By Orwell’s Cherry | AuxBeacon News Contributor
[Editor’s Note: We received permission to edit and update this contribution from the original author. Thank you for helping to spell out these games for new members who will not be receiving this briefing from recruiters, commanders or gullible defenders in the forums.]
I read “Brian’s song” (comment) accusing your authors of “cherry picking” abuse and accident stories for show-and-tell on this new blog of CAP accountability. I am surprised your editors have not answered him. Brian needs to learn two sad facts about Civil Air Patrol. Permit me?
First, while there are many good volunteer pilots, rangers and educators working the missions of Civil Air Patrol for the benefit of the nation’s youth, there are also many predators and sociopaths exploiting that volunteer labor for their own economic and political advancement. Volunteer whistle-blowers of the 21st century are merely seeing for themselves what former CAP-USAF Inspector General Lt Col Stein recorded in his book.
“There are some very fine people involved in the CAP… However there were also some Wings whose people used the CAP to further their own agendas. They are supposed to instill a desire for flying in young people, which hopefully they do. However, at that time, they took advantage of their situation to raise money that was spent on lavish parties for a small group of top commanders and their wives.”
Second, Brian must come to understand how the organization’s commanders and attorney(s) have methodically turned Civil Air Patrol’s dingy public record into a wheel of imitation Swiss Cheese. The coincidental timing of events with sex offender Alger Conger and the passing of firebrand Carol Grant revealed how commanders and attorneys have erased negative stories about Civil Air Patrol people previously reported in the national funny papers. (Tip: February 26th, 2003 story from the New Hampshire Union Leader on Conger’s arrest and the November 11th, 1977 story from the Oswego Palladium showing that “Colonel” Conger was a search coordinator for Civil Air Patrol.)
Just last year in June 2017, CAPTalk revealed demands for Subunit Inspection that webmasters delete EVERYTHING on local unit websites over 6 months old. This could be an attempt to prevent CAP critics from running spider-bots building databases on Civil Air Patrol events and people.
Eradication of Civil Air Patrol’s Raw History
Then, in July 2017, Major Jim Matthews, Commander of Virginia Wing’s Group 3, called attention to Civil Air Patrol’s attempt to manage the press in the Deatsville, Alabama glider crash.
Maj Matthews stated:
“If I were the reporter and a Wing PAO tried to convince me that a glider incident – resolved successfully and publicly – involving a cadet pilot was FOUO and that I should leave CAP out of it, after I stopped laughing I would immediately file a sidebar story about the Wing trying to suppress the details of the story.”
Soon after, in August 2017, Tex Gadget gave new life to the buried Chapter 12 of Lt Col Stein’s autobiography. Suddenly, from out of nowhere the filthy senator and his Civil Air Patrol “boy Wing Commander” became known to CAP members, parents and the general public.
“It finally came to me why the Wing Commander, a CAP colonel who was an obscure air force reserve captain, had a mobilization assignment in Washington D.C. He was the senator’s “number one boy” who was buying votes for the senator with the misappropriated air force property. I contacted my commander and explained the situation to him…. the senator was too powerful… I left with political thieves openly stealing from the air force.”
Finally, one of the most damning stories of Civil Air Patrol theft and commander corruption might have disappeared completely if not for third party efforts to cherry pick and preserve it. The story originally ran in the Dayton Daily News on August 6th, 2012
Civil Air Patrol won’t release findings of probe of historians’ complaints
“The Civil Air Patrol, a 70-year-old nonprofit that operates as an official U.S. Air Force auxiliary and receives tens of millions of dollars in federal funding annually for search and rescue and other operations, won’t release findings of an internal investigation into allegations its historians stole donated artifacts.”
The online version ran at a link which has since been removed.
http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/news/civil-air-patrol-wont-release-findings-of-probe-of/nP9fs/
Fortunately, Newsbank, Kathyrn’s Report and AuxBeacon preserved the original story so that members and critics can access it in context.
