Volunteering

[ColoradoAviator]

Hello everybody! I'm going to be leaving the flight instruction business in another month or so and moving back to hotel Mom for awhile. I had PRK in October and have 12 months before I can apply for a OTS/UPT slot.

I flew my butt off as a CFI this summer and the 24/7 on-call "will fly for food" schedule has taken its toll on me. I'm looking forward to moving back home and getting a job doing something with a set schedule and lunch breaks.

In the mean time I would like to do some volunteer work to become a "whole person" or so the AF saying goes. I'm already looking into CAP because I still enjoy teaching and wouldn't mind using my CFI and ground instructor tickets to teach kids more about aviation and the Air Force.

I'm looking on suggestions for USAF preferred volunteer activities that might look good for a UPT board. Any suggestions are appreciated!

[Guest JPritch]

I don't know if there are any "USAF preferred" volunteer activities. It's my feeling that any type of selfless volunteer service will reflect positively on your character.

You can do Meals on Wheels, Big Brother/Sister, Habitat for Humanity, Soup Kitchen etc.....

Do it because you want to help your community and not because it's going to make you look good.

[Toro]

Any legit volunteer work is something you can put on your Officer/Enlisted Performance Report. Habitat for Humanity has a good relationship with Seymour Johnson AFB and draws a lot of volunteers from there - occasionally on down days we'll get squadron Habitat work groups.

[ClearedHot]

I will give a shameless plug for Big Brothers. I do it because it is right, and I don't put it on my OPR. Great program, you can make a difference.

[Gravedigger]

Have you ever done an Angel Flight? That is a great program for volunteer work, plus you still get to fly. You can be a pilot if you have your own plane or want to rent. Or you can co-pilot and fly with other people. I know of co-pilots that have gotten rides in sweeeet planes. Angel Flight America . You should check it out.

[Guest JPritch]

C17, what are the licensing and time requirements to fly or co-pilot for AngelFlight?

[Guest deweygcc]

Gag me on the CAP thing. My only exp. with that Old Bastards club was basically " yeah, you can fly once then we use the planes for our on pleasure on the Govs Dime"

Did anyone see that USAF officer magazine with that CAP special? This Cap Col. was saying how proud he was that he flew on 9/11. I guess one of his Scanner buds heard that some Otis ANG F15a's went supersonic.

[Gravedigger]

To act as PIC, you must be instrument rated and have 250 hours logged. I can't find the co-pilot requirements, but I believe they are PPL and 200 hours. The best way to get started with them is to find people at your airport that fly these missions, and ask them if you can ride with them if they aren't full. The parent has to be in the back with the patient, so the front seat is usually open.

[ColoradoAviator]

Thanks for all the suggestions. As soon as I go through yet another move I'll check into all of these suggestions after I unpack.

I think that the co-pilot role with Angel Flight would work very well for me given that I do not own an airplane but do have a CFII. Perhaps some of their mission pilots wouldn't mind a helping hand with IFR duties on flights.

Flight operations aside I would still love to teach cadets (or seniors for that matter) in CAP.

[Guest Awol55]

Dewey et. al IMHO you guys should chill on the CAP thing. As AD (and later Guard) 0-3, Willie Alumni (92-11), and CAP LTC, I can say that there are quite a few good people in the CAP. It just takes a few guys to make all of the volunteers look bad.

Awol

[Guest Merqutio]

Hey ColoradoAviator,

What part of Colorado do you live in? I live in Colorado Springs, and was looking around for a good flight school. Any suggestions? I was also interested in joining CAP. Do any of you guys know of a CAP position for non-pilots that would offer good leadership experience?

[Gravedigger]

Merqutio, have you looked at the Peterson AFB flying club? My uncle instructs there, and I felw out of there once. Good planes and good people.

[Guest Merqutio]

Do you have a web address for Peterson AFB flying club? What's the contact info? How much is it?

[ 30. November 2004, 20:51: Message edited by: Merqutio ]

[Gravedigger]

Here is the link for COS off of Airnav.com, it doesn't list the Aero Club, but i'll PM it to you when I find the link. KCOS

[Guest Exho]

Hey guys. I have a simple question.

