- Last Updated on Monday, 30 November 2015 17:54
Members and guests will witness the Washington County Composite Squadron 601’s Cadet Change of Command, which will take place during the Annual Awards Banquet being held on December 1, 2015.
The Banquet is in observance of Civil Air Patrol’s 74th anniversary. Civil Air Patrol (CAP) was established December 1, 1941, less than a week before the beginning of American involvement in World War II. CAP won recognition during that time for its coastal patrol and other civil defense activities.
The Washington County Composite Squadron, commanded by Capt. Nancy Parker, meets every Wednesday at the National Guard Armory in Washington from 7-9 p.m. It is one of 1,500-plus squadrons around the country involved in activities celebrating CAP’s founding just before the start of American involvement in World War II.
Civil Air Patrol, the longtime all-volunteer U.S. Air Force auxiliary, is the newest member of the Air Force’s Total Force, which consists of Regular Air Force, Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve, along with Air Force retired military and civilian employees. CAP, in its Total Force role, operates a fleet of 550 aircraft and performs about 85% of continental U.S. inland search and rescue missions as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center and is credited by the AFRCC with saving an average of 70 lives annually. Civil Air Patrol’s 58,000 members nationwide also perform homeland security, disaster relief and drug interdiction missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies.
