last modified: Tuesday, July 20, 2004

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MAXWELL AFB, Ala. — Civil Air Patrol leaders told Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge at a meeting April 1 that CAP volunteers can help rein in the costs of national security.

With more than 64,000 members nationwide, CAP, the official auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, already has aircraft and trained personnel set up to handle security missions. CAP has successfully completed a number of such missions since 9/11, including high-profile reconnaissance over the World Trade Center, the 2002 Olympics and the launch of space shuttle Columbia. CAP leaders say the group is willing and able to do more.

"CAP has the largest privately-owned fleet of single-engine aircraft in the nation," said Maj. Gen. Rick Bowling, CAP national commander and one of those who met with Ridge at his office at the Nebraska Avenue Center  in Northwest Washington, D.C. "We can put one of those planes in the air for $90 an hour, as opposed to several thousand dollars an hour for military aircraft or helicopters."

CAP members are all volunteers, Bowling said, and are trained in field-tested programs for aerial reconnaissance, search and rescue, narco-terrorism and disaster relief. CAP is also adding the larger Gippsland Airvan to its fleet and outfitting its planes with new kinds of surveillance equipment. Bowling says CAP has already restructured its mission rating system to rank those related to homeland security as A1 missions. Search and rescue missions formerly held that designation, but now are considered A2 missions.

"The face of CAP is changing," Bowling said. "CAP can be part of the nation’s vision for homeland security as it’s developed from the ground up."

Tuesday’s meeting with Ridge was the culmination of a 14-month effort by CAP leaders to reframe the organization’s goals in light of new concerns about homeland security. Starting with a concept of operations based on the Air Force model, CAP leaders worked through the office of Brig. Gen. Dave Clary, Air Force chief of Homeland Security, to see how the nation could best take advantage of the infrastructure CAP had already developed. Clary was also present for the meeting Tuesday.

 Also supporting CAP has been Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa, a pilot who is commander of the CAP Congressional Squadron and was recently appointed to the Senate’s Homeland Security Committee.

This is the first time Ridge has met directly with CAP leaders since taking over the homeland security job, but Ridge was familiar with CAP from his tenure as governor of Pennsylvania. "Historically, Pennsylvania has been at or near the top of the list in state appropriations for CAP," Bowling said.

Joining Ridge for the meeting were Deputy Secretary Gordon England and Asa Hutchison, Undersecretary for Borders and Transportation Security. Col. Rick Greenhut, CAP Northeast Region commander, delivered the formal presentation for the hour-long meeting. Others present for the discussion were Bowling, Clary, Col. John Swain, deputy commander of the CAP Congressional Squadron, and Col. Rich Anderson, Air Force chief of the CAP division of the Air Force Homeland Security Directorate.

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