I was a CAP cadet member as a kid.
I am of two minds as to the current value of the organization.
I cannot understand why the Civil Air Patrol was let to go. In the 50s-60s, my father was a member and he took his duty seriously. Today, as far as I can tell, nothing remains.
Think about it, back in the 60s, Civil Defense was a big deal, today no one cares. That sucks.
Ping from a former Air Cadet (618sqn Toronto).
BTTT!
My brother was a member of the CAP when he was in high school; LOVED flying!! He went on to the USAF Academy, then flew C-130's. AFter retiring from the service, he flew for a couple of airlines, now works for NASA!
(CA)Ping
I am a former squardron commander of a composit squardron. It was colsed down due to a lack of enrollment and school support. The school dist was mostly of a minority makeup, and my unit was not of that dist., even though I tried like heck to recruit the local kids. Not to include the cost of dueing anything with the kids to boot. Even though we were called out during the floods of 1993 and spent a week working the St. Charles County Mo. Emgerency Ops Center, the kids worked the phones & the Serinor Staff & I werre out in the field doing search & rescue and levie watch,supervising sandbag filling ops,sandbag delivery as well. We did a lot during that week. After that we were busted up due to lack of people. That hurt a lot too a a real bummer!
Now I am with the Young Marines here in Lenawee County Mi. and this unit seems pretty good too, even though they don't have the mission that my old CAP unit did.
Spiderboy ping
ping
My daughter was the Cadet Commander for her squadron of almost 40 strong just a couple of years ago....
Now she is a cadet at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs....
Her old squadron is still going strong and conducts SAR missions to this day...
NeverGore
As a former Wing Commander of the Georgia CAP, I can attest to the fact that CAP is alive and well, and doing great things. Their mission has widely expanded since the 1950's, and there are many exciting activities for the cadets as well as the adult members. I recommend the organization to both young people and adults. You can provide a great service to your country by becoming a member. For young people, I will let you know that a large portion of those accepted by the Air Force Academy
are former CAP cadets.