Civil Air Patrol

Martin Squadron visits Air and Space Museum

Chatilly, Va. – Glenn L. Martin Squadron members visited the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center Air and Space Museum on 27 April 2013.

Twenty-two members attended the trip. They had the opportunity to see static displays of military and general aviation aircraft, rockets and space vehicles. The Space Shuttle Discovery, retired in 2011, is the main attraction at the museum. Among other displays are a Boeing 707 and an Air France-KLM Concord supersonic jet. Members also watched aerospace related IMAX movies. One of the movies, Air Racers, told the story of World War 2 aircraft rebuilt for use in the Reno air race competition.

Civil Air Patrol, the official auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, is a nonprofit organization with 61,000 members nationwide, operating a fleet of 550 aircraft. CAP, in its Air Force auxiliary role, performs 90 percent 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 80 lives annually. Its volunteers also perform homeland security, disaster relief and drug interdiction missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies. The members play a leading role in aerospace education and serve as mentors to more than 26,000 young people currently participating in the CAP cadet programs. CAP received the World Peace Prize in 2011 and has been performing missions for America for 71 years. CAP also participates in Wreaths Across America, an initiative to remember, honor and teach about the sacrifices of U.S. military veterans.  Visit www.gocivilairpatrol.com or www.capvolunteernow.com for more information.

Nearly 1,700 CAP members serve in Maryland. Last year wing members flew 13 search and rescue missions. The wing was credited with five finds and one life saved. Maryland Wing flew 32 missions for the State of Maryland. Members flew 2,106 hours in all mission categories. Volunteers contributed services estimated at 4.6 million dollars. For more information contact the Maryland Wing at www.mdcap.org.

Glenn L. Martin Composite Squadron meets every Thursday from 1900-2100 at Martin State Airport.

 

 

###

Originally posted Apr 29, 2013, 1:36 PM

Maj. Christopher Roche, CAP

Squadron Commander

Glenn L. Martin Composite Squadron