I keep hearing people say "Volunteer for community service" or stuff along those lines.

So I am wondering what kind of stuff did you do?

What would you recommend?

-Nick

[Guest SBpilot17]

I volunteer restoring planes at North Island NAS. It's a cool gig, and gets you around a lot of pilots and military personel. I would definitely recommend looking into something like this at a local base or GA airport.

[F-15E WSO]

Hey guys. I have a simple question.

I keep hearing people say "Volunteer for community service" or stuff along those lines.

So I am wondering what kind of stuff did you do?

What would you recommend?

-Nick

What people?

Do what you want / Do what you feel is worthwhile...

Want to feed people that can't cook for themselves or get out of bed? Volunteer with meals on wheels

Want to help people get housing who can't afford it? Volunteer with Habitat for humanity

Want to impact a kid's life? Volunteer to read to their class or show up for a career day if you have a career.

Go to a veterans hospital and ask what you can do to help.

Fly a flag.

Buy a flag for someone to fly.

Do taxes for people.

Volunteer to talk at Airman's Leadership School.

The list continues... If you're at base, there's probably a volunteer coordinator who takes requests from organizations requesting volunteers.

Search your feelings, Luke...

[Guest jojo61397]

OPR fillers???

Here's what we did/do:

- American Cancer Society does an annual walk for cancer, we have run a team, we also participated as individuals.

- My son has autism, we are sitting up an autism society of america chapter in our community

- Susan G. Gorman run for breast cancer is on mother's day in most cities

- Do taxes

- CFC/AFA lead person

- I used to mentor young women entering the military

- My husband was POC for the Air Force Academy recruiting here (if anyone was interested the recruiter would call him and he would answer questions)

- Special Olympics

- Air Show coordinator

- Operations Air Force Coordinator (if that's what they still call it-- when AFA and ROTC cadets visit an operational unit)

- Big Brothers/Big Sisters program

[Guest Exho]

Thanks guys.

Now when one goes to send in the "package" for a slot how do you go about proving that you did the volunteer work? have someone sign a paper saying "He did this, for this amount of time" ??

Edited June 25, 2007 by Exho

[Guest jojo61397]

Thanks guys.

Now when one goes to send in the "package" for a slot how do you go about proving that you did the volunteer work? have someone sign a paper saying "He did this, for this amount of time" ??

Intregity first. Generally boards will know if you are bullshitting them.

[F-15E WSO]

Thanks guys.

Now when one goes to send in the "package" for a slot how do you go about proving that you did the volunteer work? have someone sign a paper saying "He did this, for this amount of time" ??

You'll often get a letter of appreciation for most efforts you do, but don't get bent out of shape if you don't get one / get recognized. Hopefully, you're not doing it for the recognition.

[Scooter14]

Coach/ref/umpire your favorite sport. Volunteering doesn't have to be all hard work, although trying to get a bunch of 6 year olds to stop screwing off can be a monumental task. Some sports (USA Hockey for instance) you actually go through a certification process and get a card and patch, if you've gotta have proof. Generally, you don't need to prove it to anyone, but if you work with an organization the head of it may be a good reference to use.

Cub Scouts and Girl Scouts ALWAYS need help.

Habitat for Humanity was one I did a long time ago. Had a blast. Learned a lot, too.

[HuggyU2]

Volunteer for the Civil Air Patrol. It can be painful getting involved initially, but states like CA, TX and AZ have a very robust search-and-rescue mission.

I flew a C-206 with them for a while: if you have your private pilot license, that can be a benefit.

[Techsan]

Coach/ref/umpire your favorite sport.

I coached little league when I was in college...good times. I wasn't there for the 'tryouts' so they gave my team all of the kids with 2 left feet, mixed with a few wannabe thugs (It was 13-15 yr olds).

Just a few years ago, one of those wannabe thugs killed his step mom with a baseball bat and is now doing life in prison. In retrospect, I wish that I hadn't gave him pointers on his swing. Good to see that my mentoring really paid off .

[MD]

Reserve firefighter for the local county fire department.