Home Student Activities Current News Media Center Students Activities Newsletters CAP Archives SLA Policies Policy Administration Our Mission Faculty & Staff Yearly Calendar School Menus Job Openings Volunteers Parent Council Volunteers Downloads Back To School Supply List(.txt) Volunteer Hrs Form Summer Packets Grade 6 (2.1M) Grade 7 (833K) Grade 8 (1.2M) Links NJHS Info FL Pre-paid College Civil Air Patrol Student Leadership Academy Cadet Squadron (FL 804) Madeline Kirsten Links: For more information about the Civil Air Patrol please read the missions of CAP presented below. For more information about SLA Squadron and points of contact for membership, please contact 1st Lt. Janice Dernberger. SLA parents are encouraged to join the squadron as CAP Cadet Sponsor members assisting the squadron senior members by become supporting parents. Aerospace Education CAP maintains both internal and external aerospace education programs. CAP members, both adults and cadets, follow a rigorous program to learn about aviation and aerospace principles. CAP also reaches out to the general public through a special program for teachers at all grade levels. Through this program, CAP provides free classroom materials and lesson plans for aerospace education and each year sponsors the premier national conference in this field. 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. 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. Cadet Programs CAP’s cadet program trains young men and women in teamwork, moral leadership, aerospace education, technical skills to support emergency services, and military history and customs. Through national encampments, a college and flight training scholarship program, and the International Air Cadet Exchange, CAP cadets broaden their horizons, learn to assume responsibility, feel self-confidence and set goals for their lives. 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. Operations Best known for its members’ work in search and rescue and disaster relief missions, CAP is expanding its role in the 21st century to include an increasing number of homeland security operations and exercises. CAP also performs counterdrug reconnaissance missions at the request of law enforcement agencies and can do radiological monitoring and damage assessment. CAP members undergo rigorous training to perform these missions safely and cost-effectively. 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. Cadets can not participate in the 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 Our History Civil Air Patrol was conceived in the late 1930s by legendary New Jersey aviation advocate Gill Robb Wilson, who foresaw aviation's role in war and general aviation's potential to supplement America's military operations. With the help of New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, the new Civil Air Patrol was established on December 1, 1941, just days before the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. The CAP insignia, a red three-bladed propeller in the Civil Defense white-triangle-in-blue-circle, began appearing on private aircraft everywhere. CAP initially planned only on liaison and reconnaissance flying, but the civilian group's mission expanded when German submarines began to prey on American ships off the coast of the United States and CAP planes began carrying bombs and depth charges." A CAP crew first interrupted a sub attack on a flight out of Rehoboth Beach, saving a tanker off Cape May, N.J. Since radio calls for military bombers were often unproductive, unarmed CAP fliers dived in mock attacks to force subs to break and run. The CAP coastal patrol flew 24 million miles, found 173 submarines, attacked 57, hit 10 and sank two. By Presidential Executive Order, CAP became an auxiliary of the Army Air Forces in 1943. A German commander later confirmed that coastal U-boat operations were withdrawn from the United States "because of those damned little red and yellow airplanes." In all, CAP flew a half-million hours during the war, and 64 CAP aviators lost their lives in the line of duty. The U.S. Air Force was created as an independent armed service in 1947, and CAP was designated as its official civilian auxiliary the following year. To the Students If you want to do something with your spare time that really matters... If you want to learn new technical skills that will help you in the future... If you want to become a leader and grow stronger and smarter... Civil Air Patrol’s cadet program could be for you! Spend your spare time with like-minded guys and girls, ages 12 to 21, doing volunteer work that really helps your community. At Civil Air Patrol’s weekly meetings, you’ll learn teamwork and leadership skills that will serve you from now on. As you progress through CAP’s multi-level cadet training, you’ll learn the principles of aviation and aerospace flight. You’ll learn about rocketry and physics through hands-on experiments. You can even get a taste of military life, and learn about military history, customs, drills and inspection. You could end up in one of the top squads in the nation if you advance to the most elite competition for CAP cadets, National Cadet Competition. CAP offers national cadet encampments with activities in emergency services, engineering, technology, physical fitness, teambuilding and flight training. You can even visit foreign countries through the International Air Cadet Exchange. Thanks to good preparation and valuable scholarships, many CAP cadets go on to careers in the aviation and aerospace industries. Some pursue technical degrees and others go on to one of the nation’s prestigious military academies. Each year, at least 10 percent of the freshman class at the U.S. Air Force Academy is made up of former CAP cadets. Let your imagination take flight - see what you can become as a member of Civil Air Patrol. The above info is courtesy of the Civil Air Patrol National Headquarters at http://www.cap.gov/. Copyright © 2004 Civil Air Patrol National Headquarters. All Rights Reserved