Missions
Civil Air Patrol, The Auxiliary of the United States Air Force, is a federally chartered, non-profit orgainzation. By public law, it is mandated with three missions: Emergency Services, The Cadet Program, and Aerospace Education.
Emergency Services
CAP air crews and ground teams perform 85% of all inland search and rescue missions for the U.S. Air Force. Nationally, CAP also has agreements with federal, state, and local emergency management agencies to aid in disaster relief efforts as well. To accomplish this, CAP maintains the largest fleet of single-engine aircraft. It also has a large communications network, second in size only to the Department of Defense.
Locally, the 184th maintains one of the best ground teams in Indiana. They were the winners of the 1997 Indiana Wing Search and Rescue Competetion, and another competetion has not been held since. The squadron is currently expanding their training to provide personnel for aircrews.
Cadet Program
For more than fifty years, CAP has offered America's young men and women with exciting and challenging opportunities. The Cadet Program is designed to develop leadership skills and foster an interest in aerospace opportunities. Based on a military structure, the cadet program provides training in leadership, professionalism, communication skills, and character development. As the cadet advances through the program, "real-world" opportunities to apply this training are provided, either through training other cadets or through Emergency Services missions.
At the local level, cadets train during weekly meetings where they recieve instruction on drill, leadership, uniform wear, emergency services, safety, character development, aerospace education, as well as many other topics. However, the program is not limited to these meeting. Several weekend activies are held throughout the year, such as schools, training exercises, and trips to locations such as the United States Air Force Museum in Dayton, OH. Nationally, cadets can participate in any number of activities during the summer, even embark on a 3-week foregin exchange.
Aerospace Education
The aerospace education mission has two facets: internal and external. The internal program provides training to both cadets and senior members alike, and it consists of everything from classes to orientation flights in military aircraft. The external program involves providing the general public with knowledge about anything and everything above and beyond the earth's surface. Professional educators (such as teachers), receive aerospace education supplies at no cost.
