CAP Shoe Flag

It’s a harvester of evil
That no one can control
And it’s here to take your soul.
Don’t try to fight it.
There’s nothing you can do.
S.O.S. is coming for you!

- Dos Gringos, “S.O.S.”

I have survived Shoe Flag.  It’s actually called CAP’s Squadron Leadership School.  It and its related follow-on schools are roughly analogous to the Air Force’s Squadron Officer School or “SOS,” although the CAP courses each last a few days at most and SOS goes for a month or more.

If the legends are true, non-pilots in the Air Force (known to pilots by the pejorative term “shoe clerks”) regard SOS as a prized opportunity.  Pilots are reputed to dread SOS because it tends to take pilots out of the cockpit for a month or so.  And, let’s face it, SOS involves very little flying upside down – or any other kind of flying.  Taking a cue from Red Flag and other “Flag” exercises, pilots occasionally refer to SOS or any similar endeavor as a “Shoe Flag.” [Read more...]