National Cadet Special Activities (NCSA)

NATIONAL CADET SPECIAL ACTIVITIES (NCSA)

NCSAs are Cadet Programs conducted by Civil Air Patrol and includes national activities as well as wing and region activities that are approved to receive the CSA ribbon. NCSAs are designed to give cadets direct hands on experience with various aspects of the Civil Air Patrol program and to explore civilian and military aerospace careers, provide flight training, leadership development, engineering and technology, and enhance emergency services skills. Each activity is approximately a week long, and all but two are currently offered during the Summer. These activities are located throughout the United States.
 

Links to some NCSA photos Highlander Cadets have attended. Working on adding more if I receive enough from cadets.

REQUIREMENTS

Pre-Requisite: Must have attended encampment

• Some activities may have additional Pre-Requisites, but you will need to read each activities requirements.

AGE: Most NCSAs do have some kind of Minimum age to attend.

HOW DO I COMPLETE A NCSA APPLICATION?

WHAT IF I AM NOT SURE I CAN GO OR AN ACTIVITY OVERLAPS WITH ANOTHER ACTIVITY?

You may apply for as many activities you want to that you are qualified to attend.  one thing to be aware of though, when we do slot for activities, we will try to put you into your highest preference that has an opening.  If this choice has a date conflict with any other activity, those preferences will be removed from the alternate list.  That means if your first choice has a date conflict with whatever you ARE slotted for, the system would remove you from the Alternate list to make it easier for Activity Directors to see who has not been slotted for an activity yet.

"WHAT IF I WASN'T SLOTTED FOR MY FIRST CHOICE AND IT CONFLICTS WITH THE ACTIVITY I AM SLOTTED FOR OR CAN NO LONGER ATTEND THAT ACTIVITY? HOW CAN I HOLD OUT FOR A CHANCE AT THAT ACTIVITY?"
If you can no longer attend or prefer to wait for an opening at one of the activities you were not slotted for, there is no guarantee that there will be an opening but you may email the activity director of the event you ARE slotted for (and cc:cadets@capnhq.gov) and tell them you are not going to participate.  They can remove you from the event you're in and make you available for slotting in the other events.  You will have to adjust your preferences on your application to be considered for your first choice.  You cannot be a primary for an activity and be on the alternate list for another activity if they have a date conflict. 

If you do nothing with your payment invoice you will automatically be unslotted from your activity on April 16 (the payment deadline is April 15) but this will not restore your preferences. There is no commitment to attend until a payment has been made.

SCHOLARSHIPS OR GRANTS

ARE THERE SCHOLARSHIPS OR GRANTS TO HELP PAY FOR NCSAs?

Yes, some of the activities have grants or scholarships that can be applied for posted with their activity information. Scholarships are available through Cadet Invest and The Colorado CAP Foundation also offers scholarships or grants for NCSAs and Encampment. 

Click on the link for the scholarships or grants page for additional information. 

NCSA FAQs

For additional questions please access the NCSA website's FAQ page.