The History of the Civil Air Patrol

The Civil Air Patrol was born on December 1, 1941, the same week as Pearl Harbor, by Administrative Order 9. Director La Guardia published Administrative Order 9. This order outlined the Civil Air Patrol's organization and named its first national commander as Major General John F. Curry. Wilson was officially made the executive officer of the new organization.

The Civil Air Patrol Movement was sparked by the fear that General Aviation would be halted. The fear became reality when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, when all air traffic, with the exception of airliners, was halted. The ban was lifted only two days later and General Aviation went back to its normal business.

When America entered World War II, the German U-boat activity along the East Coast of the nation increased. Civil Air Patrol was assigned reconnaissance missions along the coast to spot the intruding submarines. They were originally unarmed, but when ships were being constantly attacked just off the shores of the East coast the War Department gave Civil Air Patrol the authority to attack the U-Boats.

In may 1942, Thomas Manning and observer Marshall "Doc" Rinker were flying a coastal mission for the CAP off the coast of Cape Canaveral when they spotted a German U-boat. The U-boat also spotted them, and tried to flea the scene, not knowing that the aircraft was unarmed. The submarine eventually lodged itself on a sandbar and got stuck. The CAP aircraft circled the submarine for over thirty minutes but by the time the Air Force arrived to destroy the ship, , it had dislodged itself and submerged into the ocean. After this it was decided to fit the CAP aircraft with bombs and depth charges. 

Civil Air Patrols first kill came when another unarmed CAP aircraft spotted a submarine traveling in shallow waters. The Aircraft scrambled had two depth charges to use on the enemy. The pilots followed the submarine for three hours waiting for the ship to rise up to periscope depth. When the aircraft was about to turn around and return to base the ship finally ascended and the aircraft made its move. It dropped both its depth charged on the submarine, with the second one making the kill hit, sinking the submarine.

The Civil Air Patrol was retired from costal patrol after eighteen months of service. In that time they spotted 173 U-boats and attacked 57 and sunk two.

During the war, CAP also performed target towing for the Anit-Aircraft Gunnery ranges. Civil Air Patrol Aircraft would tow practice targets onto the ranges at which the students would fire upon they also handled these missions during the cover of darkness to give students practice with the search light units and the new Radar systems. Occasionally a rogue round would strike the aircraft, but no deaths were reported.

The Civil Air Patrol was also used to search for downed military training aircraft. Since CAP pilots could fly lower and slower than Air Force pilots, and usually knew the area much better, they found more downed aircraft than any other military or law enforcement branch. The Civil Air Patrol also utilized ground teams that would find the wreckage on foot, which is something the military did not have.

With the sucess of the Civil Air Patrol in World War II, the War Department, now called the State Department, gave it a permanent home. The CAP vowed never to particiapete in combat activities ever again, changing their mission to solely peaceful activities.

At the end of the war, the Civil Air Patrol was transferred over to the newly created Air Force and was incorporated for financial purposes. Today the Civil Air Patrol participates in Search and rescue missions to search for mostly civilian aircraft, Disater relief missions to provide support for areas distroyed by natural or man made disasters, and Counterdrug and Immigaration operations to protect the borders of the country.

On September 11, 2001, the Civil Air Patrol was once again called to action. With the threat of terrorism and the rest of the country on the ground, Civil Air Patrol Aircraft were providing reconnaissance missions for the department of Homeland Securiity. With the rise of potential terrorism threats to America, Civil Air Patrol has once again responded to its countries time of need to protect and serve.