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Members take a leading role in aerospace education and serve
as mentors to the almost 27,000 young people currently participating in CAP
cadet programs.
CAP has been performing missions for America for more
than 60 years."
At Airventure some I had the privilege of working with a
number of members of the Civil Air Patrol as they did their assigned duties. According to David Fort in charge of a small group of Civil
Air Patrol members called the Kilo Flight, there were between 150 and 180
members of CAP volunteering their services during Airventure.
Duties of the CAP participants include
emergency service response for pilots that have not closed out their flight
plans. In this role CAP members attempt to find the pilot on the airport,
if unable to locate them they then start contacting other airports trying
to make sure the pilot has landed somewhere safely.
Other duties include finding ELT's that have
inadvertently gone off during a hard landing, and crowd control in the
Warbird and Ultralight and Light Sport Aircraft areas. The CAP units are
also involved in the flight line operation in the Light Sport aircraft
area.
According to David one of the purposes of the
organization is to provide aerospace education and information to it's
members and the general public. As well to train for emergency services
such as down aircraft.
Another thing that draws cadets to CAP is the leadership
training programs, where a cadet can work his or her way through the
program to the rank of Chief Master Sergeant. With other programs available
going through to Cadet Colonel. Cadets involved in CAP are interested
in aviation, are both male and female and range from 16 to 21 years of age.
The group of CAP's at Airventure 2005 were from 42
states, including several female cadet officers who were in charge of CAP
flight operations. Each member is equipped with first aid kits, water, and rope
for crowd control if needed. The work day for the cadets start at 6 a.m. and goes through
until 8 p.m.
At Airventure the cadets are fed three square meals a day
by the Air National Guard, and Air Force Reserve. |
