New Cadet Guide

Here you will find helpful information and materials for being a new cadet in Civil Air Patrol.  These materials can all be found at Help for New Cadets.  They are broken down for you here to make locating the specific items you may need as a new cadet easier to see.  If you have questions or need further help please reach out to your cadet mentor and chain for command for help.

• New Cadet Guide – A comprehensive guide to being a new cadet in CAP all in one easy to reach place filled with a lot of useful info.
• How to access Cadet Welcome Course – Cadet Welcome Course: Introduction to New Cadet Guide and programs for Achievement 1 cadets. 
• The Maj Gen John F. Curry Achievement – A thorough explanation of the first achievement a cadet completes.  It also lists what is required to complete the achievement.
• Encampment for Cadets – Information about what an CAP Encampment is and what is needed to attend.  This is a must have event for cadet to achieve the General Billy Mitchell Award and promote to the Cadet Officer ranks.  Encampment is a lot of fun and training in one week’s time.
• Cadet Super Chart – A chart that explains what is required for each achievement and lays out all the achievements in order.  Very useful for planning and tracking your progress as a cadet.
• Personal Cadet Tracker –  A tracking chart provided by our National Headquarters to record your own advancement in the Cadet Program.  Fill in the steps as you go to keep track of what you have completed and what you need to complete in better detail.
• The Cadet Blog – A blog from the Cadet Programs Team at our National Headquarters.  They release important information from across all of CAP relating to our Cadet Program.

Forms and paperwork

All activities in CAP have some sort of paperwork process that must be filed. To streamline the process for our cadets, I will include links and information to commonly used forms below.

• 60-80  Cadet Permission Slip: Indicates cadet is authorized by parents to attend a special event 
• 60-81  Application for Encampment or Special Activity: Application form, medical information, and legal release. Say you want to go to a weekend event hosted by another squadron, you’ll need to fill this out, have your parents and squadron commander sign it!
• 60-82  High Adventure Activity Authorization: Planning and authorization document for rappelling, firearms training, and other activities with significant risks of injury 
• CAPF 160 - This is a health history form. Similar to the 161 if anything happens to you this will help medical professionals do their job!
• CAPF 161 - This form is the most important piece of paper in CAP, you are required to have one on your person at all times! The CAPF 161 is basically an emergency contact sheet. It has all the basic information about you in case anything happens!
• CAPF 163 - This is a over the counter medicine permission form. If something goes wrong, say you have a headache. If you have filled out this form the CAP medics can give you medication to ease that headache.