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AVIANO AIR BASE, Italy – Teenagers at Aviano Air Base, Italy, are learning leadership, aerospace fundamentals and military discipline through the Civil Air Patrol cadet program. CAP is a federally chartered, non-profit corporation serving as the official civilian auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force.
The CAP cadet squadron at Aviano AB consists of youth across Aviano and Vicenza, Italy, areas. Through this program, cadets learn about the fundamentals of aviation during classroom activities, self-study texts, orientation flights and formal flight training.
“There are four cornerstones to the program,” said U.S. CAP 1st Lt. Christian Bond, CAP cadet squadron commander. “Leadership training, aeronautics, character development and physical training.”
As a part of their academic and leadership progression, the cadets are required to maintain physical fitness standards and pass a fitness assessment every six months.
"The leadership curriculum was developed by CAP and the Air University," said Bond. "Deriving content from Airman Leadership School, the NCO Academy, and Squadron Officer School, scaled down for teenagers."
In addition to academics and leadership training, the cadets get the opportunity to receive flight training and hours.
"CAP is different from other youth activities," said Bond. "It offers a comprehensive flight training program, which goes from basic pre-flight classroom lessons, through cadets potentially earning complex ratings on private pilot's licenses."
There are approximately 500 seats for kids to participate in resident flight training every summer.
“These training courses are about 10 days long, include 20 hours of ground school, 10 hours of flight time and it usually ends with the cadets being able to fly a plane by themselves, said Bond."
Cadets can use these flight hours as college credits that are fully creditable towards Federal Aviation Administration certificates, acting as a foundation for military, commercial or private aviation careers.
"In November 2025, we also took our cadets to the University of Padova's astronomical observatory to learn from the supervising professor about astrophysics and planetary observations," said Bond.
Beyond the educational benefits, CAP plays a major part in crisis response emergencies.
CAP flies more than 60,000 hours annually for cadet flight training and aerospace education. Additionally, flying over 40,000 hours, CAP provides critical, rapid-response disaster relief across the inland United States. CAP flies more than 85 percent of all federal inland search-and-rescue missions directed by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center at Tyndall Air Force Base, FL.
Through their experiences as CAP cadets, young people develop into responsible, service-minded citizens, ready to join adult members in their communities when disaster strikes. These opportunities help shape cadets into confident leaders, prepared to serve both their neighbors and their nation well into their future.
| Date Taken: | 01.05.2026 |
| Date Posted: | 02.03.2026 09:00 |
| Story ID: | 557344 |
| Location: | AVIANO AIR BASE, IT |
| Web Views: | 71 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Civil Air Patrol: Developing Youth into Leaders, by SrA Joseph Bartoszek, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
