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 95 percent of all federal inland SAR missions, as directed by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center (AFRCC) at Langley AFB, Va. 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 100 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.
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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 on to discover how aerospace education can make a difference in the lives of young people.
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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.
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