Many cadets and parents have been curious where the promotion eligibility requirements for Civil Air Patrol can be found. All of these materials are spelled out in Civil Air Patrol Regulation 52-16, Cadet Program Management. However, this is a long document and a lot of it is rather technical. The simplest way of visualizing cadet promotion requirements is to look at the charts on pages 28-29. For your ease, I've also uploaded that file here.

Cadets are required to pass examinations in both leadership and aerospace for most of their promotions, but some, like the first promotion, do not require an aerospace exam. Cadets must also pass physical fitness testing, participate in moral leadership discussions, actively attend meetings and activities, and demonstrate that they are prepared for increased responsibility before they can be promoted. Cadets must also spend at least two months between each promotions. These requirements are all spelled out on page 28, while page 29 shows how our leadership expectations of cadets evolve as they progress through the Cadet Program.

One important thing to remember is that the Cadet Program does not allow a cadet to "test ahead" of their current promotion, or to bank previously completed tests. For instance, if you are a cadet working on Cadet Airman First Class, and you pass both the leadership and aerospace tests you need, you cannot test again until you've been promoted, because otherwise you would be "testing ahead" of where you are currently. This is the same reason why cadets only take the Cadet Physical Fitness Test once for each promotion.

Our unit views it as the responsibility of a cadet to keep track of where they are and what they need to move toward promotion. This is why it is the cadet's responsibility to request testing using the testing sign-up form (http://www.ohio131.org/testsignup/) and to request review when they believe they are ready for promotion (using a Squadron Form 1, available at http://www.ohio131.org/forms/). This is an important part of becoming responsible for your own progress and development.

As always, parents should feel free to contact any staff officer when they have questions on promotion eligibility. Cadets should utilize the chain of command to get feedback on where they are and what they should be doing for promotion.


Capt Thomas Rehman, CAP
Deputy Commander