Our Story
Our squadron meets each Tuesday night from 7:00PM (1900) to 9:30PM (2130) in ‘FBO-3’ at the Johnston Regional Airport, to the right of the airport terminal building. Just follow the sidewalk around to the right. We welcome anyone interested in serving their community, state, and nation as a volunteer in any of multiple ways.
Who we are and why we do what we do --
Americans have always had a desire to help others, and to serve without compensation. The Johnston County Squadron is a small part of the over 59,000 volunteers who serve in Civil Air Patrol. These volunteers do not receive any pay for their efforts. Indeed, these volunteers must pay dues each year, and must fund themselves with uniforms and equipment. This fundamental fact has not changed since 1941. In these harsh and uncertain economic times, it is remarkable that Civil Air Patrol continues to attract, and recruit both adult and cadet (members who are between the ages of 12 and 18) members. Many of CAP’s members are just citizens, young and old, who have a desire to serve without the commitment the military requires. In other cases, members join because they could not join the military for whatever reason. In other cases, many members are retired military, who still have the desire to serve their country. A recent development in North Carolina is the realization that many communities are being left short-handed with National Guard and Reserve deployments to Afghanistan and other regions. Civil Air Patrol as a member of the United States Air Force’s ‘Total Force” concept, plays a vital role to the citizens of North Carolina and the surrounding region in bolstering these communities with manpower and other resources when a disaster strikes. Since CAP members are highly-trained volunteers, this is a tremendous value to FEMA, state, and local emergency management agencies running on extremely tight budgets.
The Johnston County Squadron is one of 36 squadrons that comprise the North Carolina Wing, Civil Air Patrol (CAP), a state volunteer, civil aviation-based organization headquartered at Alamance Regional Airport, Burlington, NC. The North Carolina Wing is organized geographically with thirty-six squadrons or flights divided up into six 'Groups'. The Johnston County Squadron is assigned to Group 2. Each group has a commander and staff assigned, and is responsible for supporting the squadrons within his or her AOR or 'Area of Operational Responsibility'. The Johnston County Squadron meets weekly in FBO-3 at the Johnston Regional Airport to the right of the terminal building. Staff meetings are held bi-monthly.
Nationally, CAP was officially 'founded' on December 1, 1941, just prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor, and the US' 'official' entry into World War II although efforts had been underway for some time to establish national infrastructure for the organization. Initially, CAP was assigned under the Office of Civilian Defense (OCD), and then was later moved into the War Department, once actual combat operations were undertaken with the Eastern Seaboard and Gulf Coast anti-submarine patrols.
Today's CAP generally operates around three 'missions' - Aerospace Education, Emergency Services, and Cadet Programs. CAP has many 'ancillary' missions that support the three primary missions. These activities are codified under Federal Law, Title 36, and Title 10, US Code.
One of Civil Air Patrol's 'missions', the Cadet Program can best be described as 'community-based ROTC' since most units are not typically headquartered in the local schools, and focuses on leadership skills, aerospace education, physical fitness and a host of other related activities. North Carolina Wing cadets participate in a number of activities, both within the state and across the nation. North Carolina is home to the Middle East Region Cadet Leadership School, held each year during the summer at Seymour Johnson AFB, Goldsboro, NC. Nationally, North Carolina Cadets have the opportunity to participate in Blue Beret (OshKosh, WI), Cadet Officer School (Maxwell AFB, AL), the International Air Cadet Exchange (Held in coordination with the US State Dept and in partnership with over twenty different countries.), and many other national cadet special activities. It is a primary goal of the Johnston County squadron to provide the opportunity for squadron cadets to participate in as many activities as possible.
