Pennsylvania Wing Civil Air Patrol
The Pennsylvania Wing of the Civil Air Patrol, the United States Air Force Auxiliary
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| Associated branches | |
|---|---|
| United States Air Force | |
| Executive staff | |
| Commander | Col Gary Fleming |
| Vice Commander | Lt Col Kevin Berry |
| Chief of Staff | Lt Col Suzanne McBride |
| Current statistics | |
| Squadrons | 55 |
| Cadets | 882 |
| Seniors | 895 |
| Total Membership | 1777 |
| Statistics as of August 6, 2017 | |
The Pennsylvania Wing of the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) is the highest echelon of CAP in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania Wing headquarters is located at Fort Indiantown Gap, an Army National Guard installation near Harrisburg, PA.
Pennsylvania Wing is abbreviated as "PAWG", and is often referred to by its members as "PA Wing". A Pennsylvania keystone is a symbol commonly used in patches and designs of PAWG.
For CAP radio communications, PAWG call signs have the "Whitetail" prefix. Pennsylvania Wing is the 31st wing, but equipment identification numbers and unit charter numbers begin with the prefix 37. For example, a CAP aircraft in Pennsylvania Wing uses the callsign CAP 37##, where ## is the number of the aircraft.
Pennsylvania Wing is one of the original 48 wings in Civil Air Patrol.
In the spring of 1942, the Pennsylvania Wing conducted a 30-day experiment with the intention of convincing the Army Air Forces that they were capable of flying cargo missions for the nation. PA Wing transported Army cargo as far as Georgia, and top Army officials were impressed. After the 30 day trial period, the War Department gave CAP permission to conduct courier and cargo service for the military, often flying mail, light cargo, and important military officials between USAAF bases.
One of the Civil Air Patrol's very first "Aviation Cadet Programs" was established at the Pittsburgh Army Air Field in the Spring of 1943. Accepting young men as "Aviation Cadets" in a delayed enlistment program for the Army Air Forces, the Pittsburgh Squadron trained these boys (as young as 15) in Aerospace and Military subjects and vetted them for service as Army Air Force Pilots. Graduating a total of 16 Aviation Cadets for the Army in less than ten months, the Pittsburgh Squadron model was copied by units in Philadelphia, New York City and as far south as Florida. Today, the current Squadron with direct lineage to that Aviation Cadet Unit is the CAP's second longest, continually operated unit on a Military Installation.
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