By Peggy Howe| April 2004

• 1: Introduction
• 2: Cadet and Education Programs
• 3: First in Flight
• 4: My Time With the Civil Air Patrol
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Introduction

Known as “the minutemen” of World War II, they were volunteer, civilian aviators who patrolled and defended our nation’s borders while the military geared up for action overseas. Prior to the war’s outbreak, they organized among themselves, preparing their case and their airplanes to offer auxiliary services to the military. And on Dec. 1, 1941, a few days before Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, the civilian air defense became an official organization, the Civil Air Patrol.

One of the nation’s first CAP squadrons formed in Manteo, Dare County. Like their counterparts along the Eastern Seaboard and Gulf of Mexico, fliers from North Carolina scouted and chased German submarines, including several off the Outer Banks, that were harassing and attacking U.S. merchant ships. After the war, the civilian planes were credited with identifying 173 enemy submarines, attacking 57 and sinking three. The CAP fliers were more nimble and just as courageous as the military fighter pilots in these missions and were later recognized for the key role they played throughout the war. And many were women. By the end of the war, women made up 20 percent of the Civil Air Patrol.

As the civilian auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, today’s CAP conducts nationwide programs involving nearly 62,000 cadets and senior members, including 2,900 from North and South Carolina associated with the North Carolina Wing, as state divisions are called. Nationally, CAP flies more than 4,500 aircraft, including about 4,000 member-owned planes. These volunteer fliers and support personnel perform more than 85 percent of the inland search-and-rescue missions assigned by the Air Force. Missions include disasters such as hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, earthquakes and volcanoes. CAP members save an average of 100 lives per year. When the World Trade Center twin towers were attacked on Sept. 11, 2001, CAP volunteers across the country sprang into action for such duties as transporting blood, monitoring airports, transporting government officials and manning state emergency operations centers. Since all commercial and private aircraft were grounded that day, CAP planes were the only non-military planes in the air.