Civil Air Patrol, United States Air Force Auxilary

THE CORPORATION
• Is classified as a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) corporation.
• Operates as the all-volunteer civilian auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force when performing services for the federal government.
• Includes eight geographic regions consisting of 52 wings (the 50 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia).
• Has more than 1,500 units, and 57,000 volunteer cadet and adult members nationwide.
• Provides opportunities for members to serve the community, participate in resident and/or distance learning leadership development training and acquire new skills to benefit personal and professional growth.
• Operates one of the largest fleets of single-engine piston aircraft in the world, with 550 currently in the fleet.
• Flies approximately 110,000 hours annually.
• Maintains a fleet of about 900 emergency service vehicles for training and mission support.
• Provides support to cadets and adult members through 900 chaplain service personnel.
• Supports members with about 100 corporate staff at the CAP National Headquarters at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala.

EMERGENCY SERVICES
• Conducts 90 percent of inland search and rescue in the U.S., as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center and other agencies.
• Coordinates Air Force-assigned missions through the CAP National Operations Center at Maxwell AFB at a cost of about $130 per flying hour.
• Performs aerial reconnaissance for homeland security.
• Saves an average of 80 lives per year (91 in FY 2008).
• Provides disaster-relief support to local, state and national organizations.
• Transports time-sensitive medical materials, blood products and body tissues when commercial routes are unavailable.
• Provides impact assessment, light transport, communications support and low-level route surveys for the U.S. Air Force.
• Assists federal law enforcement agencies in the war on drugs.
• Conducts orientation flights for Air Force Junior and Senior ROTC cadets.
• Maintains the most extensive VHF and HF communications network in the nation.

CADET PROGRAMS
• Includes more than 22,000 members ages 12 through 20.
• Educates youth in four main program areas: leadership, aerospace, fitness and character development.
• Provides after-school cadet program to enrich school curriculum.
• Offers orientation flights in powered and glider aircraft, and flight training scholarships.
• Provides about 10 percent of each year’s new classes entering U.S. Air Force Academy.
• Provides enlistment in the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army and U.S. Coast Guard at higher pay grade for cadets who have earned the Gen. Billy Mitchell Award.
• Provides activities and competition for cadets at the local, state, regional and national levels.
• Provides an International Air Cadet Exchange program.
• Provides college scholarships in several disciplines.
• Provides opportunities for community involvement through color guard/drill team presentations and an active role in emergency service missions.
• Provides opportunities to test-fly careers in aviation, space and technology through dozens of summer activities.
• Challenges youth to be ambassadors for a drug-free lifestyle.

AEROSPACE EDUCATION
• Educates adult and cadet members and the community on the importance of aerospace.
• Provides support for educational conferences and workshops around the country.
• Develops, publishes and distributes national academic standards-based aerospace education curricula for kindergarten through college classrooms.
• Offers grant, award, college credit and scholarship opportunities for adult, cadet and teacher members.
• Provides educators with free educational programs, products and services, including orientation airplane flights.
• Serves as an aerospace resource center for education through CAP’s Web site.