From what I have seen from contributions here and in News of the Force, the people who were involved in the CAP Historical Foundation theft and its concealment before the Total Force announcement are still making profitable hay in other Civil Air Patrol ventures. Neither Chuck Carr nor Richard Greenwood have been shown the exit for their involvement in shielding these individuals.
This is precisely why sites like Blue Penguin’s Fit-2-Fly, Kathryn’s Report, Sky Graffiti, CAP Insights and AuxBeacon are required to pick and preserve “the cherries of creeps” in Civil Air Patrol.
Many new Civil Air Patrol recruits get turned off by what they find in local units. When they look here, they find internal reports and stories confirming the corruption across the nation. The newly educated and newly skilled rapidly exit the program and we are left with the same old tired hands.
In any hierarchy, employees tend to rise to the level of their incompetence. This is the Peter Principle proposed by Lawrence J. Peter of the University of Southern California.
This leads to Peter’s Corollary: “In time every post tends to be occupied by an employee who is incompetent to carry out its duties… Work is accomplished by those employees who have not yet reached their level of incompetence.”
This is particularly true in [redacted] Civil Air Patrol.
“CAP’s 60,000 members also perform homeland security, disaster relief and drug interdiction missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies.”
I don’t think so. Here’s a set of slides [link removed] from a recent conference. You do the math. Also, take note of their own concern of the 89% “white maleness” of this fraternity.
We are being told that this site is the result of 2B’d members, but if you speak out against CAP corruption you will be terminated for exposing their dirty laundry. I was told that former Georgia Wing Commander and National Safety Officer Lyle Letteer was 2Bd and that Col Robert Diduch was pushed away as well. We need accountability, not gag orders that help dirt bags advance in the program.
We notice ur admin talking about a spam filter, so we thought wed try again to send u information on the Swivel Chair Patrol Twitter account. CAP’s clueless National Commander Mark Smith appears along with our Utah Wing Xbox child molester. Also sending thru ur contact form.
Man, that CrAP Talk screencap is killer. Depending on your point of view CAP Talk is either a disaster or a savior in exposing the corruption. A strange brew of social climbers, yakkers and drooling idiots feeding off each other and always embarrassing the organization. OTOH, some people get to slam the national staff and get away with it.
So [redacted] obvious that even a few dirty rotten cherries at the top, can ruin the whole pie.
boy Wing Commander, that conjures up a funny image. sorry. Look up Perta.
Unsure whether to laugh or cry at this tragicomedy. The details are stunning.
Good summary of the history. Civil Air Patrol people do cherry pick the positive stories for presentation on unit websites and at Air Show events to boost recruiting and revenue from member dues. CAP’s commanders are not under the UCMJ and, if favored, can enjoy adulterous affairs, but they can also selectively enforce its moral turpitude clause if and when it helps them remove their political opponents.
There is not much emphasis on how to identify and collect evidence on corrupt commanders who might attempt to violate the first and fifth amendment rights of members in this paramilitary group.
I would add the threats and intimidation tactics used.
After the leaks to The Maui News on the Zayas forgery and right before he was balloon extracted to Pacific Region, Col Wong had no fear in telling us:
“To remain in compliance with this regulation, all information about the CAP going to the media will be sent to the Wing Director of Public Affairs prior to release for approval. All media inquiries will be directed to the Wing Director of Public Affairs. This does not apply to squadron commanders and unit Public Affairs Officers acting in the normal course of their duties. Failure to comply with this regulation will result in disciplinary action.”
Of course, in the same set of strokes, he told us that that
“position of Wing Director of Public Affairs is currently vacant. All of the above will be directed to the Hawaii Wing Chief of Staff-Academics and Support until the position of Wing Director of Public Affairs is filled.”
That’s damn hoʻomākeʻaka right there.
I opted not to renew and I am glad that I don’t have a decade of time invested in this mess.
I was in CAP for like a month. It was run by a huge home schooled family that was for some reason addicted to donuts. Weirddddd [redacted] organization.