The Civil Air Patrol, a volunteer organization established on Dec. 1, 1941, is inviting young people and adults in Alabama to get involved in its search-and-rescue, disaster relief and aerospace education missions.
Lt. Col. Michael McEntyre, Alabama Wing recruiter for Civil Air Patrol, said the organization has more than 60,000 volunteers nationwide and operates “the largest private fleet of airplanes in the world,” working under oversight of the U.S. Air Force.
“We are part of the U.S. Air Force and follow a military style structure to support educating youths in discipline, responsibility, military customs and courtesy,” McEntyre said. One of CAP’s core missions, he added, is to teach cadets ages 12 to 18 about aerospace, leadership, cybersecurity and emergency services.
Cadets have opportunities to fly and even attend flight academies where they can learn to pilot aircraft. The program also offers classes in engineering, medical fields, drones, and search and rescue, among other topics.
Adults can serve as volunteers alongside the youth participants. “Volunteers learn and teach others,” McEntyre said. A cadet who is qualified in radio operations, for example, can help train other cadets or even adults in proper radio procedures. Adults may also serve on aircrews as observers, scanners or photographers during missions.
McEntyre said CAP is also looking for qualified pilots who are willing to volunteer. Those pilots can receive instructor training and support missions such as orientation flights for cadets, community support work and search-and-rescue operations.
The organization runs several education-focused programs for teachers and homeschool families. Through CAP’s educator program, teachers can receive STEM kits and other classroom materials. The Teacher Orientation Program offers orientation flights for educators, while the Aerospace Connections Education program for grades K–6 provides lesson plans that combine aerospace topics, physical fitness and character education. The Aerospace Education Excellence program includes a series of lessons tied to an aerospace award.
Civil Air Patrol also maintains a chaplain and character development program to help teach cadets CAP’s core values of integrity, volunteer service, respect and excellence. Chaplains and character development instructors can provide crisis-response counseling, support members going through personal challenges, and assist people affected by disasters.
“As you can tell, Civil Air Patrol offers a lot of opportunities for children to learn about different careers and prepare them for their futures,” McEntyre said. “We offer opportunities for adults to learn and help.”
Residents interested in learning more about Civil Air Patrol or finding a local squadron can visit the organization’s website at gocivilairpatrol dot com and use the zip code search to locate meeting information and local contacts.
