Civil Air Patrol
Sarasota Military Academy
Cadet Squadron (FL 806)
The Sarasota Military Academy is proud to have incorporated within its Regiment of Cadets a Civil Air Patrol (CAP) cadet squadron. The squadron’s logo directly reflects the “Honor” motto of SMA and the squadron’s academic focus is Aerospace Education. In addition to complying with the CAP requirements for cadet training and promotion, the cadets actively participate in three aerospace specialty areas:
- Radio Control Model Airplane building and flying. The squadron is mentored by the Sarasota Radio Control Squadron (SRQ) – the fourth largest radio control squadron in the United States;
- The CAP Model Rocketry Program and;
- The Build-a-Plane Project. SMA was fortunate to receive as a donation a partially built experimental home built airplane. The airplane project is located in a hangar at the Sarasota-Bradenton Airport. The cadets are continuing to build the airplane mentored by experienced airplane builders from local organizations such as the Experimental Aircraft Association and interested individuals.
For more information about the Civil Air Patrol please read the missions of CAP presented below. For more information about SMA’s Honor Squadron and points of contact for membership, please contact Colonel Bill Brockman or Lt Colonel Dick Petrucci. SMA parents are encouraged to join the squadron as CAP Cadet Sponsor members assisting the squadron senior members by become supporting parents.
CAP maintains both internal and external aerospace education programs. CAP members, both adults and cadets, follow a rigorous program to learn about aviation and aerospace principles. CAP also reaches out to the general public through a special program for teachers at all grade levels. Through this program, CAP provides free classroom materials and lesson plans for aerospace education and each year sponsors the premier national conference in this field. CAP educational programs help prepare American citizens to meet the challenges of a sophisticated aerospace society and understand its related issues. CAP offers national standards-based educational products, including a secondary textbook, Aerospace: The Journey of Flight, and the middle-school-level Aerospace Dimensions.
Educators from across the country learn how to use aviation
and space in a variety of subject areas by attending the
National Conference on Aviation and Space Education (NCASE). NCASE is
the nation's premier conference in this field. CAP has sponsored NCASE since
1967 CAP also sponsors several prestigious awards for those who promote
aerospace to the public.
Cadet Programs
CAP’s cadet program trains young men and women in teamwork, moral
leadership, aerospace education, technical skills to support emergency services,
and military history and customs. Through national encampments, a college and
flight training scholarship program, and the International Air Cadet Exchange,
CAP cadets broaden their horizons, learn to assume responsibility, feel
self-confidence and set goals for their lives.
Thousands of young people have their first orientation flights through the cadet program, and hundreds have soloed in gliders and powered aircraft. Tens of thousands have attended CAP encampments throughout the nation. At a national encampment, CAP cadets gather from throughout the nation. They may learn techniques for search and rescue and disaster relief. They may sample possible career choices by studying with a university engineering or technology department. They may learn teamwork and leadership through competitions in problem-solving and physical endurance.
Cadets can enjoy overseas travel through the International Air Cadet Exchange, and CAP families can welcome foreign exchange students into their homes here in the states.
Operations
Best known for its members’ work in search and rescue and disaster
relief missions, CAP is expanding its role in the 21st century to include an
increasing number of homeland security operations and exercises. CAP also
performs counterdrug reconnaissance missions at the request of law
enforcement agencies and can do radiological monitoring and damage assessment.
CAP members undergo rigorous training to perform these missions safely and
cost-effectively.
Search and rescue remains an important service provided by CAP members, however.
CAP still flies 95 percent of all federal inland SAR missions, as directed by
the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center (AFRCC) at Langley AFB, Va. CAP also
supports the Joint Rescue Coordination Centers in Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico
On average, each year CAP members fly more than 100,000 hours in operational
missions and save about 100 lives. CAP provides air and ground support for
disaster relief, flying officials to remote locations, transporting blood or
live tissue to critical care sites and performing aerial damage assessment.
CAP has one of the largest unified communications networks in the country,
available 24/7.
In 1986, Congress authorized CAP to assist government
and law enforcement agencies in the fight to eliminate illicit drug use,
production and sale in the US and its territories. CAP now provides
reconnaissance, communications and transportation for counterdrug missions.
Cadets can not participate in the missions.
CAP’s missions succeed through a seamless interplay of technology and teamwork.
With new developments like satellite imagery and internet-based reporting, CAP
is emerging as the resource of choice to support our nation’s strategy for
homeland security
Links
Cadets Participate in the SRQ RC Club Warbird Airshow
First Orienteering Competition 06