By AuxBeacon News Staff
The Aux Sentinel, News of the Force and CAP Insights have reported some shakeup news from the National Conference in Nashville. In addressing Civil Air Patrol’s current problems, the mindset among controlling authorities may be to terminate the head and replace with the cleanest and most immediate eager beaver candidate.
Unfortunately, the devil the BoG doesn’t know could instantly become a much bigger headache based on the content that has been submitted to our repository. Current and former CAP Commanders, in search of power and paid positions, are still in the process of intimidating younger members who have access to evidence and other resources.
When personality conflicts or trouble of “not too abusive nature” arises, the U.S. Air Force has often shuffles personnel to create a new and more functional mix of team members. Sometimes that works and careers can be saved. Unfortunately, cutting off the head and shuffling doesn’t work with Civil Air Patrol because the organization is not going to fund the transfer of volunteers to paid positions in new and interesting locations around the country.
Such a “cut-and-shuffle” solution also fails because of the critical mass of members who have been intimidated, slandered, set-up, investigated and then shuffled off to oblivion. Johnny Dean and several CAP inspector generals and instructor pilots around the nation have been treated this way.
The BoG solution to the elimination of the drumbeat and drip of evidence is threefold:
1. Permanently remove those commanders who perpetrated these injustices from any future command or political influence. They can serve as members and technical advisers, but not as commanders.
2. Understand the volume of evidence available on the corruption of current and previous CAP and CAP-USAF commanders. The BoG needs new people, not a shuffle of older ones. The BoG may solicit information in open communications.
3. Revisit former members or “blackholed” ignored members who were isolated through commander lies and false documents and invite them to return to service.
I was active in Colorado wing and was a mission pilot… The problem with CAP is that they can’t police their own ranks and get rid of the troublemakers fast enough. There is no accountability whatsoever. The turnover is HUGE (except for the troublemakers, who stay forever, and thus cause the HUGE turnover…)and training is a HUGE drain on resources…..the regs call out the establishment of membership review committees, and encourage ‘discontinuing’ memberships for ANY reason….it just doesn’t work, though, due to politics.
After a while, everyone looks at the effort expended vs. the value received, minus the frustration of dealing with the troublemakers, and leaves. Having said that, I’ve had a few great experiences in the CAP, but I would not recommend it to anyone.
Members may be interested in an AF publication called, THE PATH TO EXTINCTION:THE USAF IN 2025. Available online. The apple doesn’t fall far from the sea.
I’ve been watching for three months now and I think your AuxBeacon and the cadets behind you are channeling the spirit of Jimmy Stewart from Mr Smith Goes to Washington.
“I didn’t like this boy from the beginning. But most of us feel that no man [or team] who wasn’t sincere could stage a fight like this against these impossible odds.”
Please use the linked information wisely.
Well put, I get 100% of what they are saying. When I joined as a cadet about 20 years ago, (now a Senior member) I didn’t realize what I was seeing was the twilight of a truly awesome program.
I have the same lack of confidence in our leaders, I have seen too many people do whatever it takes to protect their own. I have seen people flat out lie over very important things and been harassed myself for calling those people out on the carpet, admonished and not promoted because of the stand that I took. To me that says volumes about this organization. When we are more willing to sweep things under the carpet than clean our own house we live in a pig-sty and that, in a way, sums up what we see.
Not to take away what some wonderful people are doing in this program, it just seems that those wonderful people are never chosen or are so jaded by the time they reach the upper echelons they choose not to be leaders.
I think that there should be a push for openness from national on this issue.
NHQ needs to address this NOW. This is no time for cover-ups.
Some said at the National Conference in Nashville that Rowland “did the honorable thing” by retiring before USAF investigated him and CAP was covered by the ensuing mud-bath. I think that the words “honorable” and “Rowland” shouldn’t appear in the same sentence. If Rowland wanted to do the honorable thing he could have OBEYED THE RULES like all other CAP members and paid staffers MUST do.
I think the “good old boys” will allow this organization to implode on itself before they allow the USAF to come in and provide greater oversight and require some accountability from the membership.
Then again, I sometimes wonder if the USAF wouldn’t like to take over, then dismantle the CAP organization permanently. I could see CP going to AFJROTC, AE to the AFA (Air Force Association), and ES responsibilities would be tasked to some other organization within military circles. There would be no more CAP or Auxiliary when they were done gutting it.
I am not privy to the goings on at National and only get my information in ways such as this website. However, this being said, the news that has been passed on through this source should be announced by NHQ instead of covered up by the BOG and the higher echelons. This would quash any rumors (no matter what percentage of them are true) and keep the membership’s knowledge of what is happening with in “our” organization.
I believe that band aiding the problems will cause larger festering down the road. Antibiotics are needed now! The best dose of medication will be to let USAF control the program to a greater degree than what is happening at this time. This would cause more accountability to take place. While saving the program from itself in the long run.
Crooked is as crooked does.