BCS offers unique volunteer opportunities for teens (ages 12 to 21) and adults (ages 18+) in aerospace education, leadership, cybersecurity, emergency services, and more. Civil Air Patrol, commonly referred to as CAP, was established in 1941, and is a longtime all-volunteer auxiliary of the U.S. In 2015, CAP was identified as another branch of the USAF’s Total Force, consisting of the Regular Air
Force, the Air National Guard, the Air Force Reserve, and Air Force retired military and civilian employees. CAP, in its Total Force role, operates a fleet of 550 aircraft and performs approximately 85 percent of continental U.S. search and rescue missions as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center, and is credited by the AFRCC with saving an average of 70 lives annually. CAP’s 58,000 members nationwide also perform homeland security, disaster relief, and drug interdiction missions at the request of federal, state, and local agencies. CAP’s members play a leading role in aerospace education and serve as mentors to more than 24,000 teens currently participating in CAP’s cadet program. Visit www.gocivilairpatrol.com for more information about CAP and http://bellingham.wawg.cap.gov/ for more information about BCS.
