Civil Air Patrol training can serve as career springboard

Seventy years ago, a week before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, a group of U.S. citizens concerned about the defense of America's coastlines formed the Civil Air Patrol.

While under the jurisdiction of the Army Air Forces, Civil Air Patrol pilots flew more than 500,000 hours and were credited with sinking two enemy submarines and rescuing hundreds of crash survivors during World War II.

After President Harry Truman established it as a benevolent civilian corporation, Congress in 1948 passed a law charging the CAP with three primary missions of aerospace education, cadet programs and emergency services.

Today, the CAP is a volunteer civilian auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force when performing services for the federal government.

"Most people have never heard of the Civil Air Patrol," said Capt. Don Kaminski, commander of Washington Squadron 601.

The squadron, which is relatively new, has space at the Pennsylvania Army National Guard Armory on Goodridge Lane in South Franklin Township. Members come from Washington, Greene, Allegheny, Somerset, Westmoreland, Butler, Beaver and Cambria counties.

Kaminski got involved in the CAP about eight years ago in West Virginia.

"I went to a meeting with my son, and I got hooked," Kaminski said, adding that his son, Pete Kaminski, recently graduated from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy.

"ROTC programs and the service academies like to see kids with experience like the CAP," Kaminski said. "Most of these youngsters have an interest in the military and joining some branch of the service."

In the cadet program, the young people are educated in four main areas: leadership, aerospace, fitness and character development.

"There definitely are tremendous opportunities in the Civil Air Patrol," Kaminski said. "All of the cadets are taught emergency services, like search and rescue."

John Avolio said that he first got involved with the CAP about four years ago, believing it would look good on his resume, particularly if he applied for the U.S. Air Force Academy.

The 19-year-old Avella man is now a sophomore at the University of North Dakota at Grand Forks. He is majoring in meteorology on an ROTC scholarship.

"It has been tremendous," he said. "I've learned management skills and how to be a leader, which is one of the biggest things."

Avolio is planning on becoming an officer in the Air Force after graduating from college. After 20 years in the military, he would like a career in broadcasting.

Over the summer, Avolio was back with the squadron working with the other cadets and giving them a better idea what to expect if they participated in an ROTC program.

"Is that a little fuzz on your face," he asked one of the cadets during a drill late last summer before he returned to school.

His mom, Lt. Jacki Avolio, is an administrative officer with the squadron.

"It really helped him prepare to get the Air Force ROTC," Jacki Avolio said. "It opened up scholarships for him."

Zach Segunda also looked at the CAP with an eye toward the Air Force Academy.

The senior at Peters Township High School recently went to New Mexico for a special encampment.

"It was more intense than the basic training I had in West Virginia," Segunda said of the training that only 64 cadets from across the country attended. He was the only one from Pennsylvania to get the opportunity.

"It was a lot of physical training. We rappelled on a zipline," he added. "We were also taught survival skills like making a shelter, signaling with a mirror and making a fire.

"It really helped my focus," Segunda said. "It was run by the military and very intense. Once I got through it, I decided it was really something I wanted to do."

Segunda is now looking at the ROTC program at Colorado State University.

His mom, Lt. Peggy Segunda, is the squadron's public affairs officer and assistant historian.

Seventeen-year-old David Galecki of Charleroi got the flying bug after taking a free flight through the organization Young Eagles.

"My granddad, Joseph Cook, told me about Civil Air Patrol a few years ago, and I've stuck with it ever since," Galecki said.

He plans to enlist in the Air Force after graduating from Charleroi High School in June and is focusing on tactical maintenance.

"Being around planes is enough for me," the teen added.

Tasks done today by the CAP can include anything from assisting in floods or guarding a downed airplane until National Transportation Safety Board investigators arrive to handling traffic for an air show.

They also have special exercises during the year when members are trained in not only search and rescue but how to locate downed planes or missing persons, transporting injured victims, first aid, communication and survival techniques. Some sessions are done at Mingo Creek Park.