CAP: CAP-USAF New Command Structure

Civil Air Patrol realigns with Holm Center

Posted 6/25/2009

by Carl Bergquist
Air University Public Affairs

6/25/2009 - MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. (AFNS) -- Civil Air Patrol-U. S.Air Force realigned under the Jeanne M. Holm Center for Officer Accessions and Citizen Development in a ceremony held at the center's Leadership Hall June 11.

Lt. Gen. Allen Peck, Air University commander, said the realignment is part of the evolution of Air University and falls under the category of an organization change request, or OCR. He said it could have been done with "a simple signature on a piece of paper," but he felt it should be done with a ceremony.

General Peck said realigning CAP-USAF under the Holm Center is the appropriate place for the organization because much of what the organization does involves citizen development.

"When we reorganized Air University into centers, we looked at CAP's role. There are great people doing great things at CAP, such as emergency services and search and rescue, and CAP is the auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force," he said. "The realignment allows a lot of opportunity for synergy between CAP-USAF and the Holm Center, and this is a win-win situation that is good for both organizations."

Brig. Gen. Teresa Djuric, Holm Center commander, said the men and women of both CAP-USAF and the Holm Center recognize the importance of the realignment.

"CAP-USAF and the Holm Center have had a strong relationship for quite awhile now; a relationship that started long before the OCR," she said. "This action will bring a more concentrated dialogue to both units. Today, dialogue happens at the unit level, but when it starts happening on a weekly basis at the command level, we will be better able to see how best practices that have been proven successful can be applied universally. This is truly symbiotic."

Col. Bill Ward, CAP-USAF commander, said with the transistion comes aerospace education and curriculum.

"For example, emergency services is a lot of what CAP does, and the realignment allows CAP-USAF to offer that training to Reserve Officer Training Corps, and Junior ROTC students," he said. "In one sense the move will be fairly seamless in nature, but in another sense, CAP-USAF will now have 'one-star advocacy' on a regular basis. Also, being under the Holm Center will make it easier to coordinate with ROTC and Officer Training School."

Colonel Ward said under the provisions of U.S. Code 10, CAP-USAF oversees the operation of Civil Air Patrol. He is confident Holm Center personnel will find that CAP-USAF can assist them with their programs and will hopefully take advantage of that aspect of the realignment.

Civil Air Patrol is the official auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force. In addition to providing emergency services, CAP-USAF personnel provide support, liaison and oversight to the more than 57,000 CAP cadets and volunteers.