Future Takes Flight

Whether during the school year or the summer break, parents and students alike frequently look for activities and opportunities for students to find their place and what interests them most. The Civil Air Patrol is helping students do just that while furthering their education and gaining leadership skills with its cadet program.

The Civil Air Patrol (CAP) is a public service organization that employs emergency services and disaster relief missions all across the country. The organization dates all the way back to the 1930s, when during World War II, CAP established coastal patrol flights to prevent enemy operations along the East Coast. As an auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, CAP includes citizen volunteers that devote their time to disaster relief, emergency services, and keeping their communities safe.

CAP boasts approximately 60,000 members nationwide and in addition to emergency services, the organization focuses on aerospace education and a cadet program. In Birmingham, CAP is based out of the 117th Air National Guard Unit at the Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport and is a composite squadron that includes both adult senior members and a cadet program for youth ages 12 to 18.

“So often young people get told they are too young to do so many things, but in CAP, it’s all focused on what they can do,” says CAP senior member Second Lieutenant April Nail. “With the right The curriculum for CAP’s cadet program focuses on four areas: leadership, aerospace, fitness, and character. Each week, meetings are held at the airport focusing on each topic, with the goal of helping young people develop into responsible citizens and become tomorrow’s aerospace leaders. “I believe our main goal is to prepare cadets to become successful adults in society,” says Captain Stephen G. Olukoya, Birmingham U.S. Air Force Auxiliary Commander, 117th Air National Guard Composite Squadron. “It’s a great program for youth with no military commitment.”

Students can partake in a wide range of activities with the program, including the weekly meetings and a week-long encampment. Going through the program, cadets wear a uniform and learn all about the rank structure. They can rank-up by completing various tasks in the four focus areas. “You can do as much or as little as you want,” adds Nail. “Basically, cadets can set their own goal and work toward it.”

Youth cadets are given many opportunities to find their passions through the CAP program. For some, it may mean deciding whether or not the military will be the next move after high school. But for others, it may mean a passion for aviation – cadets are given the opportunity to take flight lessons – or it may mean finding a passion for the medical field. That’s what happened for Nail’s daughter, Alaina, who joined the program years ago. “Alaina wasn’t really interested in making a military career for herself, but she was interested in pursuing something in the medical field,” Nail says. training, there are so many things young people can do.”

Alaina focused heavily on the emergency services aspect of the program. She did flight training and received her wilderness advanced first aid certification, and she specialized in several of those components and does search and rescue. “Through the program, she was able to receive training for things she would never have received anywhere else, and it has helped her tremendously,” Nail adds.

Now 18 years old, in addition to serving as Cadet Commander and First Lieutenant for CAP, she’s a full-time college student and working as a medical technician at a local hospital. “Her participation with CAP not only provided hands-on training to help her do well in school and her job, but it also helped her get a full college scholarship,” Nail says. “Her participation with CAP also helped Alaina solidify in her mind that the medical field was for her.”

Other students just like Alaina are finding their future career paths through the opportunities and hands-on learning experiences in the CAP program. The Birmingham CAP cadet program is preparing to start a new aspect of its program, a STEM kit in rocketry, which will allow students to learn how rockets are designed while building them and even launching them.

Paige Townley is a Birmingham-based freelance writer.