d

Our Missions

While CAP has long been associated with search and rescue missions, its work also includes disaster relief and communications, as well as homeland security missions.

Search and rescue remains an important service provided by CAP members, however. CAP still flies 95 percent of all federal inland SAR missions, as directed by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center (AFRCC) at Tyndal AFB, FL. CAP also supports the Joint Rescue Coordination Centers in Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico.

 

tailsOn average, each year CAP members fly more than 100,000 hours in operational missions and save about 100 lives. CAP provides air and ground support for disaster relief, flying officials to remote locations,transporting blood or live tissue to critical care sites and performing aerial damage assessment. The September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center demonstrated the importace of the Civil Air Patrol as it was this organization's aircraft that flew blood to victims of the attack; they also provided the first aerial pictures of the 'ground zero' site.

 

 

Civil Air Patrol builds strong citizens for the future by providing leadership training, technical education, scholarships and career education to young men and women, ages 12 to 21.

 

CAP offers more than $200,000 in college scholarships each year, and about 10 percent of each year’s freshman class at the U.S. Air Force Academy is comprised of former CAP cadets.

 

Thousands of young people have their first orientation flights through the cadet program, and hundreds have soloed in gliders and powered aircraft. Tens of thousands have attended CAP encampments throughout the nation. At a national encampment, CAP cadets gather from throughout the nation. They may learn techniques for search and rescue and disaster relief. They may sample possible career choices by studying with a university engineering or technology department. They may learn teamwork and leadership through competitions in problem-solving and physical endurance.

 

Cadets can enjoy overseas travel through the International Air Cadet Exchange, and CAP families can welcome foreign exchange students into their homes here in the states.

 

Civil Air Patrol (CAP) promotes and supports aerospace education, both for its own members and the general public. CAP educational programs help prepare American citizens to meet the challenges of a sophisticated aerospace society and understand its related issues.

 

CAP offers national standards-based educational products, including a secondary textbook, Aerospace: The Journey of Flight, and the middle-school-level Aerospace Dimensions. Teachers can get free classroom materials and lesson plans from CAP by joining CAP’s Aerospace Education Membership program.

 

Educators from across the country learn how to use aviation and space in a variety of subject areas by attending the National Conference on Aviation and Space Education (NCASE). NCASE is the nation's premier conference in this field. CAP has sponsored NCASE since 1967.

 

CAP also sponsors several prestigious awards for those who promote aerospace to the public.

 

Take advantage of the programs and resources Civil Air Patrol has to offer and start adding excitement to your classroom today! Click here to discover how aerospace education can make a difference in the lives of young people.