When we were homeschooling all three boys full time, that was
a lot of time with Mom.
As far as their education goes, it was basically
all mom, all the time.
And as awesome as I naturally am (HA!),
that was not a great long-term strategy with young men.
So I started looking for something - I wasn't even sure what.
Somewhere they'd be around other young men, with good role models.
The funny thing is, I'd heard of Civil Air Patrol before, but had gotten the (wrong) impression that it was something Air Force bases offered to Air Force kids. When I learned that it was open to civilians AND that we had a squadron right in our hometown, well... all the boys got interested. Gunnar was too young to join initially (have to be 12), so Wyatt and Tate had a head-start on him and he got to learn the ropes second hand.
When the boys played soccer one of the things I loved was that it was seasonal. We'd have a really busy 8-10 weeks, and then it was done. Not so with CAP. Squadron meetings and activities go year-round. With waaaay more opportunity than any one person can take advantage of, the boys had to pick and choose which activities to participate in. Wyatt really loved the flying. Besides the O-flights, he won a scholarship to Desert Eagle - a two week flight school, where he got to fly solo. He and Tate both trained and participated in several SAR activities (including actual searches). Tate and Gunnar both volunteered as "victims" for many CERT classes, and eventually took and passed CERT classes themselves. And Gunnar competed for two (three?) years on the squadron's CyberPatriot team.
But with activities continuing in a perpetual cycle, there's no natural "endpoint" to CAP involvement, and we didn't want the boys to just fizzle out. Gunnar's goal was to earn the Billy Mitchell Award. This is A Big Deal in the CAP world. I wish I could remember what percentage of cadets get this far, but it's relatively small. And make no mistake, the cadets earn these promotions - they don't just get them for showing up week after week. Though this award did not require a drill test, it did require a comprehensive leadership exam, a comprehensive aerospace exam, a PT test, completion of Basic Encampment, and a review board interview.
And here's Gunnar's big moment, at the annual squadron "Dining Out",
receiving his award from a high muckety-muck from "Wing".
And with that... I think we're done with CAP.
A great organization - lots of opportunities and generally a great bunch of people.
And now we're moving on.
2 comments:
As I've watched them through the years I felt that this was a much better option than BS... They just aren't the same as they were back in the 70's. Fine young men who have experienced some great things! :)
Thanks for your kind words, Monica :D I know lots of people who have had great experiences with BSA, but it was completely off the table as far as I was concerned. No organization is perfect, but we've had a good experience with CAP :D
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