By Finster | AuxBeacon News Contributor
Achtung Zusatzfunkfeuer!
In response to a CAPTalk post from Lt Col Darin Ninness on the bungled visitation of Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson to CAP NHQ, “Eclipse” offered a mocking retort on 12 Dec 17 at 2020hrs UTC. (Please release the video I sent to you!) [Admin: We have been sent an unedited video and our editors are working on a separate article. Finster has effectively written his own piece that can be released straight away. Thank you for your contribution.]
The CAPTalk VIP [Ninness] then implied that “Eclipse” was not properly drinking the Kool-Aid nor serving it up to the troops as a good senior officer in the “Cult of Aggressive Positivity” should.
Eclipse would have none of this dressing-down and tersely defended his derision.
Next, forum recruit Grant Henninger entered the fray and with the full weight of his previous 6 posts he unloaded on [redacted] “Bob” [redacted].
“Bob, you don’t know me, but if you have such a poor attitude towards CAP, then it’s time for you to find other outlets for your energy. Hopefully ones that will bring greater fulfillment and more joy to your life. Remember, attitudes are contagious, and if you have a bad attitude about CAP it will spread to others who you interact with, both online and in person…”
Obviously, Grant is completely oblivious to the long history of embezzlement, sexual harassment, pedophilia, threats and reprisal abuse in Civil Air Patrol that were detailed by former CAP-USAF IG Lt Col Allan T. Stein in his 2005 autobiography, in USA Today and in the articles here on your site. Please add links and artwork to this write-up as needed to direct Grant Henninger to what “Bob” and others have learned over the many years dealing with Civil Air Patrol corruption.
It really grinds my gears that just when the membership finally has the vectors and momentum to get Congress to fumigate this “brood of snakes on a plane,” that such a Cotton-headed Ninness-Muggins could attempt to stifle those making the necessary effort.
If Kirsten Gillibrand will not be silenced regarding Congress and Air Force molestation and abuse, then neither should [redacted] “Bob” [redacted] or Lt Col Jeff O’Hara.
See Attachments
V/r,
Finster
[Admin: Our editors provided the staff a preview of the Benny Hill style outtakes from the SecAF Heather Wilson national visitation video. Funny stuff. Here’s a sample for you.]
Civil Air Patrol SecAF Heather Wilson visitation video preview.
Ninness was recently promoted by Mark Smith to be the New Hampshire wing commander. This is the same guy that publicly trashed the CAP while promoting the US Army cadet corps for Col. Land. He hasn’t done much in the way of recruiting at the national level…
[Admin: It shows how many good people have walked away leaving Smith stuck with, well, you can choose your own descriptive word.]
This spat is just an example of the absurdity going on to try to ssave CAP! Our wing rarely has missions any more and where cadets once wanted to be on ground teams and wear their badges now few even care. We have lost scores of senior members who were veteran and experienced mambers because of how command treats them, ignores their input and plays games like ignoring complaints. Or punishing the people who ask questions.
One wing to the south of us has a group project going to record all the lies their former wing commander and now region VIP told and the list is reportedly very long. And the former commander cannot be bothered to even correct his lies and is seeking to find who is keeping the list so he can file a complaint and kick them out. If I can get a copy of the list I will send it.
In our squadron meeting last week our commander had a wing VIP attend to address our concerns with people leaving and us not even having people available to sign off quals. We were told that the region was aware of the problem and it is us. We need to recruit people and, get this, attend more professional development event and attend the region conference.
Apparently the region conference will feature the national big guys and the BOG so the push is to get numbers. No mention of our lost members and the experience and knowledge now gone. No mention of how to get new missions so even our cadets will want to be on ground teams or get involved with missions. We hear promises from the region about a drone team and no one has even addressed that project and even the supposed members of the team know nothing about it. More lies. More promises. And now it’s the squadron fault because we are not signing up new members or paying dollars to go to staff colleges.
Ninness on CAPTALK and other places is all about recruiting and there is NOTHING about what do do with all these new people except get them into professional development. To do what? No missions, empty promises, favoritism, fat old colonels telling CAP war stories that are probably fake.
The region staff has been told to get the wings on board with a numbers game. I love it that I can3 come to this site and see the absurdity going on and choose to stay a member or not. And if I keep paying dues I will probably get tossed out because I might slip that I visit this site.
I am angry that members with expertise are told to STFU and fall in line and not ask questions. These are volunteers with a lot to offer and some tincan colonel who has no mission experience decides they’re a threat to his mess dress event because they might ask questions and the colonel might learn his program is bogus.
So our squadron and mostly the cadets will now be held accountable for some fake goal of recruiting and our seniors who are mostly parents will need to go to some bogus staff college so some fake colonel can tell them to go get more people. Hate to say it but some of us joined to serve and not babysit and con others into joining.
I am not a member, but I recently saw some CAP people selling wreaths.
