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		We are the Selfridge Cadet Squadron “The Best of the Best” Home of the Bulldogs The 3^rd largest squadron in the state (Wing)

We are the official auxiliary of the United States Air Force

WE ARE NOT ACTIVE MILITARY NOR IS THERE ANY OBLIGATION

WHATSOEVER TO JOIN ANY BRANCH OF THE MILITARY

We meet weekly on Thursday nights from 6:30-9:30.

We meet on Selfridge Air National Guard Base (SANGB)

in building #1025 just south of the SANGB Museum.

Because we meet on an active military base, entrance through the gates must be cleared through the 127^th Security Forces Division. For prospective members this means that we must collect identifying information from prospective members and/or their parents/guardians and pass the information on to base security prior to admittance to the base. They request this information be submitted 72 hours prior to visiting the squadron.

We want to thank you for your interest in the CAP. You’ve taken the first step in getting to know who we are and we hope that the information below will spark your interest even further to come to a meeting and see for yourself what we’re all about.

The Civil Air Patrol, as a whole, follows a very specific program. However, each individual squadron has its own personality. We at the Selfridge Cadet Squadron are very proud of our program, our reputation, and most of all our members. We believe in the program and goals of the CAP and will do our best to help you to understand who we are and what we do. We are all volunteers and would not be participating and giving of our time if we weren’t fully committed to providing a quality program with many varied opportunities to help our Cadets further themselves, to the best of their ability, to become tomorrow’s leaders.

We are the official auxiliary of the United States Air Force; therefore we follow very close to the military customs and courtesies, policies, procedures, and conduct ourselves morally and ethically, and with a high level of respect to our communities, fellow citizens, and active military personnel.

Because we are the official auxiliary of the Air Force we are allowed to wear official Air Force uniforms, with slightly varied insignia. We consider wearing this uniform a privilege. While in uniform we conduct ourselves with the utmost professionalism and pride.

The CAP mission is threefold:

The Cadet Program: This part of the program helps develop the youth of the country, helping them to learn leadership skills and giving them the opportunity to practice and use those skills in an active cadet run environment. Cadets learn self-discipline through study of leadership skills and military training. Understand and appreciate moral issues facing the youth of today and teach them the skills to handle those issues. Become and remain physically fit through our physical fitness program. Participate in, and in some cases help plan, community service events. Through study and performance cadets work their way through a series of achievements each encompassing parts of the overall program. As they reach each achievement they are rewarded by increasing in rank, presentation of ribbons and certificates, eligibility to participate in nationally sponsored special activities and eligibility to compete for academic scholarships.

Aerospace Education: Our internal Aerospace Education program (AE) consists of a series of modules each designed to teach various aspects of aerospace including history, purpose, theory and practical. It covers everything from planes to space shuttles. Our external Aerospace Education program gives teachers the resources they need to teach students about aerospace and flying fostering an interest in today’s technologies and opportunities.

Emergency Services: Providing assistance in domestic disasters, civil defense assistance in national emergencies, search and rescue support for missing or overdue aircraft, and Homeland Defense assistance. The CAP performs over 90% of the United States Air Force inland search and rescue missions. CAP has extensive training programs for the Emergency Services mission and we also utilize outside training such as CISM.

Aside from the nationally mandated program the CAP also opportunities to interact with military personnel on a variety of areas, help out SANGB wherever we can, provide support for SANGB events such as the bi-annual SANGB Air Show and participate in orientation flights aboard CAP aircraft and incentive flights on military aircraft such as the KC-135 refueling aircraft and Chinook Helicopters.

Our squadron also participates in local events such as the Rochester Christmas Parade, St. Clair County Fair, Romeo Peach Festival and Fly-In, as well as many others. We have our own drill team and attend competitions once or twice a year. We have a rocketry program where we assemble and launch rockets for both awards and in competition. We have awards nights, training exercises, practice missions, fun nights, dinners, and so much more.

Learning military customs, procedures, and uniform requirements can be confusing and we have all been “the new guy”. If you decide to join us we have a number of programs and printed material to get you acquainted and comfortable with what you need to know. We have members dedicated to helping “the new guy” get started and understand the program.

Some of our members are active military members or retired military members. They care deeply about the cadets going through our program and know that these cadets are committed to excellence, looking to increase their knowledge of aerospace, training to be leaders and, possibly, be the future of our military forces in the United States.

If you decide to come visit our squadron to learn more and see for yourself what we do and what meetings are like, please contact the commander to gain access to the base and obtain directions to our building.

If you decide to join us we ask only 3 things:

One – that you become dedicated to the program and make every effort to participate to the fullest extent and promote in rank as often as possible.

Two – that you respect the squadron and let us know when you won’t be able to participate in meetings or events/activities.

Three – that you respect the other members by letting them know when you have questions or concerns so we can address issues as they come up.

By joining CAP and our squadron you will be responsible to hold yourself to a higher level of excellence and motivation. This commitment is what makes our squadron and its members ‘The Best of The Best”.

For more information on CAP in general, please read below a brief history of CAP and please follow the links on our home page to our national website at

www.gocivilairpatrol.com

Thank you again for your interest and we look forward to hearing from you.

Brief history of CAP

Civil Air Patrol origins date back to the late 1930’s when civilian aircraft pilots, mechanics and others began to organize to help in the defense of the United States.  At that time, their primary work involved patrolling uninhabited stretches of coastline and vital installations such as dams, aqueducts and pipelines to guard against sabotage.

Civil Air Patrol was officially created on 1 December, 1941, with the signings of an order by the Director of the Office of Civil Defense.  During WWII, CAP members provided flying orientation to more than 78,000 aviation cadets and prospective recruits.  During coastal patrol operations, CAP was credited with spotting 173 enemy submarines, bombing 57 of those and actually sinking 2.

The cadet program had its beginning in 1942, with each adult member allowed to sponsor one young adult.  American youth responded aggressively and cadet membership climbed to 20,000 within six months.  On 1 July 1946, President Harry S. Truman signed Public Law #476 making CAP a private, benevolent, non-profit organization.  Two years later, CAP was made the official Auxiliary of the United States Air Force.