This page is for information for parents. You'll find contact information, hints on how to prepare your cadet for the encampment, and what to expect when your young one gets home.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the Encampment Commander, Lt Col John O'Neill, at cp@mowg.cap.gov; or the Commandant of Cadets, Major Julie Oldham, at julie.oldham@gmail.com. Please also contact Major Oldham if you have any hints or tips you'd like added, or if there is information you feel is important for parents this page is lacking.
How to Help Your Child Prepare for Encampment
Although there is no reason for your child to worry about encampment, it will probably happen, especially if this is their first activity. Remind your child that the week will be fun, with lots of opportunities to meet others and see some very cool things. Sure, there will be challenges, but they will be faced as a team. Also remind them there will be older cadets there that can help them, and they can talk to any adult at any time about any issues they may be having. We want this to be a great activity for everyone!
Possibly the easiest way to relieve stress is to be prepared. Here are some things you can do with your cadet to ensure they will be prepared and ease the transition into the week:
Don't buy them new boots just prior to the encampment, if at all possible. The new boots might look good, but your child will be suffering from blisters by the end of the first day if their boots are not already broken in.
Suggest your child reviews the encampment equipment list, once posted on this site. A common problem is that cadets will assume they have everything but forget something important, like underwear.
Ask your child if their hair currently meets the standards well before the encampment so that they can get it cut if it does not. Cadets arriving with hair out of standard will need to get it cut at the encampment, which will make their first day busier than it should be.
We'll also ask female cadets to remove earrings that are not within regulation. One small spherical (ball), conservative, diamond, gold, white pearl, or silver pierced or clip earring per earlobe may be worn by female cadets. The earring worn in each earlobe must match. Female cadets may use nail polish, but it will be conservative and in good taste, free of ornamentation, or we'll ask them to remove it.
Help your child put their name on everything before leaving so it won't get mixed up with other cadets' stuff. All of their uniforms look the same, as does most of the rest of their equipment.
Tell your child to listen to the flight staff (the team leaders). While there may be things that seem confusing, the flight staff is trying to accomplish the schedule and listening to them will make the encampment run more smoothly.
Tell your child to go to the bathroom and eat their greens. This may sound obvious, but oftentimes our cadets are too excited or nervous and don't properly take care of themselves in this area and then are ill. Plenty of water and good eating habits will help immensely. Let them know if they have any issues with this, or other medical problems, that they can talk to the adult assigned to their flight and/or speak with the medical officer.
You may notice the above list includes a lot of activities that require your help, but not your doing it for them. One of the main things we like to teach at encampment is personal responsibility and accountability. We will not allow your child to blame you for their uniforms, gear, personal appearance, or attitude once they are at the encampment, so it will be most beneficial if they do the preparation work themselves. If your cadet wishes to ignore your warnings and packs 20 pounds of extra items, wads up the uniform to pack it, and chooses to arrive at the encampment with dirty boots, you should let him. His life will be more stressed the first few days, but perhaps next year he will have learned the value of preparation.