Civil Air Patrol (CAP) is the volunteer civilian auxiliary of the United States Air Force. The CAP’s three main missions are emergency services, aerospace education, and a cadet program. The CAP is not a government agency but operates with the advice and assistance of Civil Air Patrol-U.S. Air Force Headquarters at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama.
The CAP has cadets, who are from 12 to 21 years old, and older members. Members are organized into 52 wings—one for each state, plus Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico—and hundreds of local groups, squadrons, and flights. Members wear uniforms similar to those of the U.S. Air Force, but with distinctive CAP insignia and badges. The CAP has over 500 aircraft, mostly small Cessna planes. About 4,000 additional aircraft are available that are privately owned by members. The CAP operates a radio network of thousands of fixed, mobile, and airborne stations.
Each year, CAP members fly most of the inland search and rescue missions directed by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida. CAP pilots fly thousands of hours yearly, searching for missing aircraft and lost people or doing relief work in disasters.
The CAP sponsors aerospace education courses in high schools. It also conducts workshops for training teachers in aviation-related subjects. The CAP awards scholarships and educational grants to selected members. It participates in an International Air Cadet Exchange program with more than 20 member countries and offers training in aerospace developments.
The Civil Air Patrol was established in 1941 as part of the Office of Civilian Defense. It organized and directed the activities of volunteer civilian pilots using their own aircraft and equipment for wartime tasks. The CAP was transferred to the War Department in 1943 as an auxiliary of the Army Air Forces. In 1946, Congress chartered it as a nonprofit private organization. The CAP became the civilian auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force in 1948. Civil Air Patrol headquarters are at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama.
