PHILIPSBURG – Just this summer, Central Pennsylvania has seen a plane crash at DuBois Regional Airport, one outside of Mid-State Airport and a glider accident in Julian.
When incidents like these happen, sometimes the aircraft lands on the runway, as it did in DuBois, other times it goes missing, such as the case in the Moshannon State Forest, or the scene needs to be secured, like in Julian. When the situation warrants security and in the vast majority of all federal inland search-and-rescue missions for lost airplanes, the civilian volunteers of the U.S. Air Force are called upon.
Civil Air Patrol, or CAP, is an avenue for those ages 12 and up to participate in leadership activities while also providing aerospace education to the public.
A group of people met Tuesday night at Mid-State Airport near Philipsburg to discuss the formation of a new flight or squadron there.
The effort would be a win-win for both CAP and the airport, according to 1st Lt. Justin Ogden of CAP.
“Having CAP here at Mid-State Airport certainly provides for a great opportunity to provide service as quickly as possible,” said Ogden, who has been involved with CAP for 13 years.
“It would be a big help to the airport,” said Don Branstetter, airport authority member, and himself a former CAP member.
Fourteen-year-old Cadet John Smith, soon to be a master sergeant with CAP, provided those in attendance with the cadet’s perspective of being involved with CAP. Cadets are between the ages of 12 and 18. Cadets already enrolled may remain a cadet until the age of 21; after that age, members must be classified as senior members.
“There’s just an enormous amount of opportunities,” John said. As an added bonus, John said he has performed better in the classroom since joining. “You have to study for CAP, and the study habits kick over to school.”
Right now, Ogden is looking for people who want to be members of the new flight or squadron. More information can be found at the Web site for Mid-State Airport Civil Air Patrol.
Ogden said CAP is open to anyone who has an interest in search-and-rescue, flying or many of the other aspects of the organization, all of which can be found at Civil Air Patrol’s Web site.
“Take part in opportunities that no other organization is going to give you.”
Some of the many tasks performed by CAP members include search-and-rescue operations for missing aircraft and people, providing support for Homeland Security missions, disaster relief, humanitarian missions and fighting the flow of drugs into and within the U.S.