About Us

Civil Air Patrol (or CAP), the official auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, is a nonprofit, all-volunteer civilian organization with more than 61,000 members nationwide. CAP, in its Air Force auxiliary role, performs 90 percent of continental U.S. inland search and rescue missions as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center (AFRCC), and was credited by them with saving 54 lives in 2011. Its volunteers also perform homeland security, disaster relief and drug interdiction missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies. The members play a leading role in aerospace education and serve as mentors to the more than 26,000 young people currently participating in CAP cadet programs.

CAP has been in existence since December 1941, created only days before the attack on Pearl Harbor. Our CAP History page will provide a brief overview of our organization’s history.

Squadrons and their members form the backbone of CAP. The Our Squadron page will provide a brief introduction to how a squadron is organized, and outline some of the jobs performed by our members. More specific information about the many volunteer opportunities available to members is provided on pages listed under the Get Involved! link.