The Primary Missions Of The Civil Air Patrol
In 1946, Congress granted a charter to Civil Air Patrol, charging its members with three missions. First, CAP was to promote aviation. As years passed, that mission expanded to include aerospace education as well. Second, CAP was to provide a training program to support the nation’s youth in contributing to society and preparing for successful adult lives. Finally, CAP was to continue its emergency services, the work for which CAP is still best known today.

Aerospace Education

Teaching Extraordinary Subjects In Extraordinary Ways
CAP maintains both internal and external aerospace education programs. CAP members, both adults and cadets, follow a rigorous program to learn about aviation and aerospace principles. CAP also reaches out to the general public through a special program for teachers at all grade levels. Through this program, CAP provides free classroom materials and lesson plans for aerospace education and each year sponsors the premier national conference in this field.

Civil Air Patrol (CAP) promotes and supports aerospace education, both for its own members and the general public. CAP educational programs help prepare American citizens to meet the challenges of a sophisticated aerospace society and understand its related issues.

CAP offers national standards-based educational products, including a secondary textbook, Aerospace: The Journey of Flight, and the middle-school-level Aerospace Dimensions. Teachers can get free classroom materials and lesson plans from CAP by joining CAP’s Aerospace Education Membership program.

Educators from across the country learn how to use aviation and space in a variety of subject areas by attending the National Conference on Aviation and Space Education (NCASE). NCASE is the nation's premier conference in this field. CAP has sponsored NCASE since 1967.

CAP also sponsors several prestigious awards for those who promote aerospace to the public.

Take advantage of the programs and resources Civil Air Patrol has to offer and start adding excitement to your classroom today! Click here to discover how aerospace education can make a difference in the lives of young people.

Cadet Programs

Responsible Citizens Through Aviation and Leadership
CAP’s cadet program trains young men and women in teamwork, moral leadership, aerospace education, technical skills to support emergency services, and military history and customs. Through national encampments, a college and flight training scholarship program, and the International Air Cadet Exchange, CAP cadets broaden their horizons, learn to assume responsibility, feel self-confidence and set goals for their lives.

Civil Air Patrol builds strong citizens for the future by providing leadership training, technical education, scholarships and career education to young men and women, ages 12 to 21.

Civil Air Patrol offers more than $200,000 in college scholarships each year, and about 10 percent of each year’s freshman class at the U.S. Air Force Academy is comprised of former CAP cadets.

Thousands of young people have their first orientation flights through the cadet program, and hundreds have soloed in gliders and powered aircraft. Tens of thousands have attended CAP encampments throughout the nation. At a national encampment, CAP cadets gather from throughout the nation. They may learn techniques for search and rescue and disaster relief. They may sample possible career choices by studying with a university engineering or technology department. They may learn teamwork and leadership through competitions in problem-solving and physical endurance.

Cadets can enjoy overseas travel through the International Air Cadet Exchange, and CAP families can welcome foreign exchange students into their homes here in the states.

For non-CAP members, the CAP School Program fills the gap between elementary school DARE and high school ROTC. CAP members, including cadets, volunteer their time in public schools, teaching respect, manners and personal accountability in a drug-free environment.

Operations

Supporting Our Communities In Times Of Need
While CAP has long been associated with search and rescue missions, its work also includes disaster relief and communications, as well as counterdrug and homeland security missions.

Search and rescue remains an important service provided by CAP members, however. CAP still flies 90 percent of all federal inland SAR missions, as directed by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center (AFRCC) at Tyndall AFB, Fla. CAP also supports the Joint Rescue Coordination Centers in Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico

On average, each year CAP members fly more than 100,000 hours in operational missions and save about 75 lives. CAP provides air and ground support for disaster relief, flying officials to remote locations, transporting blood or live tissue to critical care sites and performing aerial damage assessment.

CAP has one of the largest unified communications networks in the country, available 24/7.

In 1986, Congress authorized CAP to assist government and law enforcement agencies in the fight to eliminate illicit drug use, production and sale in the US and its territories. CAP now provides reconnaissance, communications and transportation for counterdrug missions.

CAP’s missions succeed through a seamless interplay of technology and teamwork. With new developments like satellite imagery and internet-based reporting, CAP is emerging as the resource of choice to support our nation’s strategy for homeland security.

Homeland Security

Our First Missions Are Now Our Newest Missions
Civil Air Patrol is uniquely positioned to conduct operations in support of the nation’s homeland security initiatives. With decades of operational experience, CAP can provide low-cost airborne assets across the nation, all manned by mission-ready personnel who have demonstrated capability to work with federal, military, state and local agencies across the spectrum of homeland security.

As the civilian auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, CAP has now been placed under the Air Force Homeland Security Directorate. CAP leaders recently met with U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge to discuss CAP’s expanding role in protecting the home skies. CAP members have proven themselves capable, having assisted in relief efforts after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11. CAP also provided security for the Winter Olympics soon thereafter and has been asked by NASA to provide flights above its spacecraft launch sites.

CAP increases our nation’s security capabilities by providing airborne reconnaissance and imagery, disaster and damage assessment, airborne transportation of personnel, equipment and critical supplies, and multi-layered communications support. CAP can provide manpower for communications and emergency operations centers, search and rescue teams, and ground support teams.

CAP can put a manned airborne platform over any major city or strategic resource in the country in less than two hours, safely and cost-effectively.