Maj Ron Wiley Commanding Officer Group 224

I am pleased to welcome you to the website of Group 224, Civil Air Patrol (CAP), New Jersey Wing.

The Civil Air Patrol was born on December 1, 1941, just days before the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. New Jersey was that birthplace for what is now a national nonprofit benevolent organization with approximately fifty thousand members nationwide, and the Auxiliary of the United States Air Force.

New Jersey Wing has approximately one thousand two hundred members statewide, consisting of cadet members who are between twelve and twenty one years old, and senior members who must be over eighteen years old.. Our members come from all walks of life, but most have an interest in aviation or the space program and/or enjoy helping our cadets grow into the leaders of America.

Civil Air Patrol has three missions:

The Cadet Program
Providing leadership, aerospace, physical and moral training the Cadet Program provides teenagers with a unique opportunity to acquire the skills they will need in their adult life. The Cadet Program is largely run by the Cadets and includes a wide variety of opportunities.

Emergency Services
Civil Air Patrol provides unique assistance in time of emergency. CAP can provide the "big picture" from the air, in addition to substantial ground and communications resources. New Jersey Wing undertakes over eighty search and rescue missions annually, and several disaster relief missions have been completed this year.

Aerospace Education
Educational programs for our members, teachers and the general public. These programs range from model rocket competitions, trips to places of interest in aerospace, such as Wallops Island Rocket Launch Facility, National Air and Space Museum, Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome, etc.

Some quick facts about CAP:

THE CORPORATION

• Nonprofit, 501(c)(3) corporation
• United States Air Force Auxiliary
• Eight geographic regions consisting of 52 wings (each of the 50 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia)
• Almost 1,800 units nationwide
• Approximately 61,000 members
• 530 Corporate owned aircraft
• More than 4,000 member owned aircraft
• Largest fleet of single-engine, piston aircraft in the world
• Volunteers fly in excess of 120,000 hours each year
• Maintains a fleet of 950 emergency services vehicles for training and mission support
• Approximately 675 chaplains provide counseling and ministry to CAP cadets and senior members
• Requires more than 230 corporate staff to support membership
• National Headquarters located at Maxwell AFB, Alabama

AEROSPACE EDUCATION

• Educating the membership and community
• Support for more than 100 workshops at colleges throughout the nation annually
• Develops, publishes, and distributes aerospace curriculum for classroom grades K through college
• Each year sponsors the premier aerospace education conference, National Congress on Aviation and Space Education (NCASE)
• Provides classroom materials, teacher training, and other educational aids at no cost to America's teachers
• Serves as an aerospace resource center for education through CAP's web page
• Provides speakers and direct assistance to teachers through the regional Directors of Aerospace Education

CADET PROGRAMS

• Develops the potential of youth attending the 6th grade to age 21
• More than 26,000 cadet members
• Encompasses a 15–step program that includes aviation and aerospace activities
• From six to ten percent of each class entering the military service academies are former CAP cadets
• Cadets who have earned the General Billy Mitchell Award are eligible to enlist in the Air Force at a higher pay grade
• Opportunities to participate and compete in activities at the local, state, region, and national level
• Participation in the International Air Cadet Exchange program
• Scholarships available in several disciplines
• Opportunities to earn FAA pilot ratings

EMERGENCY SERVICES

• Conducts over 85% of all inland search and rescue in the U.S. as tasked by the AFRCC.
• Average 100 lives saved each year
• Provides disaster relief support to local, state, and national disaster relief organizations
• Transport time-sensitive medical materials, blood products and body tissue
• Provides damage assessment, radiological monitoring, light transport, communications support, and low-altitude route surveys for the U.S. Air Force
• Assists Federal agencies in the war on drugs
• Conducts orientation flights for Air Force ROTC students
• Utilize CAP's communication's network, the most extensive in the nation

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