MARAUDER COMPOSITE SQUADRON
Q & A – ESPECIALLY FOR PARENTS
A. The first year it will cost
about $200 to cover uniform cost, membership fees and training material. Civil Air Patrol National Headquarters annual
dues are $31. The Squadron initial
joining fee is $40. This includes a
squadron T-shirt for the cadet, a pair of “CAP” collar insignias (to be worn on
BDU’s which is camos and Class B’s which is blue
dress pants and shirt sent from Headquarters), one “Texas Wing Patch” (to be
placed on BDU’s), cloth tape with “Civil Air Patrol” stitched on it (to be
placed on BDU’s), a “Marauder Squadron” patch (to be worn on BDU’s), Boy Scouts
of America insurance annual premium of $8, and administration fees. When the cadet joins CAP, he/she will be
expected to participate in our annual fundraiser of selling at least five pizza
cards for $10 each, and half of that amount which is $25 will be placed in the
cadet account for him/her to use for Civil Air Patrol expenses. If the family had rather pay $25 instead of
the cadet selling pizza cards this is an option. This is a yearly requirement. Encampment fees are in addition to membership
fees.
A. There are only a couple
local encampments a year. They are
minimal for a one or two-night encampment - $15 - $25. The one-week annual encampment at a military
base is about $100 fee, which includes all food and housing for the seven
days. Encampment is only required if the
cadet wants to earn the Mitchell Award or attend the
Q. How
many meetings are there for my cadet to attend each year?
A. Our Squad meets every week,
48-50 times a year on Monday night from 6:30-9:00 pm. Meetings may be cancelled because of bad
weather, holidays, etc.
Q. What would my cadet wear to meetings?
A. The Marauder Squadron
T-shirt is worn with blue jeans, belt and sneakers until a proper uniform has
been assembled. Once proper uniforms are
assembled, then check the www.tx409 website
weekly to see what to wear that week.
Q. How do we get uniforms?
A. The blue shirt, blue slacks,
belt and cap for the dress uniform will arrive in the mail (shoes are not
provided). You select the sizes when you
fill out the application. These items
are sent as a result of the $30 you send to Headquarters. These items are considered “loans” from the
Air Force and need to be returned to the Squadron when/if the cadet ceases to
attend meetings.
Q. When does the blue uniform arrive?
A. It might take as long as 8
weeks for your order to be processed and sent to your home.
Q. How does my cadet get the blue dress
jacket?
A. When the blue jacket is worn
with the blue slacks and shirt, it is a “Class A” uniform. Our Squadron probably has a jacket in storage
that will fit. It can be exchanged for a
larger one when that one is too small.
These are considered “loaners” and need to be returned when your cadet
leaves the Squadron. The cadet will be
billed about $100 if the jacket is not returned when the cadet leaves the
Squadron. If we do not have a jacket
that fits your cadet, another source for you is e-bay.
A. There are several sources
for purchasing CAP uniforms and accessories.
The Command Post
14400 I-45 North @ Airtex
281-209-3322
The Command Post will carry some CAP patches and
they will sew them on the BDU’s
6914 Interstate 45 N.
713-695-9517
713-785-2362
10607
713-675-3221
281-998-3233
1923 Spring
Spring, TX (8.3 miles from
281-353-0804
713-827-7301
The military surplus stores often have used items at a substantial
savings. Occasionally a cadet in the
Squadron is selling BDU’s they may have outgrown. The BDU costs are included in the $200
estimate discussed in the first question.
Q. Who is in charge at the meetings?
A. When cadets gather, there
has to be two Senior Members (adults) present.
The senior cadets are in charge of much of the activities at the
meetings – training cadets to march in formation – teaching emergency services
information – mentoring for tests, etc.
Senior members hold classes in aerospace education and moral leadership.
Q. What does a cadet need to do in order to
get promoted?
A. Attend a majority of
meetings (see “Cadet Attendance” letter included in packet) and be in proper
uniform (part of the $200 cost). The
requirements vary from promotion to promotion.
He/she will need to pass 1-2 multiple choice tests, PT tests, in
addition to other requirements each time they are promoted. All that information will be in the materials
sent to your home and posted on the website www.tx409.com
under “Cadet Promotions.”
Q. How does a cadet study for written tests?
A. The study materials will be sent to your home
from Headquarters within a month. The
multiple-choice tests can be taken once a month. If the cadet fails the test, someone will
“mentor” your cadet until the test can be passed.
A. No; however, if a parent is
involved with CAP, it helps to keep the cadet on track and earn promotions as
soon as possible.
A. The more adults we have as
members, the better the program is for the cadets (youth). Just helping once or twice a year would be of
great value. We always need adult members
available to help with extra activities and to drive cadets to events. In addition, your cadet would be able to get
credit for recruiting you.
A. Ask the Squadron’s Cadet Commander,
Cadet Programs Officer or Squadron Commander.
The answers to most questions can be found on the following websites.
·
The Squadron Website www.tx409.com
·
The
·
The National Headquarters Website http://www.cap.gov/
Q. How
do we get started?
A. At the first meeting, you
will be given a “Recruit Data” form to be filled out and returned to either
Senior Member – Diane Engelhardt or
Write
two separate checks:
1. CAP
Headquarters $30.00
2. Marauder
Composite Squadron $40.00
Q. What happens next?
1. The new cadet is issued:
a. A Marauder T-shirt to be
worn with blue jeans, belt and sneakers until an appropriate uniform can be
assembled.
b. A pair of “CAP” collar
insignias to be worn on BDU’s and Class B uniforms.
c. One “Texas Wing Patch” to be
placed on BDU’s.
d. Cloth tape with “Civil Air
Patrol” stitched on it to be placed on BDU uniform.
e. Marauder Squadron Patch to
be placed on BDU’s
2. The CAPID card will arrive
in the mail about 2 weeks after the application is received.
3. The cadet should review
cadet training material and promotion requirements found on Marauder website, www.tx409.com.
4. The cadet should purchase
BDU”s, cap, boots, name tape, etc.
5. The cadet should prepare to
have that uniform inspected at a meeting.
6. The training information
will arrive – It’s called the Blue Binder.
7. The cadet studies and begins
the testing process for the first promotion.
8. The blue uniform arrives in
the mail.
9. The cadet will have to order a name plate through Vanguard which can be accessed via computer at www.civilairpatrolstore.com or by phone 1-800-433-1334 Vanguard West or 1-800-221-1264 Vanguard East (there are also links from National Headquarters website www.cap.gov).
10. The cadet places nameplate and insignias properly on the blue uniform.
11. The blue uniform (Class B) is worn and inspected at a meeting.
**The cadets are in charge of instructing new cadets about uniform requirements. If your cadet has questions about where to place patches on uniforms he/she should contact their element leader. There is also information on our website www.tx409.com under CAP uniform manual.