There are lots of wackos in this world... and CAP does receive their share of them. Due to our status of being a youth organization we are required to be fingerprinted and have a background check for criminal records. Beyond that there are no formal investigations into employment or education.
This (receiving the share of odd fellows) is also true for the various State Defense Forces. They often attract people who wouldn't otherwise be successful in the military but want to be military adjacent.
Sad, but too true. It's the attraction to the uniform thing. Even the military itself attracts wackos... the extreme cases are usually forced out... but not without tarnishing the honor of the organization they belong to.
I was a member of CAP for four years. The composite squadrons are for senior and cadet members, but the focus will be on cadets. There aren't as many senior squadrons, and most of the members tend to be 50+ years old. CAP is great for teenagers. I've been a member of the Coast Guard Auxiliary for over three years, and their membership tends to be 60+ years old. CAP no longer has access to most of the cool Air Force training like it used to, but the Coast Guard Auxiliary still has a lot of cool training. Some of the old Air Force tests CAP had access to was worth ACE credits. If you're not interested in teaching kids and grading papers, I recommend CGAux over CAP. CAP mostly does aerial photography after natural disasters. Auxiliarists can do everything active duty Coast Guard does except for law enforcement, combat, and anything that requires getting in water.
One thing about joining the CAP for me: I'm not sure that after 26 years I want to put on those captain's bars again!
In the Canadian Forces, you can transition between active duty (called Regular Force, RegForce or RegF) and the Reserves (called Primary Reserve or PRes), but you would usually go down a rank if you moved over. Sometimes, but not always, you would go up a rank if you moved from the RegF to the PRes. I know it can be easier to gain rank in the Reserves but do people lose or gain rank just by moving from one to the other?
No. Reservists and regular officers are selected and promoted (or passed over) at the same intervals in the US Navy. This is actually a problem because senior officers pile up in the reserves where there is no need for them. Incidently, I was promoted to my final rank of Commander, USNR "by and with the advice and consent of the Senate". I think they appended the promotion list to the annual Turnip Day resolution! Nevertheless, there it is. My name is in the Congressional Register for all time.
All officer appointments and promotions are approved by the Senate. Flag officers are appointed by the President.
Might be true now. Back then reserve and regular appointments at or below O-4 did not require senate confirmation. My Ensign appointment does not include the Senate reference.
There's also a myth thrown around that it takes an Act of Congress to demote an SFC (E-7), but it does not. I imagine it's challenging just the same, though.
I've heard that but it isn't true. In my case, though, I have both commissions in front of me. I did not receive original commissions for lieutenant (j.g.), lieutenant, or lieutenant commander because these were technically "temporary" appointments and there was no change to my "permanent" rank. Commander was an appointment to permanent rank.
It's not hard at all, depending on why you want to do the demotion. If it is a criminal matter, demoting someone is done either by court-martial or by non-judicial punishment offered in lieu of court-martial. So, the accused must have committed an offense worthy of prosecution and either (a) be tried at court-martial or (b) be offered non-judicial punishment. At court-martial, the panel (jury) might award a demotion as part or all of its punishment. In non-judicial punishment, the accused's commander can demote him/her. To what extent the person can be demoted is determined by the grade of the commander. I was a captain as a commander, so I could only demote personnel in the pay grades of E-5 and below, and I could take only one grade. But my boss, a lieutenant colonel, could take it all. Administrative demotions are much more rare. Sometimes an officer might be reduced to the grade at which he/she was last fully effective. But again, this is normally a part of the court-martial process. I have no idea how a commander might go about reducing someone in grade because of performance (not conduct).
Warrant officers are equivalent to E-7? In the US military, warrant officers are between enlisted members and commissioned officers. (Technically, warrants are commissioned, but it's a different type of commission limiting them to duty in their technical specialty.) So, they rank below second lieutenants (or, in the two naval services, below ensigns). There are 5 warrant officer grades. A CWO-5 gets paid comparably to a major (O-4). So, for example, a CWO-3 gets paid more than a second lieutenant, but the second lieutenant is the superior officer.
DOPMA got rid of "temporary" and "permanent" ranks in 1981. Now, the junior grades are filled primarily with Reserve officers serving on active duty. These Reserve officers are augmented into the Regular force over time. I was augmented as a first lieutenant. But the Air Force subsequently changed that, and now officers are augmented either when they make captain or major. All offers not yet augmented are done so when they make major. All grades are "permanent" except 3- and 4-star grades, which are determined by the position the flag officer holds. On that last point, it can be really relevant. For example, former NSA John Poindexter served in that role while on active duty as a Vice Admiral in the Navy (3 stars). When he got into legal trouble, he was forced to retire from active duty. He was removed from his post and, after 60 days out of that post, he was subjected to being reduced to his permanent grade of Rear Admiral (upper half), which is a two-star grade. The president must submit--and the Senate must approve--officers to retire at 3- and 4-star grades. Obviously, this did not happen in his case.
All officers are appointed by the President. But yes, promotions to the grades below major (or lieutenant commander)--O-4--do not have to be confirmed by the Senate. My bad.
Not too bad...dim memory here but...seems to me for a brief window just before DOPMA and its reserve equivalent ROPMA the Senate started confirming all Regular officers O-1 and up. Don't know when or why. There aren't so very many Regular O-1s though. Academy graduates of course and hawsepipers from the Regular enlisted and warrant ranks and there was a time I think when NROTC full scholarship midshipmen got Regular commissions but the vast majority of new Navy officers were active reserve.