Civil Air Patrol flies the skies for 75 years

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the Civil Air Patrol, a group of pilot civilians who work with the Air Force to help the military and other agencies. Their main missions have been education, outreach, and emergency services.

The organization has a very interesting history, starting in its foundation just one week before Pearl Harbor in World War II.

“The west coast, or the east coast had people going out over the water in a plane half the size of this dropping hand grenades on German U-Boats,” said Pat Mulvey, a mortgage loan officer who volunteers with the Civil Air Patrol in his spare time.

Starting as a civil defense force, now the CAP helps with rescues and environmental disasters.

“Natural disasters, man-made disasters; the oil slick in the Gulf we were involved with that, any time there’s a hurricane that comes in we are involved in that,” Mulvey said.

In 2015 the CAP went on 863 rescue missions, found 498 people, and saved 69 lives, but they don’t only respond, they also help prevent, working with fire agencies to preserve the landscape and human lives.

“A few years back when the winds picked up and it got really hot we’ll do firewatches, very long flights and we’ll look for smoke coming up,” said Mulvey.

So what drives these pilots to give up time and money? It’s the same as most people who volunteer: they see is as a way to help out their neighbors.

“It’s like anything else when you volunteer; you’re doing it for all sorts of different reasons including a little bit to help yourself out, but also to help the community out,” Mulvey said.

If you would like to learn more about aviation and are between the ages of 12 and 18 the Civil Air Patrol has a cadet program. They meet one Saturday a month and two hours a week each Monday from 6:30-8:30 pm at 8025-B Boeing Drive. You can visit the national website or their local Facebook page for update, or call Captain Natalie Franc at (915) 502-0803.

If you’re in Las Cruces the CAP squadron also has a cadet program. You can find more information by calling Brooks Edward Hindes at (575) 650-4106 their cadets meet at 6:30 p.m. every Tuesday at 710 Therapy Lane, CAP Hangar in the Las Cruces airport.

Adults, pilots or not, are welcome to join.