CAP: Still going at 75

One week before Pearl Harbor was attacked in December 1941, the Civil Air Patrol, a volunteer organization under the U.S. Army Air Corps was formed. They’re still going strong 75 years later. The Mississippi Wing of CAP flew one its largest missions since WWII with its involvement in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. CAP Colonel Robert Arn flew anti-submarine missions during WWII for the Florida Wing out of Coastal Patrol Base No. 14 at Panama City from September 1942 to June 1943. Of the 12 original pilots at Panama City, six were killed. Arn flew 179 missions totaling 557 hours of flight time over the GoM. From hurricanes Betsy and Camille in the 1960s to Katrina in 2005, the Louisiana Wing has established key ground radio network capabilities; transported key officials and equipment; conducted aerial surveillance of evacuation routes, levees and other affected areas; and demonstrate the value of airborne video and still photography. The Louisiana Wing used its skills after 9/11 to assist the Coast Guard and providing air support for port security, photo documentation and daily alert aircraft for the Port Authority and Lake Charles Waterway. (Source: Oxford Eagle 12/06/16)