At the top of Civil Air Patrol’s mission statement is supporting emergency response within their communities. For eighty years, CAP pilots have flown missions for aerial photography and supply delivery to disaster zones in addition to other services. Their squadrons across the nation were ready to jump into action when the COVID-19 pandemic hit early last year. CAP pilots and support personnel have filled various roles both on the ground and in the skies to expedite responses and care for their communities.
As early as March 2020, CAP members assisted emergency operations with sorting and distributing PPE for first responders and later with transporting PPE to remote locations. Other squadrons provided meals and served in food pantries in their local communities. While these activities all happened on the ground, they were nevertheless an important part of CAP’s mission and their local community.
As the pandemic continued, CAP pilots in various states delivered COVID-19 testing kits to remote locations and returned test kits for processing. In New Mexico, CAP pilots transported testing kits from a meat processing plant to laboratories to expedite the testing. This assistance allowed an essential business to protect its employees, provide needed food to the nation, and continue operations.
The Great Lakes Civil Air Patrol joined Operation Warp Speed earlier this year to deliver COVID-19 vaccines to Native American clinics in Wisconsin and Michigan on behalf of the Indian Health Service.
These activities represent some of the most recent emergency support provided by the Civil Air Patrol, but the organization hasn’t been solely focused on pandemic response. Over the last year, CAP wings have provided aerial photographs of natural disasters like the derecho that hit Iowa in August and Hurricane Laura in Louisiana, and they completed search and rescue missions in Idaho and Oregon.
If you’re a pilot looking for a way to give back to your community, consider serving with the Civil Air Patrol. Officially organized in 1941 to allow civilian pilots to assist in protecting our nation during World War II, CAP’s origins stretch further back to 1936 when Gill Robb Wilson returned from Germany predicting an impending war. CAP became the U.S. Air Force’s civilian auxiliary in 1948 and has since focused on emergency services, aerospace education, and a cadet program.
Over the last eighty years, CAP pilots have flown human tissue and organ transplant missions, worked with FEMA through hundreds of national disasters, and completed thousands of search and rescue missions. While the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers battled it out on the field during the big game earlier this month, CAP pilots were working with agencies like custom and border patrol to protect the air space around the field.
And when it comes to aircraft, CAP owns the world’s largest fleet o Cessna aircraft which primarily consists of C-172, C-182, C-205, and GA-8. The Air Force provides funds for new aircraft purchases and maintenance of existing aircraft. This means your volunteer time as a CAP pilot could be spent in the cockpit of any of these aircraft.
We can’t say enough about the Civil Air Patrol’s contribution to local communities and the aviation industry. We’ve only touched on the service portion of their mission here, but the organization also holds a strong commitment to fostering enthusiasm for the aviation industry in young cadets. You can learn more about becoming a CAP pilot or Cadet on their website.
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