Ohio Wing Headquarters - Civil Air Patrol, United States Air Force Auxiliary

Civil Air Patrol gives kids taste of flight, military
Sunday, June 15, 2008 3:24 AM
By Sarah Pulliam
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

NEWARK -- Dakota Mascher peered out the airplane window eagerly but solemnly as he waited his turn at the controls. Mascher, 14, of Brownsville in Licking County, said yesterday that he wants to become an Air Force officer to help people, serve his country and be a pilot like his dad. But then he grinned and admitted, "Ladies like a man in uniform."

Mascher, who was at Newark-Heath Airport for the Experimental Aircraft Association's Young Eagles Day, is a cadet in the Civil Air Patrol. The patrol is an auxiliary of the Air Force created to give airplane enthusiasts a chance to use flying skills in civil defense. Cadets are 12- to 18-year-olds who hope to become officers in the patrol someday.

The patrol began in 1941, just six days before Pearl Harbor was attacked. In World War II, patrol crews spotted 173 enemy submarines, attacking 57, damaging 10 and sinking two.
The patrol doesn't bomb submarines anymore. It generally gets the most public attention for its emergency missions, including searching for missing planes or rescuing hikers.
The patrol received a surge of interest from civilians after the Sept. 11 attack. Now, the 56,000 members work on homeland-security issues, helping with tasks such as taking aerial photographs of nuclear power plants and other "sensitive sites," said Ohio wing leader Col. Dave Winters. It also conducts about 90 percent of inland search-and-rescue missions in the United States.

Ohio has 580 cadets, and the 772 adult members have shifted more toward training young people in CPR, physical fitness, astronomy, rocketry and flying.

The cadet program is a bit like the Boy Scouts, said Newark patrol spokesman John Morgan. Cadets and Boy Scouts both use compasses, focus on leadership and try to achieve the highest honors. But because the patrol is part of the military, Morgan said, cadets can enter the military at a higher pay grade, and both boys and girls can participate.

Amber Cox shouted "Yes, sir!" to orders yesterday as she and other cadets helped other children experience a free plane ride with the Experimental Aircraft Association.

"When I grow up, I want to be a pediatric nurse in the Air Force," the freckled 13-year-old said.
"I'm not super sportsy, but I didn't want to sit around all day, so I joined the air patrol." Her dad, Craig Cox, served with the Air Force in both wars in Iraq before retiring four years ago as a chief master sergeant, but he remains involved with the patrol. "There's no comparison to active duty, but it's an extension of the military," he said. "I see the future of the United States in all of these kids."

The Newark group began in September with four cadets and three officers and has grown to 20 cadets and nine officers.

"We are getting off the ground, but we have a firm foundation now," Morgan said.
Some of the cadets literally got off the ground yesterday. Mascher, the eager young cadet, got his wish after he and nine other cadets waited patiently for their turn to fly. He was in control, at least for a minute.

"We are getting off the ground, but we have a firm foundation now."
John Morgan Newark Civil Air Patrol spokesman

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