Civil Air Patrol - Organization

Organization

Civil Air Patrol is organized along a military model, with a streamlined and strictly hierarchical chain of command. There are several distinct echelons in this structure: National Headquarters, regions, wings, and squadrons or flights. An additional group echelon may be used that is placed between the wing and the squadrons/flights, at the wing commander's discretion.

Civil Air Patrol is headed by a national commander, currently Major General Charles Carr. The organization is governed by a board of governors, established by federal law in 2001 and consisting of 11 members: four Civil Air Patrol members (currently the national commander, national vice commander, and two members-at-large appointed by the CAP National Executive Committee), four United States Air Force representatives appointed by the Secretary of the Air Force, and three members from the aviation community jointly appointed by the CAP national commander and the Secretary of the Air Force. The board of governors generally meets two or three times annually and primarily provides strategic vision and guidance to the volunteer leadership and corporate staff. The volunteer leadership consists of the national commander and his staff, comprising a Vice Commander, Chief of Staff, National Legal Officer, National comptroller, the Chief of the CAP Chaplain Service, and the CAP Inspector General. The national commander holds the grade of CAP major general; the national vice commander holds the grade of CAP brigadier general. The rest of the national commander's staff hold the grade of CAP colonel.

CAP National Headquarters is located at Maxwell Air Force Base outside Montgomery, Alabama. The headquarters employs a professional staff of over 100 and is led by the CAP Executive Director (analogous to a corporate Chief Operating Officer), who reports to the board of governors. The national headquarters staff provides program management for the organization and membership support for the 1,700+ volunteer field units across the country.

Below the national headquarters level there are eight geographic regions and a handful of overseas squadrons at various military installations worldwide. Each region, commanded by a CAP colonel, encompasses several state-wide organizations referred to as wings. The eight regions are the Northeast, Middle East, Southeast, Great Lakes, Southwest, North Central, Rocky Mountain, and Pacific Regions.

The CAP units in each of the fifty states, and Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia, are coordinated by the CAP wing for that state; each wing has a commander who is a CAP colonel and the sole corporate officer for each state. Each wing commander oversees a wing headquarters staff made up of experienced volunteer members. Larger wings may have an optional subordinate echelon of groups, at the discretion of the wing commander. Each Group encompasses at least five squadrons or flights.

Local units are called squadrons or flights; the latter normally reserved for smaller units. Squadrons are the main functioning body of Civil Air Patrol. Civil Air Patrol squadrons are designated as either cadet, senior, or composite squadrons. A CAP composite squadron consists of both cadets and senior members, who may be involved in any of the three missions of Civil Air Patrol. Composite squadrons have two deputy commanders to assist the squadron commander: a Deputy Commander for Seniors and a Deputy Commander for Cadets. A senior squadron includes only senior members, who participate in the emergency services or aerospace education missions of Civil Air Patrol. A cadet squadron is largely made up of cadets, with a small number of senior members as necessary for supervision of cadets and the proper execution of the cadet program. Overseas squadrons operate independently of this structure, reporting directly to the National Headquarters.

A CAP flight is a semi-independent unit that is used mainly as a stepping-stone for a new unit until they are large enough to be designated a squadron. Due to their transitory nature, there are very few flights within the CAP structure at any one time. A flight will be assigned to a squadron 'parent', and it is the job of the flight and squadron commanders to work together to build the flight into a full and independent squadron.

Civil Air Patrol-United States Air Force (CAP-USAF) is an active duty unit that operates under the joint jurisdiction of CAP National Headquarters and the USAF Air University. Approximately 350 active duty, reserve, and civilian United States Air Force personnel (all of whom are CAP members), 22 of whom are stationed at National Headquarters, staff CAP-USAF. These members advise, assist, and oversee Civil Air Patrol's operations and provide liaison between CAP and the USAF. As of October 2011, the commander of CAP-USAF is Colonel Paul D. Gloyd II, USAF.