My brother, a member of Civil Air Patrol, is going to go to 8 days of modified boot camp between the second and ninth of August. Encampment, as it is titled, is a time for making friends, beds, and laundry. Since CAP is the auxiliary of the Air Force, they wear uniforms, follow customs and courtesies, and become experts in drill and ceremonies. All of this is done in a hardcore fashion at encampment. It's always very cool and rewarding for the cadets who approach it with the right attitude. However, due to the extensive physical training that they go through, two sets of the battle dress uniforms are required. And he only has one.
This one set of BDUs cost me many hours of stress, sweat, and consternation. They're REALLY into measuring things during the inspections, so if something is a tiny bit off, the cadets are expected to have it remedied by the next inspection. To make matters worse, different inspecting officers measure things differently and have different opinions on how it should be. So, I ripped off those patches over and over again, hoping to appease the different gentlemen. In all honesty, I was beginning to think they had some conspiracy to ruin my sanity going. But, after a month or two, I managed to get it right. Scott doesn't get barked at anymore, and I don't have to fight with any more inanimate objects.
Well, I won't until his new set arrives tomorrow. I have a lot of work ahead of me. His CA Wing patch has to be creased and placed three quarters of an inch below the shoulder seam. The non-creased, reversed, flag patch needs to be attached to a creased sleeve one half of an inch below the shoulder seam. The name tape and CAP tape need to be affixed above the breast pockets, touching the top edge of said pockets and the sides lined up with the sides of the pockets.
Then, they need to pass inspection, which seems to be a slightly subjective process. Ah, well. Even if I'm not in CAP, I get to experience all of the affects of being in it. :)
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