Civil Air Patrol -- official member of the U.S. Air Force -- Total Force

Civil Air Patrol is officially a member of the U.S. Air Force’s Total Force, Gen. Mark Welsh, Air Force chief of staff, announced at the August 2015 National CAP Conference held in Orlando, Florida.

The all-volunteer Air Force auxiliary joins the active-duty Air Force, Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve Command, along with Air Force retired military and civilian employees, in the Total Force.

“A revision to Air Force doctrine signed by the secretary of staff of the Air Force enacted this significant change,” Maj. Gen. Joe Vazquez, CAP national commander, said in a video announcement.

“Air Force senior leadership has long considered Civil Air Patrol to be part of the Air Force family, relying on us to support homeland security missions,” Vazquez said, adding that including CAP in the Total Force “is a strong recognition of who we are and what we do from the highest levels of the Air Force.”

“Greater awareness of Civil Air Patrol among our Total Force partners also ushers in a new era of understanding and presents untold opportunities as the Air Force looks to its missions for tomorrow. Being part of the Total Force brings with it a great responsibility to continue to be a focused, professional, mission-focused component of the Air Force.”

“We are citizens serving communities and we are a part of the United States Air Force Total Force team,” the national commander concluded.

Congress established CAP as the Air Force’s official auxiliary in May 1948, mandating three core missions – emergency services, cadet programs and aerospace education.

The organization was founded Dec. 1, 1941. During World War II its members flew patrols along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts and eventually helped stop German U-boats attacking U.S. oil tankers carrying fuel for domestic and Allied forces. Other CAP members contributed to the war effort through such missions as towing targets for military trainees, spotting forest fires, conducting search and rescue missions, providing disaster relief and emergency transport of people and parts and conducting orientation flights for future pilots.

That World War II service was recognized in December 2014 with a Congressional Gold Medal.

The Air Force report on CAP’s addition to the Total Force can be found on its website.

Group II is one of three major subordinate groups of the Maryland Wing of the Civil Air Patrol. Group II is comprised of eight Maryland squadrons located in Baltimore, Carroll, Harford, Talbot and Wicomico counties. Follow Group II on Facebook at www.facebook.com/mdgroup2 or on Twitter at https://twitter.com/mdgroup2_cap.

Nearly 1,600 CAP members serve in Maryland. Last year wing members flew 13 search and rescue missions. The wing was credited with five finds and one life saved. Maryland Wing flew 32 missions for the State of Maryland. Members flew 2,106 hours in all mission categories. Volunteers contributed services estimated at $4.6 million. For more information, contact the Maryland Wing at www.mdcap.org or follow the wing on Facebook at www.facebook.com/MarylandWingCivilAirPatrol.

Civil Air Patrol, the official auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, is a nonprofit organization with 60,000 members nationwide, operating a fleet of 550 aircraft. CAP, in its Air Force auxiliary role, performs about 85 percent of continental U.S. inland search and rescue missions as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center and is credited by the AFRCC with saving an average of 70 lives annually. Its unpaid professionals also perform homeland security, disaster relief and drug interdiction missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies. The members play a leading role in aerospace education and serve as mentors to more than 25,000 young people currently participating in the CAP cadet programs. Performing missions for America for over 70 years, CAP will receive the Congressional Gold Medal in 2015 in honor of the heroic efforts of its World War II veterans. CAP also participates in Wreaths Across America, an initiative to remember, honor and teach about the sacrifices of U.S. military veterans. Visit www.gocivilairpatrol.com, www.capvolunteernow.com and www.capgoldmedal.com for more information.

Submitted by: Capt. Alice L. Raatjes, Public Affairs Officer, Group II, Maryland Wing