Local Cadets Compete to Represent Maryland in National Civil Air Patrol Competition

On March 18, 2017, Civil Air Patrol cadets from Frederick Composite Squadron, Glenn L. Martin Composite Squadron, Bethesda-Chevy Chase Composite Squadron and Towson Composite Squadron converged on Maryland Wing Headquarters to take part in the state competition leading to qualifying for a spot in the National Cadet Competition (NCC).

Started in 1947, the NCC annually evaluates the best team of cadets represented at the wing, region and national levels. The NCC enables cadets to model traits of the highest standards of leadership and personal responsibility including public speaking, team leadership problems and more.

This year, cadets from the Frederick and Glenn L. Martin squadrons will be moving on to the Middle East Region qualifier where they will be competing against squadrons from Delaware, National Capital, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia wings.

When asked what the Frederick squadron thought of the competition, they explained, "It's Civil Air Patrol as a community that makes the program what it is. This is a great event to get to meet other cadets from all over the wing. We started the day as competitors but by the end we were all in this together.”

Other category winners include:

Indoor Posting: Frederick

Outdoor Posting: Frederick

Physical Fitness: Frederick

Uniform Spot Inspection: Frederick

Uniform Inspection Preparation: Glenn L. Martin

Written Testing: Bethesda-Chevy Chase

Team Leadership Problem: Bethesda-Chevy Chase

Team Jeopardy: Frederick

Impromptu Speech: Cadet Sr. Master Sgt. Ja'Nir Brazzle (Glenn L. Martin)

Individual CPFT Score: Cadet 2nd Lt. Simon Mahns (Frederick)

Individual Written Score: Cadet Chief Master Sgt. Robert Velte (Frederick)

As members of the Glenn L. Martin squadron explained, "Perfect practice makes a perfect performance. We are very happy to be representing the wing at this years regionals."

This year’s competition was organized by Lt. Col. Jim Keohane, Maryland Wing director of cadet programs, and Maj. Rachel Knowles, deputy director, with judging by Cadet Jonathan Ciavolino (Harford Composite Squadron and University of Maryland AFROTC),

Cadet Marlon Taffe (UMD AFROTC), and Cadet Maj. Wyatt Hartman (Glenn L. Martin Composite Squadron).

The Middle East Region NCC qualifier will be taking place March 31 - April 2 in Fort Pickett, Va., Virginia where the top two winners will advance to the national competition being held June 30 through July 3 in Dayton, Ohio.

Civil Air Patrol, the longtime all-volunteer U.S. Air Force auxiliary, is the newest member of the Air Force’s Total Force, which consists of regular Air Force, Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve, along with Air Force retired military and civilian employees. CAP, in its Total Force role, operates a fleet of 550 aircraft and performs about 90 percent of continental U.S. inland search and rescue missions as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center and is credited by the AFRCC with saving an average of 78 lives annually. Civil Air Patrol’s 56,000 members nationwide also perform homeland security, disaster relief and drug interdiction missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies. Its members additionally play a leading role in aerospace education and serve as mentors to more than 24,000 young people currently participating in the CAP cadet program. Performing missions for America for the past 75 years, CAP received the Congressional Gold Medal in 2014 in honor of the heroic efforts of its World War II veterans. CAP also participates in Wreaths Across America, an initiative to remember, honor and teach about the sacrifices of U.S. military veterans. Visit www.capvolunteernow.com for more information.

Over 1,400 CAP members serve in Maryland. Last year wing members flew 13 search and rescue missions. The wing was credited with four finds. Maryland Wing flew 32 missions for the State of Maryland. Members flew 2,245 hours in all mission categories. Volunteers contributed services estimated at $4.6 million. For more information, contact the Maryland Wing at www.mdcap.org, like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/MarylandWingCivilAirPatrol and follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MDWGCAP.