The presidential motorcade speeds toward the Commander-in-Chief’s speaking engagement downtown. Soon, though, a small aircraft wanders into airspace that has been temporarily restricted. From out of nowhere, Air Force fighters appear.
“It’s kind of exciting with an F-16 sitting on your wing,” says Bob Taylor, a captain in the Civil Air Patrol (CAP), recalling his experiences flying as a volunteer “bogie” during one such Air Force training exercise, dubbed “Fertile Keynotes.”
Taylor belongs to South Carolina’s largest CAP squadron, one of more than 1,400 units in the nationwide Air Force auxiliary. The Congressionally-mandated nonprofit organization marks 75 years since its founding the week before the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Chartered in June 1957, the Greenville unit originally included only adult members, or “seniors.” In the mid-2010s, the group opened a CAP cadet program for ages 12 to 20. Now, the Greenville Composite Squadron comprises around 80 members — 50 of them cadets.
An important role
The nation’s Civil Air Patrol provides an array of services: search-and-rescue operations for downed aircraft or kids lost in the woods; natural-disaster assistance, with, say, aerial photography after hurricanes; emergency response teams; and aiding Air Force missions.
Capt. David Bennett, the local unit’s public affairs officer, refers to the squadron’s Cessna 182 — the state CAP’s newest — parked in the hangar at its Greenville Downtown Airport headquarters.
“We can do a search mission in one of these aircraft for a tenth of the cost of deploying a helicopter,” he says, while also mentioning that some members are pilots, some aren’t, and the organization appeals to everyone.
Taylor, for instance, flew for 21 years before retiring from United Airlines. His wife, Karen, never completed training for her pilot’s license. Both joined in 2013, and until last March, she served as squadron commander until March — the most fulfilling volunteer work she says she has ever done.
“A lot of us came up through Civil Air Patrol during the same time period, we learned together, and we work well together and we just built on that,” she says.
Passing the baton
The unit continues to focus on building membership.
Ron Spagnuolo is on his way to becoming a new member. In late June, he attended his first CAP meeting, the first of three sessions required before he can officially join. Like Bob Taylor, he flew for United Airlines. He also served 10 years in the Air Force and 18 years in the Air Force Reserve, retiring as a lieutenant colonel.
“The Civil Air Patrol seemed like a place to do nice flying and do something important,” he says, noting that he can clock some flight hours without having to own a plane. Then, he adds, “We possibly get to mentor some young kids.”
Senior members routinely mention the robust cadet program, which offers education in leadership, aerospace, fitness and character development, according to a U.S. Civil Air Patrol 2020 fact sheet.
“You’re watching these kids grow up physically, but what amazes me, even more, is to watch them grow up just in their bearing,” Bennett says. “I never see any kids mature in the way these kids do in this program.”
Building leaders
Christian Shaw attests to that. As the squadron’s deputy commander of cadets, he has watched his son blossom since the now-17-year-old senior at J.L. Mann High School signed up in 2016.
Shaw ticks off what CAP’s youth program has instilled in Mason: “Leadership, first and foremost, and understanding what it takes to commit to something, to achieve a goal, being a leader in the community, being a leader that his peers and young children can look up to.”
Cadet 2nd Lt. Mason Shaw echoes his dad.
Two weeks after attending the National Flight Academy in Camden, South Carolina, where he took his first solo flight and chalked up 9.9 flight hours, he tells the Journal he caught the aviation bug when he was 5 years old. That’s when he saw the Blue Angels.
On his 12th birthday, he joined the Greenville Composite Squadron as a cadet.
“My leadership capabilities have just risen extreme amounts from that. I’ve had great mentors. I’ve had great commanders that preceded me,” he says. “They have given me what I needed to be successful in what I wanted to do.”
That’s why 1st Lt. Andy Georgia, who in June succeeded Karen Taylor as squadron commander, wants to see more Greenville cadets like Mason — and, like Mason, he joined CAP when he was 12 and his father took him to an air show.
While the pandemic put a dent in overall attendance at the squadron’s separate meetings for seniors and cadets, he says more parents now appear to be seeking more and better extracurricular programs for their children.
And sounding like Georgia’s ideal recruiter, Cadet Shaw says, “I think anybody with even the slightest interest in it should come and try it out. Even if it’s not for flying, we have a cyber program and a rocket program and all that. It is just phenomenal.”
Hat’s Off to the Nation’s CAP
The national Civil Air Patrol operates one of the largest fleets of single-engine aircraft in the world, with 560 planes, and boasts more than 66,100 adult and youth volunteers in 1,442 squadrons across the country. In addition, the CAP:
- Conducts 90% percent of inland search and rescue in the U.S. as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center and other agencies.
- Has more than 36,000 emergency responders.
- Provides more than 450 chaplains and 600 character-development instructors who
minister to youth and adult members and help comfort survivors and victims of disasters. - Performs aerial reconnaissance for homeland security.
- Provides air-intercept training, light transport, communications support and low-level route surveys for the Air Force.
- Provides disaster-relief photography and support to local, state and national agencies.
- Transports time-sensitive medical materials, blood products and body tissues when
commercial resources are unavailable.
Source: Civil Air Patrol 2020 Fact Sheet
Greenville Composite Squadron Membership Categories
YOUTH MEMBERS
The CAP Cadet Program is a year-round program where youth members fly, learn to lead, hike, camp, get in shape and push themselves to new limits.
ADULT MEMBERS
Though Civil Air Patrol is known for its flying missions, CAP adults, known as Senior Members, do so much more than just fly. Fewer than a fifth of all CAP members are pilots. CAP needs aircrew and ground team members to aid in rescue and damage assessment after a disaster; communications personnel; administrative staff; and financial managers, logistics and supply personnel.
CADET SPONSOR MEMBERS
CAP needs adult mentors, supervisors, chaperones, transportation help and the like.
AEROSPACE EDUCATION MEMBERS
CAP also needs adults in aerospace/STEM education in classrooms, home schools, museums, libraries or other youth organizations.
Source: Greenville Composite Squadron
Sign Up
To join as a senior member or youth, visit this link.
Prospective cadets can also apply directly, through this link (Note: the Wing is SC, and the squadron number is 014.)
For more information, email the Recruiting & Retention Officer at recruitingretention@capgreenvillesc.org
Meetings
Squadron meetings are held most Monday evenings from 7-9 at the squadron headquarters, 11 Airport Road Extension on the South Ramp of Greenville Downtown Airport and adjacent to the Runway Cafe and Runway Park. Click the Squadron Calendar for the schedule.
Source: Greenville Composite Squadron
