Civil Air Patrol's Long Island Group Turns Out to Support Bayport Aerodrome Celebration

BAYPORT, N.Y., May 31, 2016 – Members from various Civil Air Patrol (CAP) units in Nassau and Suffolk County showed their numbers in support of the “Celebration of Vintage Transportation”, held recently at the Bayport Aerodrome in Bayport, New York. The units’ roles at the event included directing traffic, parking lot management, crowd control and tour assistance—altogether ensuring the general safety of the spectators and protection of the vintage displays. To facilitate the undertaking, Maj. Wayne Smith, the Group’s communications officer, established a command post at one of the hangars, where the rest of the command staff split the participants into teams and equipped them with safety vests and inter-squad radios, promoting safe mobility to points on the Aerodromes grounds. The cadet members who attended ranged in age from 12 to 18 and are trained for such exercises as a benefit of membership.

“I am absolutely impressed with the one-hundred-percent participation of both [Civil Air Patrol] cadets and senior members,” stated 1st Lt. Andreas Niens, officer-in-charge of the CAP detail. 1st Lt. Niens managed CAP’s support operation from start to finish with his assistant, Cadet Capt. Derek Profit. After an exhilarating day, they were the last to go home.

Bayport Aerodrome is the last remaining public grass airfield on Long Island. It is a unique “living museum” with a “variety of antique aircraft flying on the field,” as stated on its website. Its collection includes bi-planes, Champs, Cubs and other vintage planes. The Bayport Aerodrome Society was formed in 1972 and its membership is composed of aviation professionals, recreational pilots, and people interested in preserving aviation history. For more information, visit www.bayportaerodromesociety.org.

Civil Air Patrol, the longtime all-volunteer U.S. Air Force auxiliary, is the newest member of the Air Force’s Total Force, which consists of regular Air Force, Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve, along with Air Force retired military and civilian employees. CAP, in its Total Force role, operates a fleet of 550 aircraft and performs about 90 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 78 lives annually.

Civil Air Patrol’s 56,000 members nationwide also perform homeland security, disaster relief and drug interdiction missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies. Its members additionally play a leading role in aerospace education and serve as mentors to more than 24,000 young people currently participating in the CAP cadet program.

Performing missions for America for the past 75 years, CAP received the Congressional Gold Medal in 2014 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.capvolunteernow.com for more information.

Long Island Group Civil Air Patrol is headquartered on the grounds of Long Island MacArthur Airport. For more information, please visit the Group’s website at lig.nywg.cap.gov.