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Civil Air Patrol
was conceived in the late 1930s by legendary New Jersey
aviation advocate Gill Robb Wilson, who foresaw aviation's
role in war and general aviation's potential to supplement
America's military operations. With the help of New York
Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, the new Civil Air Patrol was
established on December 1, 1941, just days before the
Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.
The CAP insignia,
a red three-bladed propeller in the Civil Defense
white-triangle-in-blue-circle, began appearing on private
aircraft everywhere. CAP initially planned only on liaison
and reconnaissance flying, but the civilian group's mission
expanded when German submarines began to prey on American
ships off the coast of the United States and CAP planes
began carrying bombs and depth charges."
A CAP crew
first interrupted a sub attack on a flight out of Rehoboth
Beach, saving a tanker off Cape May, N.J. Since radio calls
for military bombers were often unproductive, unarmed CAP
fliers dived in mock attacks to force subs to break and run.
The CAP coastal
patrol flew 24 million miles, found 173 submarines, attacked
57, hit 10 and sank two. By Presidential Executive Order,
CAP became an auxiliary of the Army Air Forces in 1943.
A German
commander later confirmed that coastal U-boat operations
were withdrawn from the United States "because of those
damned little red and yellow airplanes."
In all, CAP
flew a half-million hours during the war, and 64 CAP
aviators lost their lives in the line of duty.
The U.S. Air
Force was created as an independent armed service in 1947,
and CAP was designated as its official civilian auxiliary
the following year.
Civil Air
Patrol (CAP) was established 1 December 1941 and is a
private, nonprofit organization of a benevolent character,
and incorporated by the United States Congress on 1 July
1946 (36 USC 40301-40307).
It functions in
accordance with its
Constitution and Bylaws,
regulations, and other directives approved by the
Board
of Governors.
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