Tehachapi News

The public is invited to attend an "Open House" for the local unit of the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) /USAF Auxiliary.  Squadron 46 is welcoming guests from 6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 30. Anyone interested in learning about Civil Air Patrol, its role and responsibilities to Homeland Security, Aerospace Education and the Cadet Youth Program,  please feel free to come by and visit. The squadron is located on the Tehachapi Municipal Airport at East "I" and North Hayes. Refreshments will be served. 
The Civil Air Patrol promotes and supports aerospace education, both for its own members and the general public. 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. Teachers can get free classroom materials and lesson plans from CAP by joining CAP’s Aerospace Education Membership program.
Search and rescue remains an important service provided by CAP members in the air and on the ground. CAP still flies 90 percent of all federal inland SAR missions, as directed by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center (AFRCC).  CAP also supports the Joint Rescue Coordination Centers in Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico. CAP pilots fly reconnaissance missions for homeland security, search and rescue and disaster relief, and even counter drug reconnaissance at the request of government or law enforcement agencies. They transport medical personnel and supplies, blood and live tissue. In times of disaster, they assess damage and transport emergency personnel from site to site.
Civil Air Patrol builds strong citizens for the future by providing leadership training, technical education, scholarships and career education to young men and women, ages 12 to 21. 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.
Through their experiences as CAP cadets, young people develop into responsible citizens and become tomorrow's aerospace leaders or civil servants.  Cadets achieving the Mitchell award can enlist at the grade of E3 in the military services. The leadership skills, self-confidence, and discipline cadets gain through CAP prepares them to achieve whatever goals they set for themselves in life.
CAP is the volunteer, non-profit auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force. Its three missions are to develop its cadets, educate Americans on the importance of Aerospace and perform live-saving humanitarian missions.
Hope to see you.