This page is registered with Civil Air Patrol, New York City Group and is hosted by Malcolm Dickinson

Here are some common 
Questions and Answers on Aerospace Education
topics.  If your question isn't answered here, please email it to me.

Click here to skip to a specific question:

Question re: Aerospace Education Specialty Track

I have just completed the requirements and test for the 215T Technician Rating. ...have been unable to find exactly where to record this information so I may get credit for it.  I have been unable to find out in the regs how to go about about it. I'm sure it's in the regs someplace, everything is, but where?

There are only a few regs you need to have to know all about the AE program. You can order the first three from the bookstore for about 50 cents each. They are:

The exact prices and how-to-order information is in my document "Aerospace Education: an Overview."

In answer to your question:

1. You probably used a CAPF 23 to take your technician rating test. Congratulations on passing! The top half of the CAPF 23 goes in your personnel file (probably at your squadron, unless you have transferred your membership to wing level).

2. Make a copy of the checklist that is included at the back of the CAPP 215 and fill it out. Have your squadron commander (or if you are on wing staff, then it would be the wing chief of staff) initial each item that you have accomplished.

Make sure you're using the current CAPP 215, dated 15 Aug 98! You can download it by right-clicking on this link and selecting "save target as."

3. When you have completed all requirements for the technician rating, your squadron commander (or wing chief of staff) will so indicate on the next Senior Training Report (STR) that they send to national. A few weeks later the NINQ (available at http://www.capnhq.gov/ under the "e-business" section) will reflect your new technician rating.

4. Make another copy of the checklist from the back of the CAPP 215 and start working on your senior rating!

Question re: A. Scott Crossfield Award

How do I earn this award?  Is it something you have to get nominated for?

There are actually two different Crossfield Awards. One is a national-level award that cites the outstanding achievements of one person each year. This award is given each spring at the National Congress. The recipient can be an educator and does not need to be in Civil Air Patrol.

The other Crossfield Award is a CAP ribbon that you earn by getting the Master Rating in Aerospace Education. Once you earn the master rating, you simply notify HQ CAP/ETA and they will issue you the award.  For specific instructions click here.

Question re: Grants

How do I apply for an Aerospace Education Foundation grant?

Applications for Aerospace Education Grants of up to $250 every other year are available from the Aerospace Education Foundation.  The form you use to apply for the grant depends on whether you are:

To get your application, either:

The application is very simple to complete. It asks for your name and address, the name and purpose of your unit or club, what you want to do, and how much money you will need to do it.

Question re: National Congress on Air and Space Education

What is the National Congress? Where is it held? Can anyone attend?

It's a three-day conference held each year in late March or early April. The location moves around the country each year. Recent congresses have been in St Louis, 1998; Orlando, 1999; and San Diego, 2000.

Anyone interested in Aerospace Education may attend. When I attended it seemed that about 1/3 of the attendees were CAP members; 1/2 were teachers (grade school, middle school, and high school teachers); and the rest were members of some other aerospace education group.

Other attendees included parents who home-school their children and were looking for an interesting and education few days away from home.  (And in 1999 at least, with all the lectures and classes, plus tours of the Kennedy Space Center and a stop at Sun-N-Fun airshow, they had a very interesting few days!) 

 The date and location of the next national Congress can be found on the CAP National HQ web site at http://www.capnhq.gov/ncase/conference/pages/nc/natcong.html

Send in your registration early to get a discount. If you are a CAP member or a CAP Aerospace Education Member, call your Region's RDAE to apply for a space on the (free) Air Force airlift to the site. You might be able to save the plane fare!

Question re: Aerospace Education Membership

What is CAP Aerospace Education Membership?  What is required to join CAP under this program?

AE members are people, usually teachers, who join CAP to get involved in only one facet of CAP: the External Aerospace Education Program. They do not wear uniforms and don't need to learn how to salute.

Aerospace Education Membership (AEM) is open to educators and others interested in aviation, and offers the following advantages:

To join as an Aerospace Education Member, contact your region's RDAE. If you don't know who that is, contact:

CAP National Headquarters/ETA
105 South Hansell Street Building 714
Maxwell AFB, AL 36112-6332
bspink@cap.af.mil

Thanks to Barbara DeCamp, PACR RDAE, for the above section on AEMs.

Do you have an aerospace education question? Email it to malcolm@aya.yale.edu and reference this page ( /cap/ae/qa.htm ).  I'll do my best to put the answer up here within a week.