Good to see you sir.
CAP 1999-2006
Ah . . . the good old CAP. Fifty years ago in Arkansas, we had an L-16 with no electrical system. We could fly it at our own expense for oil and gas, to hop cadets and do an occasional search exercise. When I moved to Texas I found that there was a well established "inner circle" who flew the nice T-34s and didn't need any help. Sounds like things haven't changed too much.
The CAP is an auxillary unit of the Air Force. It's like the Sea Scouts for the Navy. The youngsters who join get exposure to wearing a uniform to meetings and school one day each week. The get a little close order drill practice and some basics of search, rescue and survival in the boonies. The program is a good chance for these kids to learn enough about things military to make an intelligent choice about service academy application, ROTC in high school and college. They may even get an orientation flight if the unit has a senior advisor who can scrounge an aircraft. There is a CAP office at the old Gunter AB in Alabama that oversees the national organization with a couple of NCOs and an 0-5 ready to retire. Some members get into the politics of it and it grows to large subjective proportions. All in all, it is a beneficial organization for the maturization of young folks and serves a good community service.