Last week I returned from Encampment 2022.

Civil Air Patrol maintains a youth program aimed at making young men and women leaders, ready to be of service to their community state and nation. Part of this process in accomplished at a yearly half Boot Camp half Summer Camp program called Leadership Encampment. It is a checkpoint in a CAP Cadets career as it is a requirement for them to complete their Mitchel Award (equivalent to the Boys Scouts Eagle) or for them to attend National Cadet Special Activities such as HAWK MOUNTAIN SEARCH AND RESCUE SCHOOL or NATIONAL BLUE BERET.

This is my first time going to an Encampment. Having joined CAP as an adult I never went to encampment, though having been to actual Boot Camp, I am completely fine with that. As an adult Staff member it was hard but a lot of fun and I hope to return next year. For your entertainment I included some highlights below.

DAY 1
Pulling in to Hancock Field Air National Guard Base I was hit with a feeling I never thought I would say about any military base. Hancock Field, is a quaint little base. Having been stationed at Camp Lejeune and visiting Bragg, Norfolk, Quantico, Hancock Field is quite small in comparison but has a strangely homely feeling compared to those bigger posts.

I pulled up to what was affectionately called Tent City, which was the billeting for Encampment. When I was originally told we would be sleeping in FEMA tents I was apprehensive of the state of the garbage they would dump on us. I was quite surprised to see they gave us actual military deployment tents with AC units rated for the Afghanistan dessert. They were amazing and I would have no reservations about sleeping in one of these again.

That is provided I have full control of the AC. That first night in these tents no one knew how to control the AC and they were so effective, we were effectively sleeping in meat lockers. Everyone could see their breath in the middle of a heat wave in New York. I had packed light assuming we would be stuck in sweltering tents and I was freezing that first night. Finally at 4am I could no longer take how could it was, I ended up walking over to where the CAP Vans were parked and crawled in the back to fall asleep.

DAY 2
Heat index of 90+ degrees started on this day and lasted throughout the week. I found out my original job as the ADMIN Officer was being switched to Logistics. In hind-sight, I was so glad to be assigned to Logistics as the week flew by at breakneck speed.

DAY 3
Receiving of the Cadets began on Sunday. Oh the flashbacks I got watching Cadets being processed for their first time. It was fun to watch but ultimately I was there to help keep the show running. That night though is where the real fun began.

We had been warned by the Security Forces that a bad storm was incoming that night. Plans where laid down in case an evacuation of Tent City was required.

DAY 10
Some last minute cleanup of the camp was completed before finally heading back home. I was really glad I only had to drive back to HQ and get a ride back home from there.