The Lewis County Civil Air Patrol (CAP) has long been a place where people who want to learn to fly can have a chance.
Starting at the age of 12, children and adults can join and experience being a pilot. The official auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, the CAP has a large inventory of airplanes and provides members with 10 free flights, five glider flights and five flights in a small airplane.
But the CAP isn’t just about piloting a plane.
According to Salem Little, 16, CAP develops skills in many different areas, such as leadership. Little, an Onalaska resident, has been in the program since he was 12. Little said his favorite experience with CAP wasn’t even flying. It was something called “encampment.”
An encampment is a weeklong event, usually at an Air Force base, where cadets are exposed to “Air Force values and traditions,” “first-year cadets develop teamwork and self-confidence in what is for many their first experience away from home” and “advanced cadets apply their leadership skills while serving in positions of responsibility,” according to a pamphlet provided to The Chronicle. Little said during encampment, he went to Whidbey Island and “basically had a boot camp and got screamed at and yelled at and had a blast.”
He also mentioned marksmanship training, where cadets learned about safety and received basic firearm training, as being one of his favorite experiences.
Little, who serves as the cadet commander, is the highest ranking minor in the local CAP organization, called a “squadron” within the CAP. It’s “completely organized and completely run by the cadets and cadet staff,” Little said.
But if you are interested in flying, there are plenty of opportunities.
According to Little, members of the CAP can attend “flight academy,” where participants learn about flight training and, in some rare instances, actually earn their pilot license. But be warned, there’s “a lot of competition to get into one because a lot of states don’t have (a flight academy) but Washington does,” Little said.
The squadron bases its flying out of the Chehalis-Centralia Airport. Squadron Commander Dan Whalen, 59, said the local group has already completed eight orientation flights this spring, though most of the CAP’s flights take place in the summer when the weather is more conducive to safe flying.
Whalen, who as squadron commander is in charge of the local CAP squadron, said there’s a lot people can learn as members of the CAP.
“Even if they’re only in it for a year or two, then they’ll have learned a lot. It’s just really good life experience,” Whalen said.
The commander also emphasized the importance of accessibility. He said women have always been allowed to participate and CAP tries to accommodate people with disabilities.
“We’re very cognizant to disability,” he said. “We’ll do everything in our power to accomodate a disability.”
For those interested in joining the CAP, there are a variety of ways to do so.
“I got in through word of mouth,” Little said. “My friend who was in the CAP at the time told me about it and it was something I really wanted to do.”
New participants will have plenty of company when joining the CAP.
According to Whalen, there are 27 squadrons in Washington state, with three in Southwest Washington, including one each in Olympia, Vancouver and in Lewis County. Overall, within Washington there are 630 cadets and 1,328 overall members out of about 53,000 members nationwide.
The Lewis County squadron currently has 18 cadets and nine senior members, though the group is still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused a 90% drop in membership. Prior to the pandemic, the Lewis County squadron had 27 cadets and 11 adult members, before falling to only four or five cadets. According to Whalen, one challenge the local organization has faced is funding. He said compared to local squadrons in places near Seattle, there’s just not as much funding and local infrastructure, which limited what they were able to do during the pandemic. While in places like Bellevue, for example, the CAP was able to continue holding meetings and classes over video-conference programs such as Zoom. Due to the rural nature of Lewis County, the local broadband infrastructure for such programs isn’t as widely available. As a result, many members weren’t able to as easily attend meetings and gradually fell away.
But there is reason for optimism amongst members of the local squadron. Their last open house in January saw nine new cadets and two adults join, all of whom are still engaged in the program.
Those interested in joining the CAP can attend an open house on June 4 at Centralia Christian Church from 10 a.m. to noon.
Membership is $35 a year for people 12 to 21, $65 a year for those over 21 and $30 for parents or legal guardians of children in the program.
Meetings occur on Sunday mornings at Centralia Christian Church, located at 1215 West Main St. in Centralia.
According to Whalen, the local squadron is also active in community service, such as participating in the annual walk-and-knock food drive. People who are interested in receiving assistance from the local squadron for community service projects are encouraged to reach out to Whalen at 360-525-0494 or at dan.whalen@wawg.cap.gov. Learn more at www.lewiscountycap.org.
