Civil air patrol

[JimRice85]

Just beware the wannabe warriors who fancy themselves real military members. They are the exception, but they are out there.

[Anymouse]

Okay, um uniforms are required at every meeting, whether it is your PT uniform, your Blues (AF style), or your BDUs (camo). Senior members do not have to march.

I'm assuming that you're referring to cadets only. The only time Seniors are required to wear a uniform is when they're flying in a CAP aircraft or on a CAP mission if in a non-CAP aircraft.

[Jim Hann]

Just beware the wannabe warriors who fancy themselves real military members. They are the exception, but they are out there.

Yep, few and far in between but I have seen them at OSH and a few other places. I've got a buddy who is a CAP Senior and he is real laid back about it, airline pilot in real life, no prior military.

[Bill Greenwood]

The CAP cadets at EAA are helpful, that is, most of the time. They can get carried away with being too serious sometimes, but I am sure they are just doing what they think they are told to do.
One year my plane was parked just east of the volunteer building, where I was sitting in the shade and thinking about what to do when flying in the show. The Cap cadets were being plane guards, so that the area was mostly clear. When it was almost time to go, I walked out to my plane and of course the CAP guy was after me like a duck on a june bug. I explained that I needed to get in the plane in order to fly it. This seem to give him pause for a moment, then he went back to telling me that I shouldn't be there and should not touch the plane. Finally, since I wasn't making much progress with talking to him, I just went ahead and got in . Fortunately he wasn't armed, so not dangerous.
He wasn't there 30 minutes later when I came back.

I wish the kids could get some time off, to come over to the display areas as individuals, not as some formal group function, and get to know the planes and talk to the pilots in a relaxed way.

I've seen cadets get to fly in the gliders at Boulder which they seem to enjoy.

I might even offer them a free flight if they wanted as long as they would quit calling me "sir".

[JimRice85]

I had CAP Cadets try telling me I couldn't go to my plane (BT-13) once. I just said "Really" and kept walking and climbed in. That didn't bother me. At another air show I was in my military flight suit with my 2LT bars on the shoulders (I was an aerial observer on OH-58s) when some CAP LTC thought he was going to "light me up" for not saluting him. I actually didn't see him, not that it would have made a difference. He came away from the encounter much more enlightened about being a civilian and not really being a commissioned officer.

Almost all my other encounters with CAP types have been okay to neutral. A few folks are wrapped a bit too tight, but generally most are okay.

[iflyprops]

CAP, from what I have observed, is one of the most dangerous organizations in aviation. From flying, undoubtedly, over gross to flying VFR in IMC conditions. I'm sure there are bad eggs and "squadrons" but my experience being in their presence has been dismal.

[PA11]

The Civil Air Patrol is responsible for more search and rescues for not closing flight plans than most, which is ironic.

All swivel chair patrol jokes aside, I was a cadet who stuck with it through most of high school, and thoroughly enjoyed it. As with any volunteer organization, you'll only get out of it what you put in.