By 2nd Lt. Don Van Wormer
St. Mary's Composite Squadron Public Affairs Officer
4/19/2006–Hollywood, MD–Cadet Justin Bowers has assumed the position of cadet commander of the St. Mary's Composite Squadron in the Maryland Wing of the Civil Air Patrol (CAP). He replaces the outgoing cadet commander, David Benes, who served in that position for the past five months.
Bowers, 16, a second lieutenant, is from Mechanicsville, MD and is a junior at Chopticon High School, in Morganza, MD and has been a member of CAP since October 2000. In addition to serving as cadet commander, Bowers has attended CAP National Emergency Services Academy, completing the basic and advanced ground SAR courses. Bowers has also served as a member of the national Blue Beret, attending the EAA air show in Oshkosh, WI in 2005.
CAP, 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 counterdrug 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 currently 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 65 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.
For information about the Maryland Wing of CAP, visit http://mdcap.org/ or listen to weekly episodes of "Civil Air Patrol Today" broadcast every Sunday morning on the following radio stations:
Annapolis, MD - WYRE-AM 810, 8:00-8:30 AM ET
Baltimore, MD - WFBR AM 1590, 8:00-8:30 AM ET
Ocean City, MD - WKHZ-AM 1590, 7:00-7:30 AM ET
Potomac, MD - WCTN 950 AM, 6:00-6:30 AM ET
Rockville, MD - WLXE-AM 1600, 7:00-7:30 AM ET
Washington, DC - WZHF-AM 1390, 7:00-7:30 AM ET
In addition, programs may be listened to at the Maryland Wing web site at http://mdcap.org/radio/ and can also be subscribed to as a podcast.
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, and is commanded by 1st Lt. Donald W. Cone Jr. For information, please visit the squadron's web site at http://www.capstmarys.com.