Civil Air Patrol information meeting tonight at 6:30 at airport

Civil Air Patrol is starting a flight in Kay County, and an information meeting is set for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Ponca City Airport. The meeting is in the building where the monthly fly-in breakfast is held at the north end.

In starting a new flight here, the all-civilian axillary of the Air Force shows it thinks Ponca City and  the surrounding communities have people who want to serve their community, state, and nation. CAP wants to help them do it.

CAP is a civilian corporation that is part of the total force of the U.S. Air Force. Members perform about 90 percent of the inland U.S. search and rescue missions, resulting in an average of 55 lives saved every  year.

They maintain a fleet of air craft and the crews fly them. Vehicles and ground teams go out and find the lost, no matter the terrain. They fly over natural and man-made disaster areas to aid agencies such as FEMA and local emergency management organizations in doing damage assessments, but this is just part of what they do.

They also teach youth leadership skills, aid members in learning to fly, provide schools with hands-on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) activities. They do community service projects and have teams that compete on a national level in cyber-security competitions.

As if that wasn’t enough, they also provide scholarship opportunities for furthering education in aerospace and general studies.

Joining Civil Air Patrol doesn’t mean you have  to join the service, but if that is an interest you have, it can give you a leg up on your fellow recruits. And if you desire to attend a service academy like Annapolis or West Point, your time in CAP is a selling point.

If you are curious about what CAP can do for you, your classroom or your children — or if you just want more information — come to tonight’s meeting at 6:30 p.m. There will be a plane, several cadets and senior members to answer your questions.