Civil Air Patrol organizing local squadron

The opportunity to have a front row seat in an airplane and be a pilot’s right hand man doesn’t come around too often. Civil Air Patrol (CAP) cadets do just that during orientation flights in CAP aircrafts.

The opportunity to have a front row seat in an airplane and be a pilot’s right hand man doesn’t come around too often.  Civil Air Patrol (CAP) cadets do just that during orientation flights in CAP aircrafts.

CAP is the auxiliary of the United States Air Force and is a congressional chartered nonprofit corporation that operates as a civilian, all-volunteer organization.

The CAP mission is three-fold: emergency services, cadet programs and aerospace education.  Members come from several segments of local communities including cadets, ages 12-18, seniors, ages 18 and older, and teachers in the community who can use CAP developed aerospace education curriculum to augment the science, physics and other technology learning in the classroom.  

CAP held an informational meeting at the Clark Fork Valley Hospital last Wednesday afternoon to announce the organization of a squadron in Sanders County.  Fifteen members are needed in order to form a complete squadron.  Until the 15-member level is reached, both adults and cadets will operate as a Flight under the Flathead Composite Squadron from Kalispell.

“The reason for bringing CAP to Sanders County is to give the kids in our community an opportunity to learn and grow and become good citizens, learn leadership skills and to develop appropriate moral and ethical guide points,” said Lieutenant Chuck Lynch, Plains resident and Flathead Squadron Deputy Commander for CAP.  “As we look at CAP in our community, the whole idea for starting this was to give our kids the opportunity to have another choice of activities that provides the opportunity to learn life skills of a different kind than are offered in some of the other programs like Boy Scouts and 4-H.”   

Lynch said cadets develop life skill in areas including leadership, aerospace education, physical fitness, character development and activities.  Activities can serve the local community or they can be regional and national providing opportunities to learn skills that may not be available at the local level. 

In addition, summer encampments provide cadets the opportunity to exercise the skills they have learned with other cadets from around the state and region.  New cadets in Sanders County who complete the first level will qualify to attend this year’s encampment.

There are five milestone levels of development that a cadet can progress through in CAP, said CAP Lieutenant Colonel Charles Statum, Commander of the Flathead Composite Squadron.  CAP follows the U. S. Air Force grade structure. 

Cadets begin as airman basic, then progress through airman, airman first class and senior airman.  The first phase teaches cadets basic leadership skills, military customs such as the proper way to fold an American flag and marching skills.  When cadets make it to the NCO level, or third level of training, they will be qualified to enter any branch of the military as an E3, not simply an E1, as they will already have learned the basic skills taught during basic training programs.  

Adult senior members are needed first and foremost to help guide the cadets in their training, but they can also choose to be trained in a variety of CAP positions such as writing, flying, radio operations, teaching and emergency services and any other of the 29 specialty tracks available.

Senior members also have five levels of professional development that takes them from the basics of operational security, foundations of CAP, cadet protection programs and diversity.

“We hope to have an airplane assigned to our squadron and with the number of pilots we have in our community, we can make a difference, through the emergency services and homeland security missions that a CAP plane provides assistance in,” said Lynch. “Kids are the whole thing. We need to find adults who want to do things for kids, who like working with kids and provide them the opportunity that CAP offers.”

In addition to offering county youth the opportunity to learn about aviation, search and rescue, model rocketry and advanced aerospace technologies, Lynch said CAP can provide another layer to the emergency services already available in Sanders County such as helping with search and rescue missions in both flight and land operations.  They will also assist the community in natural disaster relief should one occur.

“For the kids here in our community that want to join the search and rescue groups, they will already be trained and they can go into these organizations without requiring further training before becoming an effective member,” said Lynch.

CAP also has the technology to assist the Sanders County Sheriff’s Office in drug investigations using their drug interdiction technology. 

CAP aircrafts have the capability to do drug interdiction flights, meaning they would take pictures from the sky to monitor heat sources from residences and study the pictures to see, for example, if anyone is illegally growing marijuana.

So far Lynch has one Sanders County resident signed on for a local squadron with four more in the application process.  There will be a second informational and organizational meeting on May 14 at 6:00 p.m. at the VFW hall for anyone interested in learning more about CAP or joining the organization.

Lynch said they have not yet chosen a name for a squadron in Sanders County, but once members are signed on they will hold a contest in order to decide on a title.

CAP was founded on December 1, 1941, one week prior to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, by over 150,000 citizens who were concerned about the defense of America’s coastline.  CAP now has 1,500 squadrons and 59,000 volunteer cadet and adult members nationwide.  

“One big kicker for a parent to get involved, besides doing it for the kids, parents can become observers and pilots for the CAP and scanners where they go on mission flights with the CAP. The CAP has the largest fleet of corporate aircraft in the world with over 600 general aviation aircrafts. And cadets get the opportunity to take rides in aircrafts and CAP sets it up for them and everything,” said Marlin Cooper, who will be the squadron Deputy Commander for Cadets.

For more information on CAP please contact Chuck Lynch by e-mail at chucklynch.capmtnw@gmail.com or at 396-7856.