Customs Service saw CAP conducting counterdrug reconnaissance missions for law enforcement.ĬAP once again began delivering parts for the Air Force and flew human tissue and organ transplant missions with the American Red Cross. In 1979, CAP began flying Military Training Route surveys for the Strategic Air Command and the Tactical Air Command. The latter half of the Cold War witnessed the further expansion of CAP roles and capabilities. In 1975, for the first time, a civilian volunteer became CAP’s national commander, signaling a shift in the CAP-Air Force relationship. The 1973 law making Emergency Locator Transmitters mandatory in aircraft vastly expanded CAP’s search and rescue capabilities. CAP search and rescue missions became routine, and civil defense officials used CAP radio networks to coordinate relief efforts during natural disasters.ĬAP assisted in training the Air Force’s Ground Observer Corps, conducted aerial radiological monitoring of nuclear fallout and participated in Operation MOONWATCH by optically tracking artificial satellites. As the Cold War crystallized in the 1950s, CAP closely aligned with the Air Force and civil defense organizations. Air Force Academy in 1955, 10 percent were former CAP members. In 1948, CAP began participating in the International Air Cadet Exchange, and in 1949 it introduced its first aerospace education literature for use by CAP units or school teachers. Post-World War II, CAP focused its efforts on three core missions – Cadet Program, Emergency Services and Aerospace Education. Air Force as a separate branch of the armed services, Truman signed Public Law 80-557, establishing CAP as the Air Force’s civilian auxiliary on May 26, 1948. Truman signed Public Law 79-476, incorporating the organization. These included aircraft warning, southern liaison patrol duty along the Mexican border, courier service, missing aircraft searches, disaster relief, tow target and tracking operations, forest patrols and many others.ĬAP’s wartime record ensured its postwar future. The cadet program proved to be a powerful force for imparting practical skills and preparing teenagers for the military and other wartime service agencies.ĬAP’s male and female volunteers engaged in an array of wartime missions. 1, 1942, CAP leaders issued a memorandum creating the CAP Cadet Program for boys and girls ages 15 to 18. Roosevelt to issue Executive Order 9339 on April 29, 1943, transferring CAP from the Office of Civilian Defense to the Department of War.Īt its establishment, CAP made no provision for the participation of youth. Their success in thwarting submarine attacks and safeguarding shipping lanes led President Franklin D. With the military unable to respond in force, CAP established coastal patrol flights to deter, report and prevent enemy operations.įrom March 1942 through August 1943, armed CAP aircraft at 21 coastal patrol bases extending from Maine to the Mexican border patrolled the waters off the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. In January 1942, German submarines began attacking merchant vessels along the East Coast.
Public announcement of CAP and national recruiting commenced on Dec. Existing CADS, CAR and other flying units soon merged under the CAP banner.
1, under the direction of national commander Maj. Their proposal for a Civil Air Patrol was approved by the Commerce, Navy, and War departments in November, and CAP national headquarters opened its doors on Dec.
Gannett proposed Wilson’s CADS program as a model for organizing the nation’s civilian aviation resources. LaGuardia (New York mayor and director of the federal Office of Civilian Defense and also a World War I aviator), Wilson, publisher Thomas H. In 1941, Wilson launched his perfected program: the Civil Air Defense Services (CADS). Other military-styled civilian aviation units emerged nationwide, training for homeland defense. In Ohio, Milton Knight, a pilot and businessman, organized and incorporated the Civilian Air Reserve (CAR) in 1938. Wilson envisioned mobilizing America’s civilian aviators for national defense, an idea shared by others. The origins of Civil Air Patrol date to 1936, when Gill Robb Wilson, World War I aviator and New Jersey director of aeronautics, returned from Germany convinced of impending war.
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