CAP members and four CAP aircraft from Maryland Wing, Group Three squadrons converged on the airport to hold ground training and cadet orientation flights. Ground training topics included basic communications training, emergency services training, urban direction finder training, ground team training and basic knot tying skills training. Flight operations covered flight line marshaling training and providing orientation flights for 15 cadets in the skies over Southern Maryland. Wrapping up the day was a pizza party at a local pizza restaurant.

Civil Air Patrol, the official auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, is a nonprofit organization with more than 60,000 members nationwide. CAP volunteers perform 95 percent of continental U.S. inland search and rescue missions as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center and also perform homeland security, disaster relief and counter-drug missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies.

Members take a leading role in aerospace education and serve as mentors to the almost 25,000 young people participating in the CAP cadet program. CAP's cadet programs provide young men and women with a safe and motivating environment in which to grow and explore opportunities in the military and aviation industries. Cadets progress through a 16-step program of leadership and aerospace education. CAP has been performing missions for America for more than 63 years.

There are approximately 1,300 members of CAP in Maryland. Last fiscal year wing members flew 34 search and rescue missions and were credited with 23 finds.

The St. Mary’s Composite Squadron meets Wednesday evenings from 7 - 9 p.m. at the St. Mary’s County Regional Airport, in the Capt. Walter Francis Duke terminal building, 44200 Airport Road, in California. The squadron is commanded by Lt. Col. Tim Corrigan. For information, go the squadron's Web site at www.capstmarys.com.