One Year Later, CAP's COVID-19 Response Nears 40,000 Volunteer Days of Service |
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Civil Air Patrol has been conducting COVID-19 missions in support of America's humanitarian response since March 2020, and this week enters its 13th month of operations. Collectively, CAP members have contributed almost 40,000 days of volunteer service.
Right now, 38 humanitarian missions are active and two are pending, with 108 completed or closed. In all, 42 CAP wings have accumulated 39,762 volunteer days valued at $8,652,211 of service to their communities, states and the nation.
Here is a statistical rundown of what the organization's missions have delivered, as of Feb. 28:
- 2,134 blood units;
- 8,108,350 meals;
- 1,076,781 pounds of food;
- 2.6 million-plus masks;
- 177,107 test kits;
- 116,762 test samples; and
- 7,301 vials of vaccine.
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Over 27,000 CAP Names Headed to the Moon |
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A microchip carrying more than 27,000 CAP names with related messages and images is set to be carried to the moon later this year aboard space robotics company Astrobotic’s Peregrine lunar lander.
Maj. James Mathews (seen handing over the chip), commander of Virginia Wing Group 2, drove more than 300 miles to deliver the chip to Astrobiotic after an organization-wide name-gathering projected spearheaded by 2nd Lt. Paul Douglas, aerospace education officer for the wing’s Burke Composite Squadron.
CAP partnered with the Cornell NanoScale Science and Technology Facility to have more than 27,000 member names — about half of CAP's total membership — along with 270 Air Force Association StellarXplorers names, an 80th anniversary CAP logo and messages from CAP and AFA leadership, etched onto a microchip the size of a postage stamp.
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Air Force General Talks About Career
Kicking off NBC Today’s special series Women Are Essential for Women’s History Month, Savannah Guthrie spoke with the nation’s highest-ranking woman in uniform, Gen. Jacqueline Van Ovost, who talked about her career in the U.S. Air Force.
Van Ovost is the commander of Air Mobility Command and the only female four-star on active duty. “Frankly, it’s quite lonely,” she told Guthrie, calling for more women to rise in the ranks.
The general, as noted in the August issue of Air Force Magazine, was a cadet in what is now the Florida Wing's Treasure Coast Composite Squadron in Fort Pierce. She joined right before turning 18, serving from July 1983-July 1984 before entering the Air Force Academy.
She told the Air Force Times in 2020 that CAP sparked her interest in the military.
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Minn. Members Enjoy
Black Hawk Rides
Forty Minnesota Wing cadets and senior members experienced a vivid lesson in aeronautics on a flight through the clear, cold, blue skies above their hometowns aboard two UH-60 Black Hawks flown from Brandt Airport in Delano.
Their hosts were the Minnesota Army National Guard’s 34th Expeditionary Combat Aviation Brigade, based in St. Paul, and the wing’s Delano-based Skyhawk Composite Squadron.
The CAP passengers hailed from the Skyhawk — including Cadet 1st t. Adia LaFromboise (left) and Cadet Master Sgt. Bridget Sundheim pictured here — Hutchinson, North Hennepin and Viking composite squadrons and the Fort Snelling Cadet Squadron.
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WAI Founder Appointed CAP Foundation Trustee |
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The founder of Women in Aviation International (WAI) is the newest trustee for the CAP Foundation.
Dr. Peggy Chabrian — a longtime aviation enthusiast and professional aviation educator who retired as WAI’s president in September 2019 — was appointed at the foundation’s February meeting.
"It is my honor to serve on the Civil Air Patrol Foundation Board of Trustees,” Chabrian said. “In my experiences in institutions of higher education as well as during my time at Women in Aviation International, I have been impressed with the programs and initiatives provided by CAP introducing young people to aviation as well as its role in search and rescue operations."
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71st, 72nd Cadets Earn 'Wings' Through CAP Program |
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Cadet Capts. Hayden Mitchell (pictured above, on right) and David Hogenson (right) are the 71st and 72nd CAP cadets, respectively, to earn their private pilot certificates through the Cadet Wings Program.
Mitchell (pictured with instructor Patrick Regner) is a member of the Ohio Wing's Lunken Cadet Squadron in Cincinnati. He received his certificate Feb. 20.
Mitchell, a resident of nearby Morning View, Kentucky, completed his flight training at Sporty's Academy at Clermont County Airport in Ohio.
Hogenson is a member of the Montana Wing's Gallatin Composite Squadron in Bozeman. He received his certificate Feb. 21.
He is attending the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs as a first-year cadet. Achieving this milestone has allowed him to apply for the USAFA Precision Flying Team, where he is in the final stage of selection.
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Commander Offers Recruiting and Retention Tips
National Headquarters' Marketing & Strategic Communications team is reprising National Commander Maj. Gen. Mark Smith’s Recruiting and Retention Series from 2018.
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Aircraft Status Board Approved
for Use by HUBCAP Pit Crew
Capt. Charles Dale, maintenance officer for the Massachusetts Wing's Hanscom Composite Squadron, observed the difficulty CAP pilots experienced when scheduling flights while lacking clear information on squadron aircraft location and status. While the data is available in AMRAD and WMIRS, determining aircraft status was a cumbersome process.
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Using a simple Google Sheets design, Dale (at right) created an innovative solution that provides more real- time visibility, saving pilots time and aggravation. Authorized administrators can now update and broadcast changes as they occur, replacing the traditional practice involving multiple emails that filled members’ inboxes.
“I got the idea for the status board from a physical status board that is used at the Hanscom Aero Club,” Dale said, "and the response from pilots across the wing has been uniformly positive.”
This innovative solution, and many others, are available on HUBCAP within eServices. |
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Last Call for Conference Presentation Proposals |
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This a reminder that the deadline for submitting presentation proposals for the 2021 CAP National Conference is March 8. So if you have a submission in mind, you only have a few days left to submit it.
This year's conference will be organization's first hybrid face-to-face and online gathering, presenting a unique opportunity for proposals from national staff and members. All proposals will be evaluated by a team of volunteer members and national staff, then vetted by the respective offices and functional areas for mission relevance and accuracy.
Those presenters selected for the conference schedule will be notified by April 15.
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This Week in CAP History takes a look at one student’s determined effort to establish a squadron in Santa Ynez Valley with the California Wing.
Cadet Ben Baker wanted his fellow students to experience the exciting world of aviation, STEM and aerospace. He decided that CAP was the perfect organization to introduce them to.
Click here to read the article on Baker, which was originally published on March 2, 2017 in the Santa Ynez Valley News. |
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This Week's Top Headlines |
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“A Michigan Air Guard Member Goes to Europe”
“Waco Civil Air Patrol Chaplain Honored for Relief Work During Pandemic”
“Duty Calls: 'Monumental' Task on Tap at Saratoga National Cemetery”
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CAP Marketing & Strategic Communications
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