Question:
How do I prepare for my Civil Air Patrol encampment? (CAP)?
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2009-12-31 10:43:04 UTC
Hi, I want to start getting ready for the encampment Civil Air Patrol encampment in June and I wanted to ask what I should do to prepare. Are there any little details I should know, or skills I should learn? For example I know you should be able to make minor sewing repairs if your uniform rips, you should be able to mop and clean, but what are some other skills/abilities I should learn. Also, what happens at the encampments, what do you do. Is there a PT test or just PT. I don't know if this matters but by the time I attend I'll be at least a master sergeant, so I already quite a good amount of drill, and customs and courtesies. I also know how to drill with the guidon, but not very well. I still have a few months before the encampment so if you have any advice as to what I should ask my squadron members to teach me, please let me know. Also, if you know any websites I can go to that will help me out please tell me. Also, if you can try and let me know about the way they want the basics to fold their clothes and organize their closets please tell me. And how are you supposed to fold the socks into a "smiley face"? (I saw this in a SOI) I am in the Texas Wing of CAP, and the encampment will be at the alert academy in Big Sandy Texas, and I have been to the CTEP NCOA (if that matters). Once again please give me every minute detail about the encampment and how to prepare. Also, if there are any odd rules let me know.

PS: Is it true that you can't wear ribbons or cords on your blues until graduation day? And if you want to look in the Texas SOI it's at texascadet.org

also, what parts of the SOI should I actually memorize, and what parts are just "filler"? And do they give you time specifically to shower or do you have to do that in whatever free time you have?
Five answers:
anonymous
2010-01-01 00:44:59 UTC
I used to be in CAP, but my squadron got lazy and quit. So there is basically no one left. But I can tell you that my encampment experience was one of the best times of my cap experience. it was pretty tough, dont get me wrong, but it was definately worth it.



Ok so about noon we check in (in blues), make sure how to report!!! that is the "Sir cadet _____ reporting " (something like that, look it up in leadership book). They will give you a cabin, barracks, room to go to and you meet the rest of your flight there. Your commanding officers will be there and they will go through your stuff to make sure you dont have anything like a phone or knife. So basically they throw all of your stuff on the bed and they look through it all. Then after everyone is settled in we go to an orientation where the head honcho (director or whatever of the encampment talks to you). they will tell you the basics and the rules of the week. Then you will spend a little time with your flight and then you will go eat. I hated eating!! it sucked. You stand in line with your SOI level with your eye and your elbow has to parallel to the ground and with a flew flights in front of you, you get tired. you go through the line and follow the rest of your flight to go eat. They will give you about 8 min to eat and you are not allowed to look anywhere else besides your plate. I know it sounds ridiculous, but its cap. Good stuff, i know. then you go back, and if your place that you went to anything like ours, you dont take showers all week. so you dont really do all that much that first nnight. just get everything in shape. like they will teach you how to make your bed. (youtube might teach you if interested look up something about hospital corners/military way). You are told to put up your things. They gave us the choice of putting it in the dressers, dont just throw it in your suitcase, you are going to be crunched for time. you dont have to fold your socks into a smiley face. In the schedule it says free time for after dinner, before bed, but there really isnt. you are going to be ironing your bdu's. if your lucky like my flight, you will get a fire hazard barracks and have to be move during the night because someone left the iron plugged in lol. but prepare in your 'free time'. Study your SOI!!! Specifically the ranks! thats all you need to know. go look it up. i know its on the website. i did the same. sorry i forgot to mention, but while waiting anywhere, you will study/be tested on the ranks in the SOI. know it!! they will yell and yell. That is day one..



Day two:



wake up about 4:30 and go to bathroom and go do some pt!! woo. be ready. you will already have your black shirt and shorts on but grab your hat, and your canteen and your cap id( do not under any circumstances leave without your cap id, you need it to sign in on the first day and you need it for those surprise inspections). if you have contacts ask your officer to wake you up a few minutes early so that you can go do that. I cant remember if you wear your pt gear or your bdu's to breakfast. Breakfast is basically the same as dinner as i mentioned earlier. you will then go to barracks and change. You need to be ready with your bdu's on. from your boots to your jacket in about 5 min. (Tip: have everything ready. you need a pocket sized memo book, a pen, pencil, soi, canteen, and cap id with you when you have bdu's) i just put all that into my hat, your choice. you will make your bed. and go do some event. that event could be obstacle course, shooting range, there are a few lectures in there, and you will learn from those and that will be spread throughout the week. Then on to lunch, and do some other event. go to dinner and then come back, get cleaned up, get stuff done basically. If you are religious, then there is a service later in the week. Make sure you have plenty of rest because you will get very tired. you will go to sleep about 10: 30 and wake up about 4:30 and you may have to do some car guiding thing during the night. luckily my flight didnt have to do it.



