Civil Air Patrol; Part of the AF team Published June 2, 2006 By Staff Sgt. James Wilkinson 436th AW Public Affairs DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. -- It's hard to imagine that 85 percent of the Nation's inland search-and-rescue missions rest on the shoulders of a group of volunteers. The volunteers donate their time and labor to rescues more than 100 lives annually and save taxpayers millions of dollars, yet they only receive reimbursement for fuel and oil. Some of these volunteers operate from a hangar on Dover Air Force Base to provide Dover residents the services that make local residents' lives better for both youth and adults alike. The DAFB CAP is one of 1,700 CAP units nationwide that offers assistance through three key mission areas: emergency services, cadet programs, and aerospace education for youth and the general public. The CAP force at Dover consists of 56 members, 39 of which are senior members. There are more than 200 CAP members in the entire wing, which is comprised of all composite squadrons from Delaware. Nation-wide, there are a total of 52 wings - one wing for each state, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. Everyone is welcome to join the CAP, which is divided into two programs: the Cadet Program and the Senior Program. The Cadet Program The CAP's Cadet Program encourages and provides America's youth the tools to become leaders and good citizens through their interest in aerospace. "The Civil Air Patrol instills leadership qualities in the cadets by giving the cadet training which improves his or her self esteem," said CAP Lt. Col. Elmer Boyer, Dover Composite Squadron commander. "By the time the cadets finish the program, they are ready to take on the larger tasks in the organization. We currently have cadets which hold wing positions due to their training and willingness to take on responsibilities." Cadets travel from all over Delaware and Maryland, from Chestertown, Sussex County and all areas of Kent County, to participate in Dover AFB's CAP program. "We like to give the cadets good, rounded information about what the Air Force is really about. It's not all flying; we all know that. We want them to realize that if they join the Air Force, there is a multitude of things that they can do," said Colonel Boyer. Every Monday, members of the Dover Composite Squadron - both junior and senior - meet in Building 918 to train, educate and mentor cadets through studies and activities. During the meetings, cadets participate in special activities, aerospace education, leadership, moral leadership, decision-making and physical fitness programs. Cadets are introduced to military traditions such as drill, customs and courtesies and rank structure. They also wear uniforms similar to those worn in the Air Force with the exception of different rank insignias. "As they go through the program and acquire rank, with the possibility of attaining the rank of Cadet Colonel, the cadets are given more responsibilities which vary from commanding a flight, to doing the necessary paperwork of the organization," said the colonel. The program also instructs junior members how to carry out emergency services that the CAP provides in certain scenarios, such as teaching cadets how to use Emergency Locator Transmitter locators or conducting ground search patterns to search for missing aircraft and people. "Each week, cadets are required to perform physical training. There are fitness requirements to acquire rank, they must run one mile in specific amount of time to achieve certain ranks," said Colonel Boyer. Various Air Force units have provided mission-specific briefings to educate cadets about the various units that comprise the Air Force mission at Dover. "One of the functions of CAP is to encourage young people through education to become 'air-minded' with the goal of wanting to join the Air Force. Not all do, but many will go into aviation, whether civilian or military," said Lt. Col. Russ Medina, Dover Composite Squadron vice commander. Cadets are also more competitive when competing for slots at the Air Force Academy, and depending upon their rank in the CAP, members can enter the Air Force as an airman 1st class, according to Colonel Medina. As cadets accomplish specific achievements, they earn increased rank, awards or certificates. They may become eligible for CAP national or international special activities, and compete for academic and flying scholarships. "We'll get you up in airplanes with orientation flights - it's a part of the program that cadets get five flights in CAP aircraft - and teach (cadets) everything there is to know about airplanes, but we are not a flight school," said 2nd Lieutenant David Pollitt. "We want to get kids from Dover AFB involved. There's a bounty of kids here with not much to do. There are a lot of people who don't know we're here." As an added incentive, the program provides cadets the opportunity to fly five orientation flights in a C-172 and also flights in a glider, all covered under the aerospace program that they choose. Cadets can also fly aboard Delaware Department of Transportation flights as an observer. The Senior Program "One of the primary missions of the CAP for the seniors is the flying of search and rescue missions for the Air Force in conjunction with the Air Force Rescue and Coordination Center at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia," said Lieutenant Pollitt. "When a plane goes down or an ELT goes off, the respective CAP units are scrambled after two positive hits from a satellite receiving an ELT beacon." Also, Delaware's CAP wing has a unique partnership with the State of Delaware and the Department of Transportation to do traffic reporting. "We fly twice a day in New Castle County all year long, and in the summer time, we add Sussex County as well, giving us the ability to fly as many as 26 sorties a week," said Lieutenant Pollitt. "This enables us to be the eyes in the sky as airborne traffic reporters for DELDOT's Traffic Management Center." When airborne for DELDOT, the CAP is responsible for proactively reporting traffic accidents, broken down vehicles and traffic backups that affect the Delaware highway system. "This (agreement with DELDOT) allowed the Delaware wing to have the greatest amount of flying hours in the Nation for the fiscal year of 2004, earning us a brand new C-182 glass-cockpit airplane," said Lieutenant Pollitt. Air Force auxiliary Another role of the CAP is it is an official civilian auxiliary of the Air Force. They are tasked by the Air Force to do certain jobs locally and nationally. "We maintain a close working relationship with the Delaware Wing of the Civil Air Patrol to continue to expand our incident response capability and fully utilize them when their services are required," said Maj. Sean McGlynn, 436th AW Safety Office and Dover AFB's liaison for the CAP. The CAP also works in conjunction with the Department of Homeland Security as well, and will eventually expand its roles in coastal watch. "When 9/11 happened, the first aerial pictures of the World Trade towers after they collapsed were all Civil Air Patrol pictures," said the lieutenant. During Hurricane Katrina, CAP members flew more than 900 sorties and 3,000 hours taking pictures from the air, going in for search and rescue in residents' homes, according to Lieutenant Pollitt. Lieutenant Pollitt asks if people can remember one thing about his organization, it would be the fact that they are a "strictly volunteer group." "We do not get paid, and a lot of the expenses that we incur come out of out pockets. So you can see that we love what we do. There can be no other reason for it," Lieutenant Pollitt said. Civil Air Patrol Cadet Week The Air Force identified the week of July 3 - 10 as Civil Air Patrol Cadet Week Air Force-wide to show appreciation to the 26,000 volunteers that attract youth to aviation and space related career fields and serve as a recruiting tool for the Air Force. In honor of CAP Cadet Week, Dover will host the CAP July 7 with tours of aviation, maintenance and support facilities to show appreciation to the local chapters. For more information concerning CAP Cadet Week at Dover AFB, call Maj. Sean McGlynn at 677-3366. To get involved in CAP, call Lt. Col. Elmer Boyer at (302) 430-0993.