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. Air Force Staff Sgt. 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 is derived from Airman Leadership School and NCO Academy,” said Bond. “They abbreviate it and scale it down for teenagers.”
In addition to academics and leadership training, the cadets get the opportunity to receive flight training and hours.
“We have about 500 seats for kids to participate in resident flight training every summer,” said Bond. “These training courses are about 10 days long, include 20 hours of ground school, 10 hours of flying time and it usually ends with the cadets being able to fly a plane by themselves.”
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.
“CAP is different from other pre-military programs like JROTC, as it functions independently from schools and the cadets do not receive grades,” said Bond. “The course, however, is still academically accredited.”
Beyond the educational benefits, CAP plays a major part in crisis response emergencies.
Flying more than 100,000 hours annually, 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.