JACKSON – On Aug. 27 local Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops and the general public will be treated to special presentations to be given by the New Jersey Wing Civil Air Patrol (CAP), the U.S. Air Force Auxiliary. The Six Flags Great Adventure park management and the Scout Council have invited CAP to train Scouts and exhibit the CAP program for the past three years.
To locate the CAP exhibit, look for the 15-foot-high inflatable Cadet Ken upon entering Great Adventure. Guests will learn about CAP missions, engage in aircraft flight training by operating electronic flight simulators, watch simulated search and rescue teamoperations, learnmilitary drill from a drill instructor, view color/honor guard demonstrations, exhibit their fitness by engaging in a physical fitness contest, and pick up literature about the aviation education programs for teenagers and adults alike.
Cadet officers will performfinal uniform and equipment inspections, assign duties and brief cadets on park operations early on Aug. 27. As part of their leadership training, cadet officers are required to manage and direct cadet activities under the supervision of adult officer staff.
Between 8 and 9 a.m., CAP will give a special presentation to the Scouts. Considering CAP’s yearly involvement in training the Scouts, Great Adventure management will provide CAP members free use of the park on Aug. 27.
Civil Air Patrol, the only volunteer military auxiliary sanctioned by Congress, performs more than 90 percent of all U.S. Air Force search and rescue missions in the continental United States, according to a press release. CAP also performs homeland security missions and drug interdiction air patrols using privately owned and CAP aircraft based at local airports.
CAP officers come from all walks of life. Many, having served with distinction in the U.S.Air Force and othermilitary branches, provide training to the cadets in their specialties, including flight training, air navigation, meteorology, military drill and leadership, and proper dress and wearing of military uniforms.
Cadets who complete the initial 12 phases of the aerospace education program are given preferential treatment upon entering into Air Force service and preferred status when they apply to theAir Force and other military academies. A former female pilot of the Air Force Thunderbird exhibition team is a former CAP cadet, according to the press release.
TheNew JerseyWing currently boasts a membership of 1100 teenage cadet and adult officers who engage in a broad spectrumof disastermission-related, aerospace education, leadership and moral training activities. These include search and rescue mission flight training opportunities in small aircraft as well as orientation flights in military aircraft based at McGuire Air Force Base, Wrightstown.
Teens and adults who are interested in serving with the Civil Air Patrol can log on to the New Jersey Wing Internet Web site at http://www.njwg.cap.gov that provides locations of squadrons in New Jersey and their meeting days and hours.