Joining CAP

Are you interested in aviation and space? Do you want to get involved in search and rescue, disaster relief, and other humanitarian services? Would you like to develop leadership skills and serve your community? If so, then you may want to join the Civil Air Patrol!

Civil Air Patrol serves the country and community through its three missions of emergency services, aerospace education, and its cadet program.

Although closely associated with the United States Air Force, there is no military obligation as a member of Civil Air Patrol. All services are strictly voluntary. Members are eligible to wear a uniform similar to the Air Force uniform.

There are two main types of Civil Air Patrol membership, senior and cadet.

Senior Membership- CAP Senior Membership is open to men and women who are over the age of 18. Civil Air Patrol offers a unique opportunity for individuals to serve their community and country. Senior members take part in a wide range of activities including...

Teaching and working with cadets

Search and Rescue Training and Service

Counterdrug Reconnaissance Flights

Aerospace and Leadership Educational Opportunities

If you’re a pilot, or you’d like to be, CAP has plenty of opportunities tailor-made for you. CAP owns the largest fleet of single-engine piston aircraft in the nation, and CAP pilots are able to fly those planes to perform CAP missions in service to their local communities.

CAP pilots fly reconnaissance missions for homeland security, search and rescue and disaster relief, and even counterdrug 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.

The Civil Air Patrol's aircraft are hangared at strategic locations throughout the nation to be readily available when missions arise. CAP members maintain these aircraft at the highest levels of safety and efficiency and have access to specialists at CAP National Headquarters for maintenance, safety and training questions.

If you’d like to become a CAP pilot, you must be at least 17 years of age and hold a valid FAA private, commercial or airline transport pilot certificate. You must have a Class III or higher medical certificate and a current flight review.

You’ll have to satisfactorily complete a flight check and pass a written exam. You’ll also need to complete aircraft questionnaires for each plane you’re qualified to fly.
As a CAP pilot, you perform some of the organization’s most important work. CAP is also a great place for you to meet and work with people who share your interest in flying and want to use their skills in a meaningful way.

Cadet Membership-

Do you want to do something with your spare time that really matters?

Do you want to learn new technical skills that will help you in the future?

Do 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./p>

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.

Families-

If you’re interested in a worthwhile volunteer program for your son or daughter, Civil Air Patrol may be exactly what you’ve been looking for!

CAP’s cadet program has more than 27,000 members, ages 12 to 21, throughout the nation. Parents of cadets credit our program with communicating to their children the importance of personal integrity, accountability, self-discipline and respect for others.

Because CAP includes both cadet and senior members, this can be an outstanding volunteer activity for your whole family. You can work together to serve your local community, learn new skills and share a common commitment to making our nation stronger and more secure.

What can your family do in Civil Air Patrol? As CAP cadets, your children will follow an awards-based, multi-level program that includes leadership and technical training, values clarification, physical fitness and aerospace education.

As senior members, the adults in your family will work alongside the cadets, learning new skills for search and rescue missions, disaster relief, communications, mentoring, crisis management, moral leadership and teamwork.

Your family can take part in national seminars and workshops, including cadet encampments, glider training, overseas exchange programs and technical training.

Your CAP cadet may go on to a career in the aerospace and aviation industries. He or she might discover a particular technical interest, or choose to attend a military academy.

CAP can be a smart choice for today’s family, incorporating in one organization a way to volunteer, develop character, learn about emerging technology and share quality time doing work that matters.

Let your imagination take flight – see what you can become as a member of Civil Air Patrol.

Nationwide, Civil Air Patrol membership currently exceeds 52,000 men, women, and young people.

You do not have to be a pilot or own an airplane to become a member of Civil Air Patrol. We have a place for you: search and rescue mission observer, communications specialist, media relations officer, personnel officer, teacher, and many, many, more possibilities.