I have a question. Why does the CAP wear the USAF uniform and have USAF rank? It seems silly, unprofessional and fake. The Boy Scouts have their own distinct uniforms.
Wouldn’t they be better off representing the CAP with their own uniforms and distinction rather than be fake USAF?
I watched the latest spat on CAP-Talk. Before anyone jumps to conclusions, I think some questions should be asked. I am hopeful that AuxBeacon will release this comment so I can ask here, because the CAP-Talk people didn’t ask the correct questions and shut down the thread.
Still a 2nd Lt after 10 years? Has the complainant ever served or asked to serve in a duty position? If he’s never taken on a duty position and worked the online courses, then asking for better flying or a more active unit would not be appropriate.
What is the implication being made with the “God of Abraham line?”
The Civil Air Patrol is not a flying club, so a lack of service in roles other than piloting could certainly be stated openly as a reason not to extend an offer until that was rectified. Could the phrase “membership portfolio” be the honest clue?
The Martinsburg unit could be justified here but need better training in communications. Need more info.
I saw that exchange too and had the same questions. What the hell? How could they not have asked and by not asking just left this guy with a false impression?
The 2dLt here… I never joined CAP to earn some bogus rank, that’s why I have never gotten around to sending in the box tops to get my 1stLt bars… not what I joined for. I also never joined to be anything other than an emergency aircrew member – I was not there for the flying, I was there to serve with the ability to respond to an emergency request for emergency search and rescue or disaster relief or perhaps for border patrol and homeland security missions.
Since it was apparent that the “squadron” needed certain administrative tasks done, I was willing to do such and served as communications officer, operations officer and testing officer in previous squadrons. My job has required many relocations, so I have been in a number of different wings. I have spent an enormous amount of time over the years attending ES related training, and thousands of dollars on travel and flying expenses in order to maintain flying preparation, proficiency and readiness for the ES mission – which never seemed to happen.
Oh, and did I mention all the time spent getting my blue beret daughter to and from meetings in a different squadron? Taking the CAP van with cadets cross country to MERSAR? Getting daughter to and from NESA? Or my own trips – three times – to NESA for training? I think I have made more than enough sacrifice to CAP oer the years to be able to join a squadron – especially after I agreed to take on the PAO or Admin jobs they wanted me to take on.
Hello 2nd Lt… you completely miss the point. Those ‘box-tops’ you mentioned are there for a reason. To be part of an aircrew, you had to have some training? Fact is, I retired fm the active ang after eight years active USN. Anyway, you do the courses to LEARN things. As bad as CAP can be (I’ve been a victim these past several years, hence I’m retiring) there still are a lot of good going on. Do I assume correctly (yes, I hate to ass.u.me anything) you’re in a senior squadron? If you were in a composite squadron, with cadets around, I’d most likely ask you to leave long ago. Yes, lots of courses are mindless, while others can actually keep you and your commander out of jail, or your aircrew alive.
I should write a book (or at least a pamphlet) on how to survive CAP as a senior. After all the years in the military, I expected CAP to function like it’s older mother, the USAF. After all, CAP uses regs and instructions, just like the military, right?. Sadly, these instructions means little except during SUIs. A dear friend and a longtime Lt. Col. spoke to my frustrations about CAP. His advice? “You gotta ignore the slights and problems and stop comparing CAP with the military, if you want to continue to serve CAP.” At the time I was involved with the cadet program and loved teaching CAP cadets how not to be ‘sgt rocks’ and care for their people. We had fun, had missions, performed well (then I was sent to group, and CAP stopped being fun).
So, Lieutenant, call me judgemental, but what you wrote is all bovine scatology. It’s all excuses. Safety briefings? Upgrade training in your current job? You just might learn something that could make CAP better. Only an idiot (idiot spoken with a french accent) would stay in an organization and moan and complain and throw stones from the inside. Just leave. Sorry if this is old news and you’re gone…https://youtu.be/emOc59axn4A
LOL. We can never “unsee” this and after going to the source to read the comments, UGH. CAP commanders are not credible and their PAOs and recruiters are unqualified in damage control. A volunteer service organization based on “core values” cannot just pretend that our leaders never crashed, cheated, spied, lied, concealed, embezzled or intimidated and harmed the reputation of members and former members who tried to end unethical practices.
In retaliation for these recent public outings, will the leadership seek new member terminations so that even more dirty laundry is sent to NOTF and AuxB? Or, has the fear of continued leaks so paralyzed CAP command that they can no longer afford to 2B loudmouths who speak openly and unfavorably against them without an authorized PAO?
Until they begin to address all the harm they have done, CAP and Air Force leadership is caught between a rock and a hard-place and will not be able to move forward.
Ninness as an Elf is hilarious!
Unbelievable! The idea that Senior SMs like “Bob”, “Tubarks” and “Spam” who gave decades of volunteer service to our program should STFU and drink the downstream so that the compliant coverup cabal can hold power after the shuffles and terminations is a stinking abomination and a national disgrace.