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.

In reality, it's none of these things. The very first sentence of the CAPR 52-16, the regulation that is the overall authority on our cadet program, states "The mission of the Civil Air Patrol Cadet Program is to provide the youth of our nation a quality program that enhances their leadership skills through an interest in aviation, and simultaneously provide services to the United States Air Force and the local community." What does this mean? It's our core values in sentence form. Volunteer Service, Integrity, Respect, and Excellence. We're here to do out best to give you a program where you can learn about leadership and aviation, and to help make our community a better place.

It doesn't say a thing about wearing uniforms, doing drill, or getting on military bases. It certainly doesn't say anything about being a program for troubled kids or getting combat training, two popular myths about our program. In fact, I feel supremely confident that without any military connection whatsoever, we could accomplish this goal.

However, as I look out into this room tonight, I'm greeted with a sea of military uniforms. I'm wearing one myself. So why are we connected to the military? Why are we granted this privilege (and it is a privilege) of wearing a uniform and getting to see sides of the military ordinary civilians don't?

It's because the Air Force saw a value in their teaching that could be applied to cadets. There are a great many things the military imparts upon its men and women that have nothing to do with fighting. They are ways of life such as attention to detail and volunteer service. They are values such as integrity and respect. They are the ways of following and leading that are so important in today's society.

We don't demand that cadets have their patches and grade attached with exact measurements so we can rip them apart for their mistakes. In the grand scheme of things a patch is sewn on 1/16 of an inch incorrectly really doesn't matter. What does matter is attention to detail. Whether a cadet goes into the civilian world or the military, details matter. In the civilian world, one extra zero in the wrong spot could result in a billion dollar loss for their company. In the military, throwing the pin and not the grenade will cost not just their life, but the lives of those around them who trusted them to do their job correctly. Details matter in real life, and they matter with us.

We don't demand that cadets are able to march in step and assemble into flights quickly because it really makes that much of a difference. Practically speaking, if you are moving a large mass of people from one place to another, it really doesn't make a difference whether you just tell everyone where to go or form them up in a formation. What really matters to us is how well you can work with your team to accomplish these goals. Teamwork is important no matter where you go. When everybody truly works together, they will always, 100% of the time do a better job than one person ever could.

In the end though, all of these things: teamwork, attention to detail, volunteer service, all of it is just a piece of our overall puzzle: leadership. Leadership is an enigma that has many different definition, but it comes down to one thing. Leaders are called on to make decisions. And they aren't always the easy decisions. If they were, everyone would be a leader. Often, they are hard decisions, involving morals, money, and sometimes lives.

And it's important to make the decision because there is only one other option: to not make that decision. To not make a decision will always hold the greater horror to any decision that could have been made, because of its consequences. Not making a decision is indeed making a decision, and it is making the worst possible decision. Our actions are no longer proactive; they are reactive. In essence, we no longer control our situation, and as a result we no longer have control over ourselves.

Leaders change this. They make that decision. And whether it is the right decision or the wrong decision will thus matter less. It is more important that the decision was made. Followers have been given direction and people have been given hope. For that truly is what a leader is. Napoleon Bonaparte once said "A leader is a dealer in hope." And that is what we train to be and hope to become.

It is our job as cadets is to learn from those who have come before and teach to those that follow behind so that we may always make the decision. Before I end this, I want to leave you with one thought from Mary Luise Anderson. She said "Leaders are called to stand in that lonely place between the no longer and not yet, and intentionally make decisions that will bind, forge, move and create history. They are not called to be popular, they are not called to be safe, they are not called to follow. They are the ones called to take risks, they are ones called to change attitudes; to risk displeasures, they are the ones called to gamble their lives for a better world." That's leadership, ladies and gentlemen. In the timeless words of Yoda "Do, or do not. There is no try."