AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2016 - 40

PILOT BRIEFING
MILESTONES |

CAP begins 75th
anniversary celebration
Organization founded in December 1941
B Y DAV I D T U L I S

USAF HELPS FUND
CAP ENCAMPMENT
PROGRAMS
The U.S. Air Force will continue
to help fund the Civil Air Patrol's
popular weeklong encampment
program for aviation-minded
high school students. Nearly
7,200 cadet campers participated in the 2015 program, including about 1,000 cadets who
were eligible for the economic
assistance grants that helped
cadets with tuition and uniforms.
"The experiences the cadets
had at the encampments-developing leadership skills, investigating aerospace sciences and
career options, and solidifying
their moral character-were lifealtering events for these young
Americans," said Gen. Mark A.
Welsh III, U.S. Air Force chief of
staff.
Welsh said the program supports the Air Force's goals of
inspiring character; diversity;
fitness; and science, technology,
engineering, and math (STEM)
development.
Maj. Gen. Joe Vazquez, the
patrol's national commander,
said cadets who attended
encampments achieved more
and advanced further in the
Civil Air Patrol Cadet Program.
"This learning experience is very
important for the cadets, their
families, their communities, CAP,
and, in years down the line, for
America," he said. -DT
40 | AOPA PILOT May 2016

THE CIVIL AIR PATROL began its seventy-fifth anniversary celebration by doing what it does best: working behind the scenes to
support scores of mentors and cadets keeping a fleet of 550 aircraft in the sky for its 56,000 volunteers.
The anniversary kickoff reception in Crystal City, Virginia, saw
about 300 Civil Air Patrol members, leaders, and volunteers. The
continuing celebration will honor CAP's evolving roles since the
its inception on December 1, 1941. President Harry S. Truman signed a measure incorporating the unit in 1946, and that's when the organization officially became the civilian
auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force.
Since then, the Civil Air Patrol has helped conduct countless searches, rescues, and
training missions while building up an enthusiasm for flight and an understanding of
aviation for its male and female cadet participants.
The organization's national commander, Maj. Gen. Joe Vazquez, said the patrol was
one of the first military arms to accept men and women equally into its ranks. In 1947 the
patrol worked closely with the U.S. Army Air Forces to recruit 17-year-old men into the
highly successful Air Corps Enlisted reserve; they would be called to duty after reaching 18. "Female cadets, in turn, were recruited into the Women's Army Corps," reads the
organization's historical archive.
Vazquez said that although the patrol's mission has indeed evolved over the years, it
has never strayed far from its original roots.
"We've got the largest number of Cessnas in the world in any one organization that
controls a fleet [of airplanes], and we have it on purpose. We use the skills of our volunteer pilots and volunteer air crews to serve America with disaster relief flying, search
and rescue, and other assistance missions to our Air Force partners and various relief
agencies," Vazquez said.
He said the cadet program is one of the Civil Air Patrol's mainstays. "The cadets are
styled in a similar fashion to Junior ROTCs but the difference is our cadets volunteer to
be CAP members-it's not [offered] in the schools. They have to seek us out so we have
highly motivated youth." Cadets typically meet at airports after school one evening per
week to delve into aviation concepts and on weekends they participate in flying during
search training missions.
Vazquez counts the total immersion into an aviation environment as one of the main
benefits cadets receive from their participation. "Each cadet gets orientation rides and
we have a school each year where most of the cadets successfully solo a Cessna."
Vazquez said education was-and still is-one of the original missions of the Civil Air
Patrol, "but it wasn't called aerospace education back then, it was called aero-mindedness."
The point, he said, was to make sure the American population was more educated
about aviation and the future of aviation, and now that has extended into aerospace.
"We've continued that tradition for 75 years and we're going to continue to do that into
the future."
EMAIL david.tulis@aopa.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2016