral leadership test was an essay question on a topic that you did not know until you opened the test.  The physical fitness part was a 1.5 mile run, I think it had to be done in under 14 minutes. (memory is one of the first things to go).  Before taking the test you had to be recommended by you're CC and approved by the LO.  The test was administered by the Wing LNCO.  During this time both the LO and LNCO were active duty USAF.

As you may have noticed as the USAF grade structure changed so did CAP's.  The names of the grades and the addition of the super NCO grade as well as the loss of the cadet flight officer (warrant) grade.  Some argue that these changes are bad, some say good, at the end of the day you do the best you can with what you have.  The cadet population has become younger; in 1972 you had to be 13 to join.  Some of the changes in the curriculum are based on having to put out age appropriate material.  Change is inevitable and most people fight it.  As members our job is to voice our opinions when appropriate, provide feedback when asked, and when the decision is made, make it our own.