Then most of the days will go on like that. The last 2 days will you will learn parade drills and go to a dinner, where you can relax, no soi's, no staring at your food, its great. something to look forward to. The last day: no pt!! woo! you have breakfast and you go straight to blues from there. when putting on your blues, kind of get ready to go. then your flight will go practice parade marching. and you will eventually do that at noon and you will leave after that. To go onto some of your specific questions...



repairing uniforms: I guess it would be nice to learn how to fix a ripped uniform, but it wasn't ever really needed. so you can if you want, i wouldnt worry about it



mop/cleaning: you can do that already, its not a big deal. you will have to help clean up the mess hall one day but its not bad at all. dont worry about it. you



PT: there is pt just about every morning, hope your ready. it wasnt bad for me, but im pretty decently in shape. but then one time after dinner or lunch you will all have to work out together. everyone will do pushups, stretch, etc, etc.. Then another time you will have to test and you will in fact have to run a mile and do a pt test just like you do at your squadron yay! so basically both.



Drill: there will be a drill off and basic instruction and you will practice it as very large groups and just with your flight. so know it well. you will learn eyes right, and such but its not a big deal.



Customs: salute everyone that has a higher rank, or that you think has a higher rank, and the flag. if you are walking, you can drop it as soon as you pass them. if standing, then wait for salute back. if you are marching in group, dont worry about.



guidon: it can be nice to know how to do guidon. you are always at the front and you get a cool flag, so i would go for it.



clothes: everything is rushed at encampment, you wont have time to organize your stuff all the time. if you have the option to keep it in your suitcase..do that! there will be a place to hang up blues and bdu's so they dont get wrinkled, but if there isn't, try to keep it flat. i've never heard of the smiley face socks, so dont worry about



SOI: go look up your flight on the website and you will find the ranking. memorize it and be able to list it off. then at encampment study the other stuff. the other stuff is important, its just not the stuff you are tested on.



Events that you may do: we had a lot of leadership and aerospace lectures. we built little airplanes and had a competition between the flights for aerospace ed. you will have obstacle course, shooting range with 22 rifles, we had a thing where they gave us direction and we formed a search line and if we did it correctly there were hershey bars waiting to be rescued. so know your compass. pt was pretty cool. thats all i can think of..



Tips:

find a battle buddy when you meet your flight. you will be their buddy if you need to go to the nurse, bathroom, etc.. without your flight.

know your SOI.

also know the ranks, but you should already know that.

be loud and proud. use your diapragm.

be ready for pt

salute your commanding officers

eat fast

do everythhing the best you can, its what your officers like to see



But I know that was a lot, and i hope you have fun man. i went 3 years ago and i remembered all of that. hell, ill probably remember it for the rest of my life. You will have fun and learn a lot. They will yell a lot and you might be a little intimidated, but it gets better, trust me. It was definately worth it.



also i went to one in texas, it was by austin
twardy
2016-11-11 16:06:33 UTC
Cap Encampment
Steven
2009-12-31 12:38:26 UTC
i am in CAP, first ill tell you now that it is not as hard as they make it sound at all. they will teach you how to do all that stuff you listed that is not common sense. PT is not a test and is not really difficult unless you are doing it harder than you have to (which i did) but you dont really have to prepare for it. Have fun, unless you go in with the thought that people yelling at you have something personal against you you will have fun. just remember that the staff members that seem mean are doing so simply because it is their job. Just go and have fun, i dont think i had to take any tests there at all so as long as you stay throughout the ten days or so you will "pass". also i went at 12 years old, im not sure how old you are but i can tell from what you wrote that you are much more mature and prepared than i was at the time. (i went in 2005 and am now a cadet captain).

by the way, the first three days are the only ones that i didnt enjoy as much, i didnt hate it but it wasnt as fun, get through them and the rest is great. most of mine was drill and teaching military bearing or out doing something fun such as rideing helicopters or launching model rockets. have fun
anonymous
2016-03-03 04:03:55 UTC
i was once in it and nothing unless your a lieutenant sq 45
alexander m
2009-12-31 12:50:49 UTC
shouldnt this go in teh school section or something?

CAP isnt military, its like the boyscouts...



edit: it pretty much is the boyscouts. explorers are part of the boy scouts and they get kids interested in either the PD or FD. cap just gets kids interested in the af. but if u compare teh 2 (explorers and cap): same thing more or